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Friday, May 9, 2014

Milestone: 11 months and counting, day by day

May 8 came and passed.  It is significant to me because 11 months ago I was in the process of receiving a heart transplant. Talk about second chances.

My faithful companion, a HeartMate II left ventricular assist device, was disconnected during the procedure.  I was present but unaware of the transplant or the LVAD disappearing from my life. 

It kept me going for 38 months, months I would not have had without it.  Thirty eight months was a long time.  The last 11 months bring the added span to 49 months.

Who knows what tomorrow will bring?  For now, I'm among the living for a while.  Don't get too cocky, I tell myself.  I've viewed first hand how everything can change in an eye blink.

Meanwhile, son Kevin and I attended the annual trout fishing season opening day last Saturday in central Wisconsin.  It was a treat for many reasons.  The primary one being that I was there.

My friend and newspaper colleague greeted me with a "Welcome corpse.  It walks and talks."  We watched the 1974 Mel Brooks' movie the Young Frankenstein, starring Gene Wilder.  I don't believe in coincidences.

Another friend is waiting for a new heart in Abbott-Northwestern Hospital in Minneapolis.  His HeartMate II is giving up the ghost, driveline is separating from the pump itself, which could kill him. His cardio team ordered him into the hospital for the duration. He is the younger of a father and son team, both having LVADs a the same time.  The son, my friend, didn't let a bum ticker slow him down much.  He did the Insanity Workouts, for example, progressing through most of the levels.  I get tired just watching the easiest video.  At any rate, he's been 1-A for five months and counting.  A strong spirit for sure.

To all those readers who know or are related to a transplant recipient or a would be recipient using a mechanical life support device, you know what I mean when I say easy days are a wish but if wishes were horses then everyone would ride.  Attitude is everything for those of us who have taken this road to transplant and beyond.  


Sunday, May 4, 2014

Annually for 40 some years a group of newspaper reporters, businessmen, and assorted raconteurs have met on or near the Mecan River in Central Wisconsin to mark the start of trout season. 

It's always the first Saturday in May, which sometimes conflicts with Mothers' Day weekend.  About 20 years ago, the group shifted from its Mecan River site to the South Fork of Wedde Creek.   It's a mile as the crow flies from the Mecan. I've attended many trout opener gatherings over the years.

I've been fly fishing for trout and bass for nearly 50 years and joined the group after the move to Wedde Creek. The point is that I was unable to attend last year because of complications with my LVAD.  

Little did I know that I would get a second chance at life with a new heart in early June, 2013. At any rate, son Kevin and I (now waterproof once more) are headed east 500 miles to join chums and colleagues.  The donated heart gave me that chance. 

Trout are no longer at the top of the list of opening weekend activities as most of us are in our 70s and up. The eldest is 86, but he still fishes. I wet a line but routinely get skunked. But the camaraderie is priceless.  Being outdoors along a trout stream is priceless. 

We have all learned, like Thoreau once said, "some men go fishing all their lives and never realize it is not the fish they are after."

As I get to my 11th month post heart transplant, I am more grateful than ever for the gift of life.