Another Phriend Lost

Becky was a 21yr old woman who had been waiting on the transplant list for almost a year and a half. She needed a new heart as well as lungs. She had pulmonary hypertension and congenital heart disease, and was diagnosed when she was 6 years old. She was a special case, as her heart was located on the right side of her chest instead of the left, and it was backwards. It made a complicated case for the doctors, but they listed her because they thought they would be able to do the transplant whenever that time came.

Becky finally got her call last night. I saw it on her sister's Facebook page, and I actually cried. I'd been praying for her for so long, and I was so happy she was finally getting her 2nd chance. Of course, I was hoping this wouldn't be a dry run for her. But when I got up this morning, I received an email from Becky's mom saying that the surgery had started at 6:15am my time. I prayed all day that the surgery would be successful and that Becky would do well. However, tonight I heard from a phriend who talked to Becky's mom that Becky wasn't doing well, that the heart wasn't responding well, and that they had to take Becky back into surgery to stop some severe bleeding. A couple hours after that, I found out that Becky had died at 10:02 my time (EST). I am very saddened to know that she never got her chance to heal from the surgery and experience life more. She was so young, and she had been sick for so very long. It's heartbreaking that I've lost, well, that the PH community has lost, another phriend. It's also maddening. We need a cure. Not tomorrow, TODAY. Too many are dying because there needs to be a cure. I pray for one every single day.

In the meantime, I'm praying for Becky's family, who have got to be shellshocked and devastated. Not only was Becky's life put on hold, but theirs as well. They all wanted so badly for Becky to be better. Her mom, especially, did every single thing she could to care for Becky. So I pray for strength for them, because they are going to need it. They are going to take a very long time to heal, I'm sure of that.

Comments

Anonymous said…
I was so sad to hear about Becky. She waited so long and I was so happy to hear she got the call. I am so sad for her family and friends. I am with you, this is so upsetting..I am angry that by now we still do not have a cure!! We have lost too many wonderful PHriends to this disease!! Love ya Lots and sending ya some extra hugs this week!! Great job on your PH Awareness too:))
11:49 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Health Changes

 I finally thought I was making progress with my anxiety that had ramped up again back in November of last year. It's been a very long road of not feeling good, trying to increase the Remeron, trying to learn once again that my life is worth a whole lot of SOMETHING. The tremendous loss of my mom, my grandma, a couple of dear phriends, and the nursing home volunteering put a huge pressure of my value of what my life is supposed to be like. However, I had finally started to turn that around. In June, I was robbed (another story for another time, maybe), and on that day I figured that out, I realized I wasn't anxious at all. I was pumped with adrenaline that whole day since I was so angry, so I thought for sure the anxiety would be back again, but it wasn't. And for at least a month and a half, it's been pretty decent. I've been so thankful for that.  But in the last several weeks, I don't know what has happened to my body, especially my abdominal area, but I have
Read more

My Most Inspiring Possession

Image
A dear friend named Judi, whose journal I've been reading for years, has brought back her ARTSY ESSAY CONTEST ! I'm very excited about this, and hope that others will read the wonderful essays already posted in Judi's blog! Here is the topic for this month's new installment: What is your favorite and most inspiring possession? Tell us about it, and if you want an extra creative challenge... tell us about it without naming it until the very last sentence of your essay:):):) I own alot of possessions. When I first moved out of my parents' house, almost 9 years ago, I took this possession with me. It was mine, I had bought it, but I did allow the other members of my family to use it from time to time while I was at home. This possession has been a tremendous outlet for me to do a wide variety of things. I was able to record the barking of our first family dog, something that was cherished when she sadly died way too early for her doggy lifespan. I also was able to save
Read more

The Ideal Day

Once again, it's that time of month for dear Judi's Artsy Essay Contest! Please see the rules and regulations for this month here . I entered a couple month's ago when Judi decided to revive this wonderful contest, and decided I'd like to give it a shot this month! Here goes! My Ideal Day My ideal day would start out at 7am to get ready for work, instead of getting up to take a pill. My ideal day would be going to work as a teacher, instead of wondering if I'd feel well enough to do anything for that day. My ideal day would be working out at a gym, instead of hoping to have enough energy to just walk for 6 minutes on the treadmill at home. My ideal day would be to freely walk about around my home and in public, instead of being tethered to a plastic tube going into my nose, providing oxygen to keep me going. My ideal day would be remembering meeting times with friends or family, instead of keeping track of the 8 different times I need to take a pill or vitamin in
Read more