Busy....but Good

Well, I feel like we have been running around like a chicken's head cut off. Praise the Lord we got home last Saturday but have kept busy going back and forth to UAB as I had to do my round of treatments for the rejection. To answer some of the questions about rejection: They say 95% of transplant patients will show some sign of rejection in the first year. My rejection may be due to the fact that my body is having a hard time absorbing one of the anti-rejection medicines (the same one I have mentioned in the past about not reaching the right level). I will have another bronchoscopy done in two weeks to check for rejection again and see if the round of treatments were effective. However, we did have clinic today and everything is looking pretty well. My x-ray's show my lungs are expanding more and looking better then before. My PFT's (pulmonary function test) were 41% this week so they continue to go up!

There are many things I looked forward to doing with new lungs and one of those was going back home to TX and seeing family and friends (some that I have not seen in 2 years). Due to my health we have not been able to travel for a long time so it will feel amazing to have that freedom again! So, Lord willing we will be heading out on our first trip with new lungs. Our main reason for going back is to be with my mom as she gets remarried to a wonderful guy (Darryl). We look forward to having him as a member of our family!

Faith has loved being home again with her toys, bed and pool! We had a great time swimming in the pool and playing outside!

A Big View of God

I wanted to share with you a devotional I read the other day that made me pose the question in my mind again......."How big is my view of God" Please read the short devotional....

"Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty. He was, he is, and he is coming". Revelations 4:8
Exactly what is worship? I like King David's definition, "Oh magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt His name together" (Ps. 34:3). Worship is the act of magnifying God. Enlarging our vision of him. Stepping into the cockpit to see where he sits and observe how he works. Of course, his size doesn't change, but our perception of him does. As we draw nearer, he seems larger. Isn't that what we need? A big view of God? Don't we have big problems, big worries, big questions? Of course, we do. Hence we need a big view of God. Worship offers that. How can we sing, "Holy, Holy, Holy" and not have our vision expanded?

"Grace for the Moment" Max Lucado

I received my results today from my bronchoscopy and it showed a small sign of rejection. I will have to go in once a day for 3 days to do IV's (a medicine to hope stop the rejection) and then in two weeks have another bronchoscopy to check for rejection again.
So to answer the question, "How big is my view of God"? Not big enough because in moments like this I'm continuing to learn what it means to trust God and to remember His ways are so much higher and bigger then my own. Like Paul, He continues to give me things that allow me to fall on my knees before Him again and for that I am thankful. 2 Cor. 12:9 continues to be my life verse- But He said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness". We continue to ask for your prayers, Thank You!

Praise- We do get to go home though! We will be headed home tomorrow so we are very excited about that! Faith won't know how to sleep at night without the sirens, motorcycles and cars going by all hours of the night. We will have to buy her one of those noise makers because it will be too quiet at home. =)

THE ZOO!! Lions & Tigers & Goats! Oh, My!

Yes, we headed off to the ZOO yesterday for a very fun and hot but great time! You wouldn't think going to the ZOO would be a huge step for me but last time we went to the ZOO in December I was pushed in a wheel chair with oxygen but this time I walked the whole way! No doubt did my legs feel like I had just worked out but my lungs hung in there! Enough about me though the person who enjoyed the ZOO the most was of course my little tatter tot (yes, we still call her "Tates")! Although she loved seeing the Tigers (which she kept saying, "Meow"!), Hippo, Monkeys, Seals, and much more she would have just have been happy seeing a Dog (dogs are her favorite animal! We will have to get one)! Here are a few pictures of our time.....

ROAR!!

Just the girls

Of course, she loved the petting ZOO and the goats were a big hit.....maybe we should get a goat instead or so Jason thinks =)

Daddy.....can I have one? =)

Old trucks make for good pictures although Jason thought he could take it home to restore it. One truck at a time I say.

UPDATE: We went to clinic today and Praise God my PFT's (pulmonary function test) were up from last week! It went from a 27% to a 39%! I haven't been in the 30s for years. To me this feels good I can't imagine it going up more. I do continue to have some nausea and GI problems which they feel will get better over time. It's hard because one medicine makes me hungry but then I have to make sure I don't over eat or I will be paying for it later. I'm having to try to find the right balance. The doctor said if everything continues to go well we might be able to move to TX in 4-5 weeks! This is exciting news (Jason is ready to get back to work) but crazy thinking about starting to pack up and move. Of course my heart is mixed with happy and sad emotions thinking about leaving but just as God brought us here for a season I know it's time to move on, doesn't mean I won't cry though.

Please be praying for me tomorrow as I have another bronchoscopy and they look for rejection or infection. Your prayers mean so much!

Also Jason's Mimi (his dad's mom) died this week, we will miss her and wish we could be there for the funeral. Please say a prayer for the Mulkey family as we have just lost a sweet Mimi and Jason's Papa (his mom's dad) continues to struggle to recover from his heart valve replacement.

Hope you and your families are doing well! We love you and enjoy hearing from you!

Back with our Church Family!

No words can describe the joy that I had going home to our church family on Sunday with new lungs! Though I still had to wear a mask, it was great to walk in without my heavy oxygen tank hanging from my shoulder. We were joyfully greeted by many friends and many people we didn't know but knew us and had been praying for us. When we quietly (we were of course late, that hasn't changed with new lungs) walked into our Sunday school class our friend and SS teacher stopped the class and thanked God for His healing and bringing us back. I can't begin to tell you what wonderful support our church family has been for us during this time. Everything from watering our plants, getting mail, cleaning the house (getting it ready to sale), bringing meals, graciously giving financially, and much more I'm sure that I'm not even aware of. So we just want to say THANK YOU again for everything! We love you and want you to know you have been an inspiration to us and a testament of the body of Christ in serving one another. It was great to be back for the day and we hope that it will be soon that we will be going home.

