ONE YEAR!!!!!

A bit of Red Sox Nation at Safeco Field in Seattle!

A huge heart greeting to all my stars and angels out there, near and far!!

Believe it or not, one year ago today, tonight really, Pete was writing from the Univ. Hospital surgery waiting room as I was beginning the 7.5 hour heart transplant surgery!!! As he, his brother Chas, and my sister Kate stayed up that night, the surgeons and nurses were performing a miracle on me. What an absolutely amazing thing.

I am fighting back tears as I think of all of you who prayed for me, sent me love, light, energy, blessings, etc., and as I think about my donor, Tony, and his parents/family. It was both difficult and wonderful to learn of his identity, when his parents wrote me back just before Christmas. I am now comfortable enough with the fact that he gave me his heart to share this with you now. I thank Tony and his parents every day (morning and night), and I am so very grateful for this chance at life I have been given. To be sure, this last year has not been easy or all smooth sailing, but despite the bumps (even the big abdominal one 6 weeks ago!), I am still grateful.

SO MUCH MORE GRATITUDE:
First, I have to say a special thanks and love to my dearest Pete and our two crazy and wonderful boys Mason and Liam.
Another special thank you to Mom, Dad, Kate, Caroline, Christopher, Christina, Noah, and Wylie, as well as to Pete's family -- Sally, Allen, Chas, Sara, Walker, Reed, Dave, and Carol. Thank you all for your love and support these many months/years!!
Our deepest thanks and love to our Allie, and her family, as well as to Melissa and Ben and their family for all the amazing support and friendship their two families have given our family.
A big massive thanks to my doctors, nurses, PAs, MAs, technicians, etc. for all their dedication and hard work and their fantastic care of me.
I am thankful for new friends such as Kate M., who is helping me regain my energy and has taught me much in the few weeks I have known her.
Finally, I thank my colleagues and bosses at the Solicitor's Office who have been so very supportive over this last year. Thanks for giving me the time I need to heal, for picking up my slack, and for simply caring.

A request: I ask again that you direct some of your prayers, blessing, energy and light to my friend Jim Jablonski who just passed three-years of waiting for a new heart and is currently hospitalized and waiting anxiously for a new heart.

So, on this day, this week, I look back with a heart full of all kinds of emotions, and I look FORWARD to every day I am given on this earth, with a heart ready and willing to live to my full potential!!

One last note:
For those of you afar, I wanted to let you know we are having a celebration of my anniversary and fundraiser on Saturday, June 27, 2009. You did not get the evite if you are not local, but we are holding an afternoon open-house at the park one-mile down the hill from our house to celebrate my transplant anniversary and to raise funds and organ donation awareness to benefit Intermountain Donor Services (IDS), http://www.idslife.org/. IDS is the organization that really makes transplants happen (facilitates/coordinates the matching, works with/counsels donor families, etc.) in our region (there is one for every region of the National Transplant list managed by UNOS (United Netword for Organ Sharing)).

This is from the website: IDS is a "federally designated nonprofit community service organization dedicated to the recovery and transplantation of organs and tissues. IDS serves Utah, south eastern Idaho, and Western Wyoming encompassing 2.7 million residents, 79 hospitals, and 4 transplant centers. IDS performs its procurement role, combined with community awareness and education, with the following goals in mind: To provide high quality organ and tissue procurement services to the medical and public communities we serve. To educate medical professionals and the public sector on the benefits of organ and tissue donation in order to provide, in a sensitive manner, the option of donation to all individuals. To provide an organizational environment that attracts, retains, and motivates qualified employees who are dedicated to our mission, vision, and values."

Assuming you cannot attend our shindig, I wanted to invite you all to become registered organ donors in the state in which you reside, if you are not currently a donor.

Also, if you are interested in contributing to our cause, please make a check out to Intermountain Donor Services or IDS, and send to us at 7318 Pinebrook Rd., Park City, UT 84098.

IF there is anyone local who receives this posting but did not get the evite - I humbly apologize!! You ARE invited and it was simply an oversight on my part. We have invited lots of people, which is why this is an "open-house," and we do not want to exclude anyone!! Please call or email me or call Melissa Wiczek (801.419.1508) or Laura Climaco (435.659.9812) for details.

