Hello!
I wanted to give a major update to my life. I am officially a fiancee! I was completely surprised and shocked at the proposal, which is how I love it. If any of you guys out there are planning to do this, I highly recommend making it as much as a surprise as possible because the emotions involved are priceless! I got engaged at midnight on New Year's Eve and will also be moving to Atlanta, GA in late spring. I will be closer to family this way. I will still continue my care at Cleveland clinic, as long as my insurance coverage lets me. I am so happy to be moving forward in this new post-transplant chapter of my life.
Speaking of insurance coverage, social security disability and disability insurance and benefits coverage have been so difficult to handle. I had no idea how much my patients went through with all of these things. It is really crazy how it is almost easier to not work, than to encourage people to try to go back to work while insuring they will not be financially abandoned if they are unable to work to at the capacity previous to being disabled. I feel like there is something that could be done to change some of these laws. They often seem inefficient and unhelpful. It is sad that those who need care the most often get the least. I will certainly have to look into this when I move to see what legislation can be done. I obviously don't know enough about the issues except for my personal ones. But anyway, that is my short rant on that subject.
I also wanted to give a tribute to Brian Pedrick. He was a wonderful father, husband and friend in his young 30's, who passed away in October. He received his Heart Transplant about a month before I did at Cleveland clinic and greatly helped me through the post transplant period. He will be and is, greatly missed by me and so many that were touched by his enthusiasm for life.
The Have a Heart benefit will continue to promote the importance of organ donation, the gift of life, by hosting a happy hour in Atlanta sometime in February. This will also pay tribute to national heart month. Please look for more details in the near future.
I hope everyone is enjoying their New Year and I wish you all a very joyous and healthy one.
love, Jenn

Hi!
I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season