1. Welcome to TransplantME. I will be putting this slideshow on
to illustrate the experience of my lung transplant
2. It all started when I was young and my sister dressed me up
in a ballerina outfit. This kind of treatment directly resulted in
my diagnosis of Cystic Fibrosis. Not really but I like to think
so.
3. This was me, four years ago. From this point on in my life,
I started losing weight rather rapidly. After surgery I will be
bigger and better than this.
4. The sicker I got, the more the infections nestled into my
lungs and it was not long until I would need oxygen 24/7.
5. This may look like a lot but its not as bad as whats ahead.
I was needing to take pills, home IV medications, and inhaled
medication.
6. My body started working so hard to breathe that I was
burning more calories than I was taking in. This G-Tube was placed
in order for me to get extra nutrients while still maintaining my
appetite. When everything was said and done, I was taking in around
6,000 calories a day.
7. I started to slowly gain weight. At my low point, I weighed
114 pounds. The number you see here was the weight I needed to
reach in order to be on the transplant list.
8. The pounds started pouring on shortly after I started my
relationship with Mega Stuf Oreos.
9. I decided in November of 2013 that I was going to start
getting worked up for a double lung transplant. Around that same
time I also started preparing for fundraising. This is my symbol. I
needed something unique that represented who I was and what it was
I wanted to accomplish. A friend made this design for me and I fell
in love with it.
10. The first thing I did for fundraising was attack social
media. Facebook was my best friend. One of my high school buddies
put together my website which made fundraising easy. I started
receiving donations almost immediately and felt it was important to
personally thank each one that donated.
11. We have put in several orders for hundreds of shirts and I
love handing them out to the nurses and doctors at UNC.
12. The neat thing about having your own shirts is you can take
a selfie and not feel conceited. I love my shirts.
13. Bo made the first ever TransplantME.com shirt. However, the
cost for doing it on your own is more than having a professional do
it for you.
14. Once I had my brand, my website, and all my transplantME
swag, the time had come to go raise some money. Chick Fil A was an
easy fundraiser and required very little work.
15. The Chick Fil A crew. The cow freaked out little Katherine
Jurney.
16. I wrote Volcom and told them about my fundraising and
wanting to use the Volcom Stone in my design. They said no, but
sent me three huge boxes of items that I could use.
17. Slowly but surely I was getting some of my requests for
raffle/auction items for upcoming fundraising events.
18. The word was spreading about my story and my need for a
double lung transplant and people were putting on small events to
help raise funds.
19. My friend Kate put on an event in Austin, Texas. She put it
together with no help from me or the TransplantME group. Not only
did they have a good time but they also raised a nice amount.
20. On a few occasions I had people who wanted to do something
nice and treat me like a king for a night. VIP seats, autographed
memorabilia, and an experience I will always cherish.
21. One thing I learned throughout this whole process is how
important friendship is. Sometimes one business might not be able
to donate much, but if they team up with other businesses, the
outcome is tremendous.
22. All the volunteers for Blue Door Cut a Thon fundraiser.
Thanks to all involved especially Bekki Johnson.
23. I knew when I started fundraising I would be able to
dedicate my time to one event. I wanted this one fundraising event
to draw people in, make money, and have fun. The First Annual Eric
Buchanan Golf Tournament was one of the best experiences I have had
in my life.
24. We sold out! The country club had to borrow more golf carts
from other locations in order to fill the needs. Thank you Matt
Mercier, Bobby Rosenberg, Jenny Alday, Dan Meyers, Scott Rohrer,
and Bo Jurney!
25. You know it is going to be a good time when the Hooters
girls show up to help. Oh, and free Beer never hurt either. Loosen
those wallets up with some liquid courage!
26. Friends from childhood, high school, and college all came
together to make this day a huge success! The Cardinal Mooney
Cougars dont think twice about helping a friend. Thanks to you
all!
27. This is a short video (5 Minutes) of the tournament. Thank
you Michelle and Diana for following everyone around and making me
feel like I was there.
28. My brother-in-law has been my biggest cheerleader when it
came to spreading the word and getting things done for me. He went
around to local bars, asked if they could save bottle caps for him,
and he started making these custom bottle cap corn hole boards. He
is taking special orders and each one is made to order.
29. *Warning* From here on out, there are going to be some
slides that are graphic. I am not going to hold back on my
experience and I wanted this to be as real as it was. The weekend
before my huge golf tournament I got a call for a set of lungs. I
was told to go to the ER and wait.
30. This stuff is not fun to drink. It tastes bad and well, its
called Go Lightly juice. I guess we can see why it is not fun.
31. This is the moment I found out that I was going to have my
first dry run. A dry run is when the doctors find a set of lungs
that look good enough to transplant so they call me up and get me
prepared in ER. Once the surgeon goes out to get the lungs, I am
moved to the OR prep room to sign waivers, meet the nurses and
anesthesiologists and get a arterial IV started. The surgeon who
went out to harvest the new lungs decides if the lungs are good
enough for transplant, or they are not good enough. Obviously, a
dry run is when the lungs are not good enough and I get sent
home.
