Tag: donate life

Looking for some Advice

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For a long time, people have been telling me, Lauren’s story should be a book.  Well, for the past year I have been working on it.  The final manuscript should be done in about 2 months.  So exciting….

I have worn many hats in my life, so now I want to wear that hat that say’s Published Author.  Now how to achieve this??????????

I have been looking at different self publishing companies, just not sure which one would be the right fit.

If anyone has any advise you can pass on I would really appreciate it.

The one goal of this book is to maybe people other’s that are in the situation we were in.  Let them know they are not alone, like I felt.  When you find yourself in a world you have no idea what is going on, what is going to happen, you feel so lost.  I hope our story would give comfort, that their are other families out there, and you can get through it.

Thank you in advance for any idea’s

Lynne  1437940979_love_valentines_day_11

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NEBA Funny Fun , laughing for a cause

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If you are looking for a night of fun, here it is.

NEBA  New England Business Associates first annual comedy Fundraiser.

Headliner Jeff Charlebois, a professional comedian from LA

To purchase tickets, click on link below

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/neba-funny-fundraiser-tickets-21313335761

NEBA FUNNY FUNdraiser Save the date.jpg

For all local viewers of Mass Appeal

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Tomorrow is going to be a big day for Lauren.  Her first TV interview.

Lauren is going to be on Mass Appeal TV Show.  She is nervous , it is  recored live.  April is National Donate Life Month, time to spread the word.  Set your DVR’s.

We would like to thank the city of Chicopee for flying the Donate Life flag in front of city hall.

Lauren’s radio spot on Rock 102 has been changed to next Monday, on the Bax & O’Brien Show.  Last time she was on, she knew how handle them lol.

Please consider becoming an organ donor.

Click on the link on the top of the home page to sign up

Love Lynne  donatelifelogo_400x400

April is Donate Life Month

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donatelifelogo_400x400

http://www.donatelife.net

Lauren and I went to present the City Of Chicopee Ma.USA at the mayor’s office with the official Donate Life flag to be proudly hung in the center for the month of April.  It is such an honor that our city will help in recognizing the importance of being awareness of Donate Life.

During the month of April, Lauren will be promoting and explaining why you should become an organ donor.  On April 5th, Lauren will be featured on Mass Appeal TV show,(set your DVR), and also she will be on the Bax & O’Brien radio show…date to come.

“Everyday I thank God for the person that decided to make that decision to become a donor, otherwise I am not sure if Lauren would be here with us today”.  

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Please click on the link  today to sign up, become a super hero

http://www.donatelife.net

National Donate Life Month (NDLM) was instituted by Donate Life America and its partnering organizations in 2003. Celebrated in April each year, NDLM features an entire month of local, regional and national activities to help encourage Americans to register as organ, eye and tissue donors and to celebrate those that have saved lives through the gift of donation.

2016 National Donate Life Month
For the 2016 National Donate Life Month artwork, Donate Life America was inspired by the mighty sunflower. It’s difficult to overlook their stature and bright color. A sunflower’s orangey yellow hue evokes feelings of optimism, warmth and cheerfulness. Often found in fields, they stand confident, sheltering each other and following the light throughout their lives.

Look a little closer and you will notice that one sunflower’s face contains as many as 2,000 seeds. With these, it has the potential to create an entirely new field of flowers. We each have a similar potential to give life when we register our decision to become an organ, eye and tissue donor. One organ donor can save and heal the lives of up to eight people through organ donation and countless others through tissue donation. A chance at new life gives beyond the recipient. Just as a new field of sunflowers brings comfort and happiness to those that come into contact with it, so does a loved one’s gift of donation to his or her family and friends.

Through life and its struggles, the sunflower reminds us to lean on each other and embrace the life-giving aspects of our lives. It reminds us to live with joy, to focus on the light even during difficult times, and to give freely to save the lives of others when we are gone.

We wish you a Happy National Donation Life Month. Thank you for your efforts in educating and registering others as organ, eye and tissue donors!

http://www.donatelife.net

Lynne 1437940979_love_valentines_day_11

Lauren, one of the Leading Ladies for the Go Red For Women

Lynne13241 Comment

Lauren was selected to become one of the 2016 Go Red Leading Ladies of Western Ma.  Lauren is seated in the front row center.  When Lauren was asked she said “It is an honor to be asked and help the American Heart Association in the Go Red campaign to help bring awareness of heart disease in women”.

