One Glorious Year

On February 9th, 2001 I received the gift of life in the form of a single lung transplant. My road was pretty rocky to start with as I rejected the new lung the third day and there was a reprofusion injury to the new lung. I spent a while ( 27 days ) in ICU and was certainly scared more than once. I was intubated for 12 days (no cake walk) and I do remember pleading with the doctors to remove the intubation tube; but I knew they had my best interest at heart and did not remove it until they knew I could breathe on my own with my new lung.

I just had my yearly check-up,
everything looked very good.
The doctors were very pleased at my progress.
The visit brought a wonderful surprise.
As I was waiting in the clinic waiting room for one of my next tests, I met a wonderful lady who had received a left lung transplant too.
BUT!! Hers was 12 YEARS AGO. WOW!!!
I am looking forward to the future even with more anticipation.

Today there is so much to tell about how blessed my first year has been. First of all I can enjoy being able to breathe without support. I was able to return to work just 3 months after my transplant, which I enjoy. I work from home as a technical support specialist. I guess the most significant thing that happened that made me really realize that I was blessed to be alive was to attend a family get together at our Bed and Breakfast in
Madill, Oklahoma.

To go from this:



to this:



FAMILY!!!
I do not have the words for the joy I feel!!
My wife, Mom and Dad, brother, sister, my son and his wife and my 1 year old granddaughter (Kira), my daughter ( her husband could not make it as he was working in New Jersey on the anthrax clean up), her children, which are my 1st grandson ( DJ ) my 1st granddaughter ( Brianna ) my 2nd grandson ( Nickolas ) along with my nephew Isaac and his wife and daughter, my nephew Clay with his fiance. We were missing my other nephew Dusty, (Clay’s older brother), his wife and 2 children; they could not come as one of the kids was sick.
I hope it is as easy for you to see why I am so blessed as it is for me to believe it.

Not only do I have my immediate family but have my extended cyber family. It is impossible to include pictures of them here but I promise that they are in my heart and very dear to me.

God Blessed me with a second chance and if you have read “my story” and “my new life” you can see that one of my major goals is to educate as many people as I can about what smoking can do to you and your family.
If not for my transplant and the prayers and the Grace of God, I truly believe that the picture above would be missing something.

ME!!!

So for all those who were there praying and sending good thoughts to me, THANK YOU!

Be assured I will not waste the wonderful gift and second chance at life that I have been given.
And as my beautiful granddaughter would say.
“LATER GRANDAD!”
I ask you,,,,what more could a man ask for?



I hope and pray I get to hear that often for many many years.

God Bless and as always
Keep on keepin’ on
Tony in Dallas