Where to begin... There are so many great things to celebrate lately! Spending Thanksgiving at home with my family; being able to eat at Thanksgiving this year; ending another semester of grad school (one more to go!); enjoying Holiday festivities outside of the hospital... so basically not being in the hospital! I was also able to celebrate another Birthday!! Which is wonderful in so many ways because not only am I here to celebrate, I was not in the hospital this year not knowing what was happening with my health and life. I was able to see my sisters, niece and nephew for the day and then celebrate that night at dinner with my awesome Nashvegas friends! All in all, a great weekend of celebrating. And while a year older in my 30's always made me cringe in the past, I will take each and every year that I age, and embrace it gracefully (I hope), and be thankful for the person and doctors who saved my life.
I cannot believe how quickly I am approaching the one year anniversary of my transplant. As December 26th approaches, I don't know what to anticipate feeling. I am so lucky to be alive! I will have my one year checkup on the 27th and a liver biopsy on the 28th (standard procedure) to make sure Bertha is doing well!
Please join me in remembering and praying for the family that had to say goodbye to their loved one. While I get to celebrate being home for Christmas, they will be feeling the loss of someone special. I know God will be there with them to hopefully bring them some peace this Christmas. I will remember them and be thankful that I am able to celebrate the birth of our Lord and Savior, while being surrounded by family and friends.
A merry heart does good like a medecine; but a broken spirit dries to the bones.
~Proverbs 17:22
**There was also another life-saving liver transplant this December. Dear family friends of mine, Mac and Sherry Thomson, who have been so good to me on my journey, received good news that Mr. Mac was getting a new liver. He received the awesome news on his daughter, Blair's, birthday! Please pray for Mack and the Thomson family, on this new path, for God to give them strength, encouragement, peace and patience as Mac continues to recover from his transplant. As we are all told by the medical team, "it is a marathon, not a sprint" on this road of recovery.
Merry Christmas!