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Yes I can say, I am a very proud mother.

Also, not only being in the campaign poster, Lauren has been asked to be the guest speaker at the Go Red For Women Luncheon.  At the luncheon, before Lauren speaks, there is going to be a video shown of Lauren speaking about what has brought her to be part of this organization.  The film crew came here to our home.

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Lauren was very nervous, but did an outstanding job.  She actually had the director and the film crew in tears talking about her story, her life experiences.  Oh hell, she had me in tears also.  I cannot what to see the finished video.

I am so proud of the women Lauren has become, and is using her life experiences to help others.

Below is information about the Go Red For Women Luncheon, please show your support for this wonderful organization.

Where:
Log Cabin
500 East Hampton Road
Holyoke, Massachusetts, 01040     
Link to Map
When:
Starts:Fri, 26 Feb 2016 11:00:00 AM
Ends:Fri, 26 Feb 2016 2:00:00 PM

The western Massachusetts Go Red For Women Luncheon is the American Heart Association’s signature event! Join us for a delicious heart healthy lunch while learning about women’s heart health. The day will include survivor speakers, health screenings, and a keynote speaker. The Go Red For Women movement is dedicated to making an impact in the community through education and fund raising to fight the number one killer of women, heart disease.

To register visit http://www.wmassgored.ahaevents.org

Lynne1437940979_love_valentines_day_11

Meaning of New Heart=New Beginnings

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New Heart = New Beginnings

I started this site after Lauren had her heart transplant and we were home.  I thought the title was appropriate.  New Heart is self explanatory, but New Beginnings takes on it’s own meaning.  I never knew what life had in store for us.  All I knew was we had a new beginning in life.

It has been a little over two years since Lauren received her new heart.  Medically Lauren is doing fantastic.  We have had a couple of bumps in the road, but Lauren being Lauren, she has tackled the obstacles and is moving forward in life.  I am so proud of the strength she has and is an inspiration to me and anyone she comes in contact with.  Lauren is now very active in the American Heart Go Red For Women Association and also Donate Life Organization.  Going out with friends, going to the gym, just living life.

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In my next post I have some very exciting news about what Lauren has been up to …….

In the past two years, New Beginnings has had it’s ups and downs.   When Lauren was in the hospital, as a parent you experienced and have seen things a parent should never have to go through, but when you don’t have a choice, you just do what you need to do.

For the past couple of years, this is what I would see in my mind:

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I was always afraid something would happen and we would end up back in the hospital.  Always afraid the heart would reject, then having to start the process all over again.  Hearing the sounds of the machines, nurses in the room all the time, sleeping on whatever is available.  A part of me always lived in fear, for my daughter and myself.  Not to mention, my husband who would travel every weekend to be with us.

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At the beginning, those feeling are so understandable.   When a parent see’s their child in this condition, words cannot describe an emotion you feel.  You just pray that this nightmare will be over soon and the two of you will be walking out the hospital doors soon.

Well, it’s been two years now and I can honestly say this vision is finally fading away.  Yes it took little over two years for me to believe that, that is our past.

I am writing this to release feeling that I have been harboring within me.  You can say this is my release of memories that have given me nightmare, anxiety and the past.  I need to put the past in the past and life for the future.

To all my friends that I have pushed aside, I am sorry.  My breaking point was when Dean, Lauren and I took a trip to Florida for my sister’s birthday.  My mother was there and I can say we got into a conversation about Lauren and how I have been feeling and acting.  She told me I probably need counseling, to help me.  I got upset and said I didn’t.  Well, after that conversation, I did a lot of soul searching and my mother was right.  I didn’t get counseling, I thought long and hard about how I have been acting.  I had to realize Lauren was OK.  She wasn’t going to be rushed to the hospital.  Lauren is 25 years old and she doesn’t need her mother worrying all the time about her.  Lauren needs to be 25.

Since realizing Lauren is OK, I have been able to think about my life.  I need to reconnect to friends I haven spoken with in quite a while.  Need to focus on my husband more.  Lauren is 25, so my husband and I can start doing more things together as a couple.

With this say, Lynne is moving forward, thanks mom for opening my eyes

Surgery again in our household, Lynne’s story

Lynne13243 Comments

Yes, I’m having surgery tomorrow morning.  January has been a hell of a month for us.  I’ve taken take of my daughter now it’s my turn to take care of myself.

