Finally, Another Update

I am writing this update from the car headed to Wilmington for a spontaneous overnight for the mid-week holiday with Leah and Rod. The North Carolina beaches have been calling our names for weeks now; finally the three of us have off for a few days to relax on the hot sand under the beaming sun. Wilmington is full of great boutiques, shops, and restaurants. Unfortunately I won’t be able to enjoy the gourmet dining the city has to offer due to my strict liquid diet. I was scheduled to have the stomach surgery Monday, but it was postpone due to my blood work last Wednesday revealing a low white blood count of 0.8, which should be at least 3.0 for any surgical procedure. On Friday my WBC was re-drawn and the level was 2.9. Regrettably my surgeon had already canceled the operation because he didn’t think my blood count would be high enough by then. The operating room schedule was then full. The surgery is now planned for July 11th, and until then I am on a liquid diet to ensure that there is no food in my stomach to guarantee a laparoscopic procedure instead of an open incision.

I just returned from about a month of traveling. My first trip was a weekend to Maryland to visit friends’. Beth, my friend from college, organized a team, “Angels for Amber,” for the annual Cystic Fibrosis walk-a-thon. The team with twenty-seven members raised over $3000. Thank you! The following weekend Mackenzie and I drove up to Boston. I spent two weeks in Massachusetts enjoying the company of friend’s and family. I was able to dine, drink, and converse with all the people who supported me throughout the past few years. I stopped at Lynn Union (where Mom works) and met the dozens of nurses, doctors, and techs that followed my story. Laurie decided to make the long drive back to Carolina with me. We divided the trip up and stopped in Philly overnight to visit with my Aunt Cathy, Uncle Ron, and cousin Zoë. I arrived back in Durham after a 13-hour road trip, washed my laundry, and re-packed my suitcases to jump on a plane and head to Oregon for the next thirteen days. There in Eugene I surprised my childhood friend Sierra at her bachelorette party dressing in a full bunny costume pretending to be the hired stripper. When I revealed my face Sierra was in shock, she then started crying hysterically, and then began to curse me out saying she thought I was “sick” and not healthy enough to attend the wedding. To say the least it was a beautiful wedding, the venue in Lorane and attended by friends and their parents I have known my whole life. Susie had a potluck dinner at the farm, we traveled to the coast, ate foods indigenous to the area, spent time with the “Lorane Girls,” was tickled by my grandmother, attended the Saturday market, and enjoyed the peaceful sounds and sights of Windsor Farm.

Physically I am doing marvelous. I was a bit exhausted after all my travels but following many nights (and days) of sleep I have fully recovered. At last weeks clinic visit my numbers looked good. PFTs around 80% and labs were of at normal values (except WBC). My x-ray looked free of any lung problems but the doctor did notice my heart looked a bit enlarged. After an echocardiogram on Friday the results were negative of any fluid surrounding the heart or any reason to be alarmed. I will have lab values drawn one last time before surgery this coming Friday and as long as my WBC comes back over 3.0 all should be set for July 11th, cross your fingers!!

Many more travels are planned for the next few weeks before summers end. In August there will be another “Grimes Fest” (Mom’s side of the family) in Ohio at the new lake house. Then I will be traveling back to Boston, this time to visit friends in Nantucket, Martha’s Vineyard, New Hampshire, and Maine and to attend our good friend Christina’s wedding. Over Labor Day weekend several friends from Oregon and Alaska will be visiting. As fall approaches I plan to buckle down and look for a job. As of now I have a few options in the works, one of which to work in the leasing office as a sales associate here in our apartment complex. For now I am happy traveling, relaxing, hitting the gym, and enjoying the company of my closest friends and loved ones. Thank you all for supporting me through my hardships and triumphs, I will follow up shortly. Sending love from my home to yours. ~Amber