Friday Update

So sorry it's been a while since I have posted an update. I haven't been up to doing too much last week since I've been struggling with nausea but Praise God the past couple of days have been better. I was put on a different nausea medicine and it seems to be helping. We went to clinic the other day (every Wednesday) and everything seems to be going well except the one anti-rejection medicine is not at the level the doctors want it to be. This has been going on since they changed me over to this medicine due to the seizer I had. I went in again today for labs to check it so we are just praying it has reached the right level.

I did want to show you my side by side x-rays so you could see the amazing difference. As you can see my old x-ray (on the left) which was taken right before my surgery is all cloudy, or as one doctor put it, "just one big ball of infection". Also due to all the infection and lung collapses my heart was pushed to the side but you can see in the new x-ray it is back to where it should be (my heart is the haze right in the middle of my chest) and my lungs are clear!

OLD LUNGS - NEW LUNGS

My sister got to come in and be with us so we are enjoying our time together! Jason and Faith are doing well. I think Faith is becoming accustomed to our life in the Town House although her terrible twos is beginning to shine through some. HELP! Well, what can I say life is always interesting! Jason continues to hang in there with the girls although he is getting antsy to start working at Chick-fil-A and on his truck again.


For those of you who have been praying for my uncle Tom.............PRAISE GOD! He got one of is his test back the other day and it showed that his colon is working now and that 90% of it is healed! He is doing some chemo right now but it really is only God's hand that healed it in such a short time. He is still in the hospital and I'm not sure how long his stay will be but we are just rejoicing in this huge step, blessing! Thank you again for your prayers for him and his family. I know it means so much to them.

Good Results!

Praise God, the results from the bronchoscopy showed no signs of rejection or infection at this time! We are so thankful for this news! I am struggling with nausea and keeping my food down so I was put on a anti-nausea medicine but I'm still having trouble and it makes me feel drugged(tired, feel like I'm walking in a cloud) all the time. The doctor wants to see if this medicine will help since I just started it but if I don't get relief then they will have to look more into it. We continue to ask for your prayers as it is a day to day puzzle trying to figure out how everything is working in my body.

I'm also asking for your prayers for my uncle. He is fighting cancer and we have just recently found out that his colon is not working either and we are waiting for some tests to come back to hopefully explain why he is having colon trouble, but more importantly what the doctors can do to help him. I talked to him on the phone tonight and I know he could use the encouragement of your prayers! It's hard for me to even write this about my uncle Tom because my heart is so heavy for him and his family. There are times that I just don't understand why there has to be so much pain, sickness, hurt and struggle and I guess the truth is I may never understand it only because I can't see the whole picture. I do know the Lord is full of mercy and so I'm just praying for healing for him and peace and strength for him and his family. Thank you for your prayers for him and his family, I know God works wonders when His people pray. I'm a testimony of that!

Our first tests

We appreciate your prayers as we went to our first clinic day and I also had my bronchoscopy today. So far everything has checked out good although we don't know the results of the bronchoscopy until tomorrow or Monday. The doctor said that everything was healing inside very well. He also showed us my x-ray right before my surgery and then my new x-ray and it was amazing the difference! I'm hoping to get a copy of it so I can post it on the blog so you all can see for yourself but to give you an idea of what my old right lung looked like, it was just one big cloud (infection, collapse). In fact due to all the collapses it had pushed my heart over to the side and now on the new x-ray everything is back in place and CLEAR! I've never seen a clear x-ray before so it was quite exciting and so-real to think those belonged to me! We were also informed while looking at the new lungs that I did have two broken ribs due to the surgery, one on each side (I guess that would cause some of my pain). They said it is common for them to have to break some ribs to be able to fit the new ones in.

I also did my lung function test for the first time with new lungs and I am happy to say that they were 27%. Before transplant my test were 16-19%. Although I have 99% oxygen it takes time for the new lungs to regain their full lung function and so that number should only grow over the next several months. So, 27% is a good number and hopefully on it's way up!

Thankfully I've been feeling pretty well these past few days. It is just going to take time, lots of walking & deep breathing. I continue to just take it one day at a time, seems like I have a good day and then a rough one but over all things are looking well.

We love you all and hope you and your families are doing well! Hope you enjoy the holiday weekend celebrating our freedom!

Exciting News-Transplant Fund

I am excited to report that not only has you generosity overwhelmed the Mulkeys in many, many ways, but you have overwhelmed the $2000 initial match within the first three weeks for their Transplant Fund! The first $2000 will be doubled to equal $4000 given into their fund plus even more. Way to go everyone! With all that Emily & Jason have going on, I know the lack of stress related to the financial strain because of your generosity has allowed them to focus on other areas of recovery and has been a great way to help them carry their burden. You are amazing!

And if that wasn't enough good news...we have another offer to match the next $2000 given beginning today (Wednesday July 2)!!!!!!!!!! How amazing is that?!?! So if you've been thinking about giving but just hadn't sat down to do it, or this is your first time to hear about it, please consider giving now. The same details apply as the first match and whether its $10, $50, $100, $500 or more, your money will be doubled up to the first $2000 given. For further explanation about the fund, its purpose, and the details, please see this post and this post or simply click on the link on the top right to give your tax-deductible contribution.

Thanks~Emily T