Lots of love, peace, and thanks,
Emily

Free like a bird!

Greetings from Seattle, where, yesterday late afternoon, I flew like a bird (with the aid of Southwest Airlines) with Pete, Mason, and Liam for the first time post-transplant!

Thankfully, all my docs (cardiac transplant team and surgeons from Abdom. surgery 2 weeks ago) happily signed off on our scheduled trip to Seattle, what we call the "come full circle" trip -- As you may recall, we were supposed to come here last Memorial Day weekend 2008 but had to cancel because of my cardiac cath/diagnosis and evaluation for transplant! We are even planning on going to a Red Sox game tomorrow night! John Lester is pitching and my sister and husband think it will be a great duel between the Mariners and Sox. Oh Joy (ha, ha!). But, it WILL be joy to be in a beautiful spot in the presence of my hubby who so loves the Sox and baseball. It will be Liam's first game, Mason's 3rd I think. And Kate and Caroline love bball too! Besides yummy beer, Safeco Field even offers fried clams, sushi, garlic fries, and of course, hot dogs!

In any event, I just wanted to share the great news that I am well enough to be here, so thankful for both my excellent, healthy heart, my recovering GI system, my fantastic doctors, and my family! We went to the Seattle Aquarium this morning to witness lots of neat fish, star fish, seals, otters, coral, etc., and then we had a real heart healthy but yummy lunch at Seattle's renowned Bob's Red Mill where one dines on awesome shakes (coffee for the parents, strawberry for the boys), "boogers, and flies" (burgers and fries, as Mason has dubbed them after one of the Froggy books). Back at the Aunties' abode, Liam and I both had naps (I slept for 2 hours with the aid of Percocet - pain meds are key!), while Pete and Mason rode bikes outside. So glad to be here!!
Thanks for all your love and support, and have a great weekend all,
Em

WIND "breaker"

Good evening and happy Cinco de Mayo:

You might be wondering about the title of this blog entry, but leave it to my Dad to crack me up when my abdomen been sliced open and my bowel pulleds out and "played with" -- suffice it to say, it hurts like hell! In any event, I just finished my evening meds with a shot of pain med and benedyrl (to help me sleep), so this will be short.

I am doing much better now that I have "broken wind" and had a few "movements"! I am eating again after another day of no-food, yesterday, since my belly was in lots of pain and a bit distended. so far, so good with the food. I really was incredibly relieved (no pun intended) to have finally passed gas and pooped. As I said to my sister Kate on the phone last night, "pray for poop like you have never prayed before!" It worked!

Pete kindly brought me yummy chicken noodle soup tonight. Shea brought the boys to visit in the am, and I took lots of walks and even had my first post-op shower! Mason's teacher Miss Elaine came over tonight to play with the boys and help give them supper and get ready for bed. Apparently, Mason was in complete heaven - he loves Elaine so very very much!

Yes, it sucks being here, but I am trying to rest as much as possible and heal as best as possible in this environment. I slept well last night, especially after the 1:30am wind-beaking! So, nothing more to report. Thanks to all for your "virtual" support and love and for your calls, visits, and emails.

Sleep well, and lots of love, Emily
p.s. Here are before-and after-pics of our adorable boys having received their annual buzz cut this past Saturday, curtesy of Melissa!

So lucky and thankful once again!

Greetings to all you friends and family!

First, my deepest love and thanks to my dear husband Pete for once again sticking by my side, for taking such good care of me, for letting me squeeze his hand so very tightly as I was in agonizing pain in the wee hours of Wed. night/am. As you know from Pete's posting Thursday night, I am back in the U Hospital after having had emergency surgery to unkink/unwind my colon/large intestine, which also involved removing/cutting out 17 inches of dead (necrotic) intestinal tissue! FYI, the large intestine is about 5 feet long, so I have plenty left!! According to my excellent surgeons, (Drs. John Langell and David Larsen), I was extremely lucky -- they were able to handle my twisted bowels just in the nick of time, i.e., before my colon/intestine ruptured, which would have made me septic, and having a compromised immune system . . . well, that would have been really really bad!!

