It's been a wonderful season of celebrations with friends and family but I'm worn to a nubbins at the moment. I drove to The Mountain from Nashville this morning. It was raining and very heavy traffic the whole gosh dern 90+ miles. My portable oxygen wasn't operating but I was fine. At rest, my saturation stays around 97% which is good.

David and I had a wonderful 10 days together. During this time he received an important call, which became the best Christmas gift for both of us. He's been offered a commission as an officer in the US Army JAG Corps. He's worked very hard to receive this honor and I am so happy for him. I'm happy for me too. Given my health issues, I now know he will be all right. There were approximately 2,000 applications and only 75 spots - and about 10 of those spots were given to law students who were already Army. Hence, you can only imagine the celebratory ruckus when he received the call. Of course I burst into tears. *smiling*

David helped me move into my B&B room at Hillsboro House. I love it! I have a simple bedroom with a private bath (walk-in shower which is good for an old lady with two hip replacements), a small TV I brought with Roku to stream my favorite shows, my laptop... well, that's about it. I'm alone in the house during the day. The other two rooms are occupied with an IT person and a 3L at Vanderbilt Law.

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Below are 3 posts I recently made on Facebook. I apologize for the retread:

1st post: A little bit of a setback. Pulmonary tests did not go well yesterday. Oxygen setting is now higher. I so hope that in three months I test better and that yesterday's poor results were a byproduct of the flu/cold I got over Christmas - or I might be sliding into home base. :) I've been so careful. I have to go into serious isolation mode. I LOVE my new place in Nashville, but am feeling a bit overwhelmed. Fiddle-dee-dee. Don't fret. I rebound fast. I'm aiming for that double lung transplant!

2nd post: This is the dealio: I am going to consider my poor pulmonary tests the result of the terrible cold that peaked the day of the tests. Grrrrrr. We all have trouble breathing when congested! Initially, the results were discouraging, but I've decided to soldier on with optimism. It just feels better to think better.
This morning I went to the IPF Foundation website and a discussion board I rarely visit. It's an excellent site, but I'm often wary. I think some of the discussions can be debilitating and misleading because we all uniquely respond to health issues. Below is an example. It's perfectly dreadful. I've eliminated the details of her treatment. I am SO fortunate to have the doctors I have!

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Diagnosed with IPF Aug 15 short of breath but fully mobile no O2. Lung biopsy Sept 24 can get around fine 2 lpm O2. Nov 24 on 3 lpm moving about slowly. Dec 25 on 4 lpm O2 can hardly walk. Basically said wait for the end.
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Thank you all for your kind support. I am one lucky woman.


3rd post: Everyone! Thanks so much for all the encouragement - it's humbling though, and this is why. I think that most people given a terminal diagnosis would react the same way as I have. I was in Santa Fe when I was handed my diagnosis so I had a few days to process my grief before I returned home to family and friends. I was lonely and frightened, but processed everything well.
I think we've all played the game *what if I had only 6 months to live?* We all might toy with ideas of traveling, fine dining, shopping sprees... whatever. But when the diagnosis actually arrives, most of us just continue to live. The ordinary becomes the extraordinary.

When I first realized my diagnosis, I immediately thought, "I never saw Venice." *laughing* Truth is, if I really wanted to go to Venice, I could go right now, but it's not important anymore. I just live each day fully with gratitude and hope that along the way I will qualify for a double-lung transplant. This is what inspires and sustains me - as well as my faith and friends and family.

Anyway, all of this is to say that I appreciate your enthusiasm - it means so much to me and empowers me and propels me forward with such happiness and gratitude - but don't ever shortchange yourselves. I suspect many of you would be doing what I'm doing. Living life. xoxo