Why this blog?

Welcome! Thank you for visiting my blog!

This is my medical and recreational blogsite. Some of the entries on this blog are honest and quite vulnerable, as I wrote them at my lowest point. I try to keep a positive outlook on life, because no one wants to hang out with a downer, including me. Writing these entries has allowed me to see the world through a beneficial filter that allows me to appreciate every moment I have been able to experience in my life, even the difficult ones.

My husband Matthew and I LIVE when we can. I mean we suck the juice out of life, and we aren't ashamed of that outlook. It makes the bad times ok somehow because we took advantage when we were able. The pictures on this blog are part of that. I take pretty pictures of my sick body to boost my self esteem when I am having a difficult time seeing myself as a woman instead of a sick person. It is how I cope with my illness, and no one gets to judge how you survive your difficulties. So live on, and feed your souls.

Watch our story here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mG_mrDJ10LM&feature=youtu.be


~ Tonia

I have decided to relaunch my Facebook Page, The Beauty in Illness. Along with the help of two other rare patient advocates, we are hoping to include artistic stories of struggle and perseverence through creative ways. Please check us out and let us know if you would like to contribute!




Hospital Me THEN (2012)

Hospital Me THEN (2012)
Dance like no one is watching!

Hospital me NOW (2015)

Hospital me NOW (2015)
Dance like EVERYONE'S watching

Post Transplant-1 Year (March 2014)

Post Transplant-1 Year (March 2014)
Mi Amor Studio

Pre Dialysis Pinup Shoot (2012)

Pre Dialysis Pinup Shoot (2012)
Dynamite Dames

Mid Dialysis Boudoir (March 2013)

Mid Dialysis Boudoir (March 2013)
100 pounds, and a week from transplant, chest tube tucked into bra like a lady. ;)

Non-Pinup Me Now (2015)

Non-Pinup Me Now (2015)
This girl has four kidneys

Thursday, March 28, 2013

Home!

Home home home!

Matthew and I are home together and Sabrina and the Baby Kitty are here too.  The whole family is sleeping right now around me.  I am so glad to finally be here.

I feel great.  I really do.  I mean physically too.  My red blood cell count had dropped quite a bit during the surgery and it has been creeping up slowly since.  But I think I am close to being not anemic at all soon.  That would be the first time my hemoglobin is normal without the use of drugs in about four years.  And the kidney?  It's kicking ass.  It is actually filtering better than it was when it was in Matthew.  How is that possible?  No idea.  Apollo is pulling more than his weight in there.

I can sneeze, I can cough, I can even do a sit up (even though I shouldn't).  I am five hours from our three week mark.  Even my scar is pretty much healed.  And I have progressed from looking five months pregnant to looking like I drink beer a lot.  The swelling is definitely going down.

Matthew is still a little stiff.  He hurts sometimes and is trying so hard to go back to work.  I actually feel like I could teach his classes easier than he could at this point.  Strange.  It will really take the full six weeks for him to be 100 percent, and I only wish I could make it easier on him.

Both sets of parents are here with us in Oklahoma.  Matthew's parents and my mom are still cooking, cleaning, driving, and lifting things for us.  But I feel pretty self sufficient.  And that is amazing.  I mean, it is 3:00 AM and I can't sleep because I have so much energy.  I am on the "new kidney" high. 

Everything tastes better, smells stronger, colors look brighter, tears come easier, and I have totally moved on from termites and impounded cars.  There is a huge stack of insurance bills I have to handle, mostly argue for coverage.  Not even a speck of worry.  One of them says I owe 76,000 dollars!  HAHAHAA!  I mean, normally that bill would make me sick.  But I know I won't really owe that.  It's just Medicare and Blue Cross playing hot potato with me, that's all.  (spoiler: Blue Cross is going to lose that one.  Sorry 'bout it.)

I even walked Sabrina tonight.  That. Is. Huge.  And the Thunder won, so...what problems?

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