Gigi 2.0 Beta

Firstly, I hope that most of you have been able to catch some news on my recovery through bits and pieces on FB, random text messages and the "grapevine" of friends and family. I'm sorry I haven't been writing much. The slew of medications I am on and simply the exhaustion from keeping up with my demanding medical routine was giving me frequent migraines making it difficult to write anything substantial.

There is no other way to put it than simply, a lot has happened. It has been more than the sum of all my journeys to far away lands, many mis-adventures and hours of education combined. In some ways its seems my whole life has been boiled down, distilled and purified over the course of a few months. There is certainly more than I can possibly ever confine to a blog post, but I am going to do my best to convey my experience in words and photos.

To get started, YES I am out of the hospital!!!! I was given my freedom exactly three weeks ago. Although I couldn't walk out on my own - hospital policy to be in a wheelchair- I was able to snap a quick photo of my parents & I standing in front of duke hospital on that glorious evening and I walked the remaining few steps into the car. It was a beautiful ride home. Since I am a regular at hospitals, I know those first few moments outside the sterile white walls should be treasured. It is a beautiful feeling to see the outdoors without a window pane in the way. Although only a few weeks, the elapsed time felt like months. A parallel world filled with beeping IV poles, chest tubes, unlimited monitors and zero privacy that all serve constant reminders that you are very, very sick. It is not as though I am suddenly living a carefree, medical intervention free existence, quite the opposite, but as you can imagine it feels sooooooo good to be "home".

In the past three weeks I have made huge improvements. Each day a little better than the day before. My schedule is busy. I have multiple doctor appointments a week and some last the whole day. When I am not in clinic, I am at a 3 hour physical therapy program. When imam not at PT I'm at home much eating, sleeping or taking medications. I'm taking over 60 pills a day broken up into 5 different times, 3 inhaled medications each twice a day and I have a feeding tube that runs overnight. It's a lot to manage and to get comfortable with as most of it is completely new to me. The medications are harsh but tolerable. My chief complaints at this point are frequent migraines, most likely a side effect of the meds and exhaustion, and pain from the incision and its 80-something staples. Yes, staples. Ouch. Oh so also I am on lots of pain meds and those make my brain foggy and forgetful. So please be extra generous to me with regards to spelling, grammar, and general making sense of things. ;)

Now to the fun part... My NEW lungs. My very own working set of breathers. It taken us some time to get used to each other, as my dad accurately pointed out shortly after my surgery, "just like shoes, you have to break them in". Everyday we are becoming more comfortable and more confident with each other. I am walking around not on oxygen, not out of breath and not coughing!!! And of course I have attended to my first item of duty, taking juju for a walk. I have been making a list of of all my new lung firsts and ill share them with you soon. My firsts this weekend were walking 2 miles nonstop, at a brisk 3.5mph no less, and going out to the diner with a friend for lunch.
For now and forever I am taking things breath by breath, step by step, day by day...

Thank you again for all the messages and support!