In any event, despite the short-lived but extreme pain and agony of a couple of days ago, and despite having to be hospitalized, I am truly fortunate in having had life-saving surgery once again! I now fully understand why the core of the body is called the core - lots of muscles in there that are sore! And, I now have a lovely scar virtually the entire vertical length of my abdomen! The new incision starts a couple of inches below the bottom of my "heart scar," and travels for 7 or 8 inches. At the moment, the incision is actually partially still open - it is sewn shut in the center but remains open a few inches on top and bottom (the facia is sewed shut but the subcutaneous fat and skin layers are open). They did this to help ensure that I would have no infection between the fat and skin, as the abdominal area had a lot of "murky fluid" in it when they opened me up. Over the next few days, the docs will slowly close the wound by attaching steri-strips to seal the incision.

I was not allowed much fluid (other than IV fluids) until today (a bit of water/ice chips yesterday) and was not allowed to eat until today, when I began a liquid diet of applesauce, soup, juice, water. So far, so good! Now I await for some of the illustrious bowel activity (sound familiar Barb and Tom?!).

It is a bit lonely here, but thankfully Pete brought the boys to visit this morning! Of course they had fun playing with the bed's buttons and having a snack of juice and crackers. I feel terribly sad that my dear Pete has to deal with a sick wife once again, but he is strong, we are strong, and we'll make it through! And, once again, the irony of all of this is that my new heart is functioning very well. One of the Transplant Cardiologist's said to me today, "Well, your heart passed a huge stress test with flying colors!" Ain't that the truth.

Alas, I do not know much yet in terms of the recovery process, except that I will not be able to lift for a while, I will have to be off work for some period of time again, and we will need all your friendship, love, and support over the coming weeks! Thanks to all of you who have already called or sent messages - we appreciate it.

Thanks for being there for us/with us in the ongoing drama called life!
Lots of love and peace,
Emily

p.s. If you are so inclined, you can reach me on my cell, or by calling the U Hosp. at 801.585.8652 (direct line to my room 630).

Back at the UofU

Emily is unfortunately back in the hospital this evening after a 2 hour surgery to untwist her colon. The good news is she did great during the procedure with no major complications and no minor inconveniences i.e. a need for a colostomy bag.

She will be in the hospital for approximately 5-7 days and be fully recovered in 8 weeks.

Needless to say we are both exhausted(the pain and acute symptoms start this morning at 2am) so this will be brief, but wanted to get the word out to provoke a positive vibe.

The boys are great, they heard her voice before going to bed, and they are eager to play with the cool beds at the hospital.

Love, Pete

Join me locals!

Hi folks (my stars and angels):
This posting is purely for locals (Utahns), unless you are so interested you want to travel here for the event described below! I invite you to please join me, Pete, Mason, and Liam next Tuesday, March 31 at an event at REI, and then later at Bryant Middle School. Details/flyer below:

A woman named Kelly Perkins is coming to town. She is a heart transplant recipient (1995, I think), and she is the first heart transplant recipient to have climbed major mountains, such as Fuji, Kilmanjaro, the Matterhorn, El Capitan, Half Dome, Mt. Aspiring in New Zealand, etc. She wrote a book called The Climb of My Life, and she is here to promote organ donation awareness. She will be climbing (the wall) at REI on 33rd So. that Tues. March 31 at 3:30 pm, I think (I will be there, maybe climbing though I have never done it before?!), and then Kelly will be speaking at Bryant Middle School at 7 pm that night. See attached flyer and Kelly's website - http://craigandkelly.com/ or http://www.theclimbofmylife.com/ (same site). I would love for you all to attend one or both events, both because I think Kelly will be inspiring and because Organ Donation Awareness is obviously a subject that is close to my heart (no pun intended). We will be bringing the boys to the climbing event for certain, maybe to both.

Thanks, and hope to see you next Tuesday,
Em

Happy [belated] Heart Day!

-- The Foehl Gang on sleigh ride on Dec. 26 (minus Whitney & Chris).

