Tuesday, August 26, 2008

parrrr-tayyyy

just to make it official, i spoke with my recipient-- HE IS ALIVE AND OKAY!!! :)

he was having a hard time adjusting and re-adjusting to the many, many, many types of medications (mostly anti-rejection medications) that he was taking. we spoke on saturday night and i found out that his sleep schedule is completely upside down. for the most part, he is sleeping during the day and staying awake at night. he is only able to sleep about an hour or two at most. additionally, he is unable to hang out or even go near crowds of people, for fear of exposure to germs and infection-- until the 6 week mark-- which is today!!  yay!! 

he told me about a "celebration" party that is going to be held on the 30th or 31st of august (i am sincerely hoping the 31st-- i have plans on the night of the 30th)-- my friends are invited; i think i texted everyone who might be interested in coming-- but if i left you out, contact me!! victor from NBC is going to try and come so he can tape us for a "final interview" of sorts. my recipient and i have not seen each other since the date of surgery-- in fact, the day i left the hospital, my parents went down to his room to say goodbye, but i was in too much pain to make the trip downstairs and i waited in my room for my escort to come-- so i really haven't seen him since july 16th ((my parents anniversary!!)). he also told me that he wrote a song for his girlfriend, who has been aiding and supporting him throughout this process, and a song about the experience in general. he will be selling the songs on iTunes for .99 cents -- once i have the link, i'll post it on here so you can check it out. my recipient said he would like to donate a part of the proceeds to www.matchingdonors.com, the website that linked us.

also, i was contacted by siena student Alyssa who writes for my college newspaper, the promethean. she interviewed me via phone for a short article that will be in next edition's paper. once i have the link to that, i'll post it on here so you can check it out-- i'm not sure when it goes to print. i hope to get a hard copy of this because i'd really like to make a memory book of this experience. i still need to call NY Presbyterian because they taped the surgery and i'd really like a copy of that. 

six weeks, wow... when i was at two weeks, i was wondering how the hell i would ever make it beyond that point. i can't believe it has been six weeks. my body doesn't even notice that it is missing an organ, haha. 

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Melissa -
I am so proud of you!
Partners in stitches,
Jody

Lyss said...

That's great to hear!! Have fun!

It was great to talk to you and of course you will get a hard copy!!

-Alyssa

Siena Communications said...

Hi Melissa,
Hope you had fun at the party...We want to tell your story in the Fall Siena News, so email me your contact information.
amaloney@siena.edu