TURKEY DAY WILL BE EXTRA SPECIAL THIS YEAR!!!!

Well Thanksgiving is a little over a week away.....yes I am getting excited about cooking the Turkey and all the other goodies that I cook for this holiday.....However this year will be special. One is for the obvious reason....I am very thankful for my donor and his family for giving me and my family back my life....It will be a happy day for me, I will be celebrating 8 months since I got my transplant....I find that hard to even comprehend sometimes....I think that at this time last year the journey Along the Heart Trail had just begun!!! IT has been a crazy 12 months....The pre-transplant testing and all nervousness that comes with that!!! The excitement I felt when I got the call on January 23, when we were in Disney saying that I was going to be officially listed when we returned home on the 26. The depression and sense of doom I felt when I entered the hospital on March 20th, thinking I was there only for a few days to get off some fluid...the thrill I got when on March 25th they told me I had a heart.....Going down to the Pit and finally being taken in to surgery just before midnight and feeling a sense of calm. The recovery which at times was difficult but part of the plan....Laughing with Tanya and Ellen, my friends for life who drove down from New York and bought me a spaghetti and meatball dinner.....the meatball was enough for 3 meals...Finally getting to come back to my house with my dogs and the family...The folks at both Pulmonary and then Cardiac rehab that pushed me when I needed it. Returning to work in June and being able to attend the senior dinner and then the zoo trip where I pushed a double stroller around. Thankful that I was not hurt after my car accident on July 21....Although we did have a moment of anxiety. Thankful that in August I was able to spend 10 days at the beach with Evan....getting him up early the one morning to watch the sunrise...meeting a man on the pier who was watching it as well who was a cancer survivor. Thankful that in August I was able to walk a 5k.....something that I always wanted to do!! Thankful that I can go to the Y and work out for as long as I want without getting tired.

I am truly thankful for the second gift of life that I have been given. As a very spiritual person I always questioning why things happened to me and what my purpose was here on earth...learning and perhaps still learning that I may never know the reason. Thankful that I have a story to tell and hopefully my story will help others as they struggle with their journey in life.

I know that I am just running at the mouth...or in this case the fingers!!!!


So let me just finish by saying I am thankful for being alive, having a wonderful, loving and supportive wife, having wonderful friends who I see and those who I don't but we talk over the internet....Thankful that I have people who actually come and read this blog.

Have a great Thanksgiving in case I don't post before then,