Getting to know me....rambling so to speak

For those girls that read this who don't know alot about my past, here you go. I am the youngest of two. My sister Nicole had a lung disease. At 14 months she became very ill and the doctors at the time didn't know what was wrong with her nor did they think my parents would take her home from the hospital. I will have to ask my mom but it wasn't until the 90s that she was diagnosed with Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis, idio meaning they have no clue how she got it. This is normally an "old man" disease, IE men in their 50s generally get it. So my entire life, somewhere deep in the back of my mind I knew there was a chance that my sister would die before me and possibly my parents. This disease progressively affected my sister until it was decided that if she was not transplanted, her heart and lungs would not be able to keep up with her bodies demand. Her heart pretty much was being effected because of the lack of O2in the blood there for having to pump extra hard all the time to get the O2 where it was needed. So I want to say sometime in 1997, my sister was put on the transplant list at Barnes Jewish Hospital. (Don't quote me on dates, I don't really remember the dates exactly).

So jump forward to September 23, 1997. I was a senior in High School. I was in the lunch room getting a bag of popcorn to head to the yearbook room to work on the yearbook some when I hear my name. This was the moment my life changed forever. It was Mr. Adams telling me I needed to go to the office because they had news about my sister. It was one of those moments that you just knew the what they were going to tell you. Of course I instantly started crying and shaking. The two of us took off running. I got to the office and Mr. Gore was standing there, I knew it, the call had come it was time. My parents were on my way to pick me up with my sister to head to BJ hospital, Nicole's lungs where here. I sat out side the school by myself for only 2 minutes before my sister's boyfriend showed up. I think that was the first time we had ever like touched, but we just sat there in dear holding hands until my parents arrived. We both jumped in the car (I thought he would sit in the middle to be next to Nicole but she sat in the middle). She held both our hands the entire way to the hospital. It was the most surreal time in me life, more than Chloe being born and marrying Dave. There is just something different about not knowing the outcome for something so huge. Curse getting there so early. It was the longest and slowest day I have yet to encounter, I mean if my wedding would have gone this slow, I would probably remember every detail that occurred. I can't tell you times when it happened, or even how long the surgery was, but I do recall she was in surgery over night. I remember that we had a gurney in the waiting room with us to take turns sleeping. I can't even tell you if my sister's boyfriend was there all night, nor who else was there besides my mom, dad, and I. I just don't remember. (it's funny how you can remember specifics on some and not others. Or better yet how I remember things compared to my mom.)

I do know on September 24, 1997 my sister was reborn. She had a brand new set of lungs that was going to give her a brand new life, one with out O2, the hoses, being able to walk with out getting tired, so much more was suppose to happen. It was a wonderful day. All my cares were taken away because this was going to cure her (this is honestly how I felt at the time, I now wish someone would have brought me back to reality with everything that could happen). Okay, so this is just part one of 2 Getting to Know Me posts I will make, but right now, I am alittle tired and I can't really see the keys because this is something that I am still extremely emotional about (come guys, I am pregnant it makes it worse too).

So I leave you with these links to check out (all the myths are courtesy of Confessions of a CF Husband.)
Organ Donation Myth #1
Organ Donation Myth #2
Organ Donation Myth #3
Organ Donation Myth #4

Other fun Sites:
Second Wind (my sister was a founding member. My mom and I participated in the group after she passed away before it became too hard on us)
Miracles for Life
Missouri Donor Facts
Missouri Donor Registry
Illinois Donor Registry