I Am Grateful to Be Alive!

O n December 21, 2007, I received a liver transplant after suffering for several years with Primary Sclerosing Cholangitis. Everything associated with the transplant went perfectly; the day after in ICU I was walking around unassisted, once moved to the transplant floor for recovery I was able to walk around and was headed for release in a week to ten days in the hospital. On the third day after the transplant I began having difficulty breathing and the best that I can describe was asthough a large man was standing behind me with a deathgrip around my chest and I simply could not get what seemed like a teacup full of air in my lungs. I experienced horrible panic.

I was taken back to ICU and remained there for just short of fifty days. Much of the time was a blur but I remember panicking because I simply could not breath. Eventually, I was put on a breathing machine for over thirty days. I have been told by doctors and my wife that I came close to death on three different occasions. What I remember of the ICU experience was traumatic. For a while, I was on 15 to 21 liters of oxygen. The diagnosis bounced around from ARDS to Cryptogenic Organizing Pneumonia to Pulmonary Hypertension. They finally settled on ARDS.

After eighty-two days in the hospital and the loss of fifty-six pounds I was released and the recovery has been slow but steady ever since. Prior to the surgery and ARDS I jogged and walked for over thirty years which the doctors say was probably why I survived. I now workout every other day on the treadmill for thirty minutes and only use oxygen when I exercise. The pulmonologist says that I have about 70% lung capacity. My hope is(and question for the support group) is do you think I can ever regain my full lung capacity?

Bottom line: Hundreds of friends and relatives were (and are) praying for me and I am grateful to be alive.