About 8 weeks ago, I started to experience pain in my back that traveled down into my right leg.  Didn’t think much of it, until it started to get worse with no relief.  I finally had to call my Dr.  A couple of years ago, I was experiencing lower back pain.  I was diagnosed with Degenerative Disc Disease‎.  I did physical therapy and it went away.  But now it is back.

First they tried me with 800mg of ibuprofen.  The pain just kept getting worse.  Then they gave me prednisone which is a steroid for 5 days.  Nothing.  After that I received muscle relaxers to help.  This was around Christmas time now.  I can honestly say, it ruined my Christmas.  I had a couple of mimosa’s in the morning trying to enjoy my Christmas morning with my family, but it is true you cannot mix booze with muscle relaxers.  Let’s just say, I worked so hard to have a beautiful Christmas for my family and it did not turn out that way.

Went back to my Dr. and now they had me go for an MRI.  At this point the pain was just ongoing.  Every moment of the day, it has been getting stronger and stronger.  I cannot sleep, and if I do I end up waking up around 2-3 in the morning with pain that I have to stay up.  Laying down makes it throb more.  When I had the MRI done, it was so painful.   I could not lay still, my back and leg kept going into spasms.  I had to just bite down on my lip and keep telling myself you can do this.  The whole time I was having this done, I kept thinking about my daughter and all the procedures she had to endure.  If she could go through the hell she went through, then I could do this.

Results from the MRI came in. I was on the phone with my Dr. and she said “normally I would have you come into my office to talk, there seems to be a mass on your spine”.  I really wasn’t sure I heard her correctly so I said to her, “are you saying that I might have the C word. (I couldn’t say the word).  She wanted me to see an Neural Surgeon.  I just sat there and cried, I felt like my whole world just ended.  About an hour after I got off the phone with my Dr., my phone rang and it was the surgeons office calling.  They wanted me to come in that day.  Now I was really scared.  Called my husband  and he was home before I could get myself together enough to be able to talk.  We went to the office and to our relief, it is not a mass.  I have 2 herniated disks that is hitting my sciatic nerve and the image she saw was my bone protruding out a bit.  We scheduled the surgery but it was going to be 3 weeks away.  So for the last 3 weeks I have been living with a pain I wouldn’t wish on anyone.  They have me on percocets to help with the pain, but it is really not touching it.  This is how bad the pain is…Dean and I were invited to go to the Patriots playoff game.  Great seats so there wouldn’t be that much walking.  At first I said no, I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to walk it, but then said the hell with it, I can do this.  Well, I only lasted till half time.  Thank God we had a hotel room close to the stadium.

So tomorrow hopefully I will be able to get rid of the pain I have been living with.  When we went to the hospital with Lauren I actually had to use a wheelchair, I could walk the hospital.  I am very nervous about having back surgery, but I have no choice at this point. I guess it’s Lauren time to step up and take care of her mom for a bit.

So to all my friends out there, if you haven’t heard from me in awhile, this is the reason why.  Just staying in and trying to find positions that try to make me comfortable.

Wish me luck

Lauren told me, “you got this mom”.

Love Lynne  1437940979_love_valentines_day_11

Biopsy results are in

Lynne1324Leave a comment

NO REJECTION

News we were praying for.

I wish I could say it smooth sailing now, but when Lauren was in surgery having her biopsy the Dr. found that Lauren has an arteriovenous fistula in her groin area.  When you hear the Dr. trying to explain to you what it is, all I heard was Lauren has something wrong and she might need surgery.  I went numb.   At this point, we spoke with her transplant team yesterday, yes they gave us the great news no rejection, but they also told us the they are contacting a vascular surgeon.  Our first appointment they told us will probably be they will need to do an ultra sound  to see the extent of the fistula.  Then we will know more.  To try to explain what I am talking about:

An arteriovenous (AV) fistula is an abnormal connection between an artery and a vein. Normally, blood flows from your arteries to your capillaries to your veins. Nutrients and oxygen in your blood travel from your capillaries to tissues in your body.

With an arteriovenous fistula, blood flows directly from an artery into a vein, bypassing some capillaries. When this happens, tissues below the bypassed capillaries receive a diminished blood supply.

Causes of arteriovenous fistulas include:  This is how Lauren’s biopsy procedure is done.

Cardiac catheterization. An arteriovenous fistula may develop as a complication of a procedure called cardiac catheterization. During cardiac catheterization, a long, thin tube called a catheter is inserted in an artery or vein in your groin, neck or arm and threaded through your blood vessels to your heart.