Greetings to all my stars and angels!
We wish you a very belated happy heart day/Valentine's Day, and even a very Happy Hannukah, Merry Christmas, and Happy New Year!!!!! We have been a bit remiss about posting, which means that things have been relatively calm and normal. I guess, too calm, so we decided to shake things up a bit!

This past Tuesday, Feb. 10, I had my 8-mon. biopsy, which went well enough . . . but my biopsies are always a bit difficult and the docs, unfortunately, punctured my right lung again (you may recall this happened on my very first biopsy, June 24, 2008, the day I was discharged from the hospital post-transplant surgery!). Alas, this time it was a complete pnuemothorax (totally collapsed right lung -- first time it was only partial). I had actually gotten all the way home from the hospital and day of appts., when I bent over to take off my boots and felt this sharp sudden pain in the middle of my chest and coughed. I immediately stood up and sat down -- at which point the pain disappeared -- but I called the transplant nurse coordinators. They called me back in about 1/2 an hour, after speaking with the docs, and asked me to come back down to the hospital to get a chest x-ray. So, I drove myself back down, relatively pain free as I was not moving and sitting upright. It was about 3:45 pm at this point. Shea was with the boys, Pete was at work. Dr. Toosi and Shirley, one of the transplant nurses, came into the radiology waiting area within minutes of my having had the xray with grim looks on their faces and asked "How are you feeling?" I knew that was not a good sign. They told me about the lung, and that I would have to be admitted to the hospital and have another chest tube put in to remove the air. It was now about 5:00 pm, Pete got to the hospital shortly thereafter, Pete arranged for the kids to go next door to Melissa and Ben's for dinner, and then for the Winkelmans - mom Patty and daughter Hannah - to put the kids to bed. Shea (our nanny) had to get back to SLC, but she kindly gathered a few items/necessities (my glasses, jammie pants, book, cell phone charger, earplugs, etc.) and meet Pete near the hospital to give us the bag). Around 6pm, I got into a semi-private room, temporarily on 4North, the cardiology floor, where my old friend Bill Wong, who was part of my transplant surgical team inserted the chest tube. This time it went above the right breast, below the collarbone -- really not so comfy. So, I spent 1 night in the hospital and the next day the xrays showed the right lung remained re-inflated, so I was able to go home in the late afternoon on Wed. After being discharged, however, we went to another hospital in SLC, St. Marks, where I got the third of three blood tests called Allomap - it is hoped that this blood test will replace biopsies. The protocol is to have 3 tests the first year post-transplant to establish a baseline. Then, assuming one has no rejections, one can use the blood test in lieu of biopsy. So, because of this latest incident, my doctors moved up the third test to correspond with the 8-month biopsy rather than the 1yr./annual biopsy, and I will hopefully have the Allomap blood test and NO biopsy in April, when I would normally have another biopsy!!! We'll keep our fingers crossed. Another piece of good news is that my biopsy last Tuesday was great -- no rejection. So, all in all, we are well, I am well, and I am thankful this little bump was indeed minor. The hardest part was being in the hospital overnight, not being with the boys and Pete. Pete relayed that Liam was very upset when he could not find me Wednesday morning - the first time he has really had a very visible reaction to my not being home. Thankfully, it was only 1 night/day.
There is probably lots more to write, but I will just let you know that we are having a good winter. I am back to work part-time, 3 days/week. We had wonderful Christmas holidays with all the Foehls here (14 of us in all) - it was really fun -- hectic but great. Mason, Pete, and I have been skiing quite a bit, and Liam has even been on skis once so far! We hope you are all well, happy, healthy, and enjoying life.

Here are a couple of recent photos for your enjoyment!

. . . TWO BIRDS, NO TWO PLANES, NO . . . THEY ARE SUPERBOYS aka Mason & Liam


Up on "9990" at the Canyons, the peak that is 9,990 feet that one hikes to above the lift and then skis down. A beautiful, fun day skiing with the Wiczeks (photo is Em, Pete, and Melissa, looking West at the Salt Lake Valley. Ben is taking it.) -- Mason and Hanna W. were in ski school, Grace W. was with her ski team, and Liam and Paul W. were home having fun with Sophie Winkelman.