32. One trick to staying positive when things are not looking
good is surrounding yourself with the people you love the most. Oh
and using heavy earth moving equipment helps out as well.
33. Being home with family will put a smile on your face no
matter what is going on. I love my two sisters. We share a bond
like no other.
34. A sense of humor helped pass the time between the four dry
runs.
35. I used to love working out but when you cant breathe, it
makes it very difficult and not as much fun. While on the
transplant list I was required to exercise for 20 minutes 3 times a
week. I didnt have much but what I did have I needed to make the
most of.
36. This was taken on evil Thanksgiving 2014! You are thinking,
yay he reached his goal of 150. This number, although accurate, was
due to the fact that I had a blocked bowel. A trip to the local ER
resulted in a long ambulance ride to UNC.
37. I have kept every hospital band from the four dry runs.
This was the last.
38. My faith in the Lord has grown tremendously in just over a
year. I cannot decide if it is because I was close to death and
would eventually stare into its eyes while on the surgery table or
if God was calling me on his own. I started receiving feelings of
overwhelming joy and peace throughout my days. I would be way out
of line if I did not give ALL the credit to God. He put everything
in motion and guided my life every step of the way.
39. This was me, Christmas Day 2014. Hours after surgery but
still awake enough to tell everyone I am O.K.
40. This was my first walk with new lungs. It was late
Christmas Night less than 24 hours after surgery. Notice the rack
of IV medicine behind me? They brought oxygen along but I did not
need it.
41. My little buddy came to visit me the day after. You can see
I still have an IV in my neck, four chest tubes, and one of the two
drains in my abdomen.
42. Bo and I. Words cannot express how I feel about this guy. I
get choked up just thinking about it. Throughout this whole thing,
start to present, Bo has been my biggest supporter. He has invested
so much time and energy into TransplantME that it is almost
unhealthy. A man that puts his family and loved ones first is the
one that already has it all in life. Thank you Bo Jurney. Without
you none of this would be the same.
43. Neck IV is out and bandages changed. I got the closest
thing to a bath. I also had to get a picc line in my right arm in
order to receive my IV drugs.
44. I started this slideshow as soon as I got out of the ICU. I
have been working hard to collect pictures throughout the whole
transplant experience in order to give a more visual idea of what
is involved. These are just a fraction of the pills I will need to
take my whole life as well as a nebulized breathing treatment that
is bright neon yellow and requires a filter to prevent second hand
exposure. I thought I had a fair representation but apparently I
was wrong as I take a lot more than this.
45. These two klunkers were my chest tube boxes that would help
drain the fluid from around my new lungs. I had a total of 4 chest
tubes. Wherever I went I had to bring these two boxes, an IV pole,
and a catheter bag. It gave a whole new meaning to going to the
restroom because by the time I got there, I needed to rest.
46. They were able to take one chest tube out rather early but
the other three stayed in for a while longer. This is the chest
tube. You can see just above where her bottom hand is there is a
white piece of tape. The white piece of tape is where the tube
entered my chest.
47. Three chest tubes left.
48. No more chest tubes!
49. I know I look like a goof ball in one of these pictures but
I was so focused on washing my hair, I didnt care. These cool
shower cap looking things have a dissolvable soap and water in
them. You heat it up and then wash your hair with it!
50. No tubes, no wires, and no oxygen. This is what it was all
about. What you dont see is the inside of my body that is
completely wiped of all immune system. My body is extremely
vulnerable to infections and disease. The hardest part of this
journey has just begun but I will be ready.
51. Left Side Right Side
52. *
53. This whole experience has been nothing short of amazing. I
have gotten support from people I never thought would show interest
in my progress. I have been humbled time and time again. Often I
get asked if this transplant was hard on me and I tell them no. No
because instead of falling just on my shoulders, in a way, it fell
on all of our shoulders. All of you who are reading this have
supported me and eased my burden in some fashion. I have grown so
much spiritually and put my faith in God. Now I want to give back.
I have been quietly working behind the scenes on a project that
will literally change the lung transplant process here at UNC. A
few days ago I got the approval from the University of North
Carolina Cardio Thoracic surgery department to help raise funds for
a device called XVIVO Lung Perfusion. I will be posting more about
that later. In the meantime, just because I have been transplanted
does not mean my journey is coming to an end. It is actually just
beginning. I will occur the most expenses now until my one year
mark. The possibility for rejection or infection is around 50% the
first three months. More than likely I will experience one or both
of these and need to be admitted back into the hospital and my
required stay in Durham will be extended. My prescriptions are
forever changing and therefore will need more authorization from
insurance and probably more money as well. We will be holding the
2nd Annual TransplantME Golf Tournament in May, June, or July. This
time, I will be there and be giving half of the proceeds to another
person in need of a double lung transplant but who is less
fortunate than me. Stay posted and thank you again for all you have
done.