If the needle used in the catheterization crosses an artery and vein during your procedure, and the artery is widened (dilated), this can create an arteriovenous fistula. This rarely happens.

Catheterization procedure
The patient lies face up on a table during the catheterization procedure, and is connected to a cardiac monitor . The insertion site is numbed with a local anesthetic, and access to the vein or artery is obtained using a needle. A sheath, a rigid plastic tube that facilitates insertion of catheters and infusion of drugs, is placed in the puncture site. Under fluoroscopic guidance, a guide-wire (a thin wire that guides the catheter insertion) is threaded through a brachial or femoral artery to the heart. The catheter, a flexible or preshaped tube approximately 32–43 in (80–110 cm) long, is then inserted over the wire and threaded to the arterial side of the heart. The patient may experience pressure as the catheter is threaded into the heart. The contrast agent, or dye, used for imaging is then injected so that the physician can view the heart and surrounding vessels. The patient may experience a hot, flushed feeling or slight nausea following injection of the contrast medium. Depending on the type of catheterization (left or right heart) and the area being imaged, different catheters with various shapes and ends are used.

F3.large Hope this picture helps explain.

The procedure usually lasts about two or three hours. If further intervention is necessary, an angioplasty, stent implantation, or other procedure can be performed. At the end of the catheterization, the catheter and sheath are removed, and the puncture site is closed using a sealing device or manual compression to stop the bleeding. One commonly used sealing device is called Perclose, which allows the doctor to sew up the hole in the groin. Other devices use collagen seals to close the hole in the femoral artery.

The femoral blood vessels are important conduits for blood traveling between the heart and lower limb. The femoral artery carries blood to the lower limb while the femoral vein carries blood back to the heart. These structures are common sites for conditions that cause narrowing or blockage of the blood vessels.

This past week-end, I kinda lost it.  The thought of something wrong, living in the hospital again was very overwhelming.  I needed to get my anger out and thank god for my family, I took it out on them.  Mom, Donna and Laureen sorry, but thank you.  Your family is the only ones that you can let loose and know they are there for you.

Will post when we hear more.

Lynne1437940979_love_valentines_day_11

Giving Thanks

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On this post I would like to give thanks for being home with my family.  Something that so many people take for granted.  The little things in life.

  • Waking up in your own bed.
  • Sitting in your pajamas and having that first cup of coffee.
  • If you are hungry, going into the kitchen to make something to eat.
  • Take a shower then be able to pick out whatever you would like to wear for the day.

These are just a couple of examples of things that I will never take for granted again in my life.

When I was living in the hospital with my daughter Lauren, I could not do that.  When I would wake up in the morning (from a disturbed sleep from all the nurses and Dr.’s coming in and out all night), from my couch that was my bed, I had to go into my suitcase and pick out what outfit to wear.  Slim pickings, so many days I would have to wear the same cloths.  Depending on what was going on for that day, a shower would be in question.  So a lot of the times it meant a sponge bath to make myself feel human and presentable.  Then it was “I need a coffee”.  Get money.  Walk down to the cafeteria, make my coffee wait in a long line to pay, now I can sit with all the hassle and bustle of all the hospital employees going on about their day ahead.  So relaxing, NOT.  Living in a hospital is very expensive, so I would pass on breakfast and wait until around 2p.m. to eat.    Most of the time I would snack on crackers, that was on the hospital floor. To be able to have a meal, it meant going back to the cafeteria, walk around to see what they were serving.  Most of the time I would opt for a salad, it was a make your own.  When you got and pay they would weigh it, so I would get a salad and a drink we are looking at about $10.00.

Theses memories are so real.  I will never forget that way of life.  This went on for almost a year and a half.  As I am writing this, so so many people are living that life right now.  Family members that are living in the hospital with their loved ones.  Someone is waking up, packing up their bedding and probably saying to themselves,” I can’t do this another day”.  Then you look at your loved one laying in the hospital bed, hooked up to machines and you say to yourself “Yes I can”.

To everyone living in a hospital, you are not alone.  I feel your pain, your frustration.  I was blessed and I am home now with my daughter.  My prayers are going out to you for the strength you need to go one more day. One day at a time.

If you need to vent to talk, please contact me.  I can relate to your situation.

lrobitaillecld@aol.com

Lynne  1437940979_love_valentines_day_11