Well, looks like you guys both got a terrific Christmas present....each other.

Has anyone heard from Annette on how Elmer is doing?

I'm still here momoftwo! I have not been online to much & pretty much just once in a while updating my facebook from my phone! Life has been super busy the past few weeks. Elmer is doing great and on the one month anniversary of the transplant this past week he had ZERO REJECTION!!! This is an awesome phone call to get to say the least. We were going to get to go home for good this weekend, but Elmer caught a cold so they didn't release us to go home permenately yet, but they did let us come home for the weekend :o) So I am sitting here in my jammies on my couch in my home with Elmer snoring LOL. It is so nice to be home & we more than likely will get to come home for good.

This little cold has just shown us how cautious we will have to be & how quickly he can catch something. Hand sanitizer is in my purse, the car, all over the house. I keep disinfectent wipes in the car to wipe everything down & I wipe & spray everything at home plus he wears a mask when we are out. That is actually kinda funny to see people look at you LOL they think you have some horrible disease LOL every once in a while someone gets brave enough to ask why he is wearing it & we are happy to tell them why. It is another excuse to promote donor awareness :o)

Anyway I'm sorry I haven't been on here much. Even though Elmer is out of the hospital we are up there almost every day doing lab work & tests. It is now actually starting to slow down & the visits up there are beginning to be more spaced out. We were getting up between 4:30-5:00 every morning to drive up to UCSF spending most of the day up there then driving back. Then I am not sure how many of you know this, but about a week after Elmer was released my dad had to have an emergency quintuple bypass & aortic valve replacement - we almost lost him after the surgery. So then I was going back & forth between 2 hospitals!! He to is doing much better & I have told both of them that I seriously need a 6 month break from hospitals LOL

I was upset because I wanted to start my next round soon, but the transplant has drained us financially to the point of literally no money at all. I was stressing out how I was going to get gas to get up to UCSF so ordering my next round was out of the question any time soon. Then an HCG angel contacted me last week & offered me a free 23 day round! My prayers were answered. This diet is so important to me for myself! I am waiting for it to get here so I can get started again. I have gained a few pounds back the past 2 weeks (probably around 5) & I can feel it in my clothes. It is hard to control what I eat when we are staying somewhere other than home. So I know once we are back home for good & I start again I will have total control like I did when I first started. I am excited & I can't thank God enough for all the miracles he has given us lately. My birthday is the 5th & I am hoping to use it as a load day if my HCG is here.

On February 5th Elmer & I will celebrate our 10 year anniversary. I am so thankful that he will be here with me to celebrate :o) We have decided that since we have been through so much during our marriage that we want to renew our vows. So we are planning on renewing our wedding vows! I have to call the church & see if it is available on Feb 6th & if it is we will gather our family & our friends & renew our commitment to each other. We have covered every inch of our vows to say the least, but I would do it all over again. God gave me the most wonderful husband (2nd time around I got it right) then he showed us how precious life, love & marriage is. We know that everything we have is because of him. We got a new chance at life & we plan on doing everything in our power to use it in a positive way.

I just want to thank ALL of you! Each & everyone of you have given me so much strength through all of this it is just amazing to me how total strangers have come together & bonded! Anyway, I am done rambling LOL I will be back on the forums & facebook more on a regular basis soon & I can't wait to start losing again! I'm hoping I lose as much as i did the first round (22.8 in 21 days) before our vow renewal :o) I won't buy a dress until just before becaue I KNOW I will need a smaller size! Keep in touch all of you because I still need your love & support & I am hoping I can return it to all of you!

Annette,
What a wonderful story! Your testimony just brought tears to my eyes...of happiness..not sadness. I thanked God this morning for the miracle he bestowed on you before I even read this. I think God literally had an angel in there holding Elmer's heart in his hand just pumping it. I find it interesting that what God restored was perfect...the steroids that man did messed up Elmer's insulin. Not funny, but sort of ironic. I know they had no choice because of our unperfect knowledge of how the body works. Just an interesting tidbit. Zero rejection...of course...God gave him that heart. And now the new heart will promise to be as good to you as the old one. What a sweet love story.

I am so happy you updated us Annette with such a beautiful and inspirational story. I think at times we think about what we don't have and forget to stop and look at the many blessings in our lives. I am so thankful that all is well with all of your family. You are one strong and courageous woman! Good luck and keep us posted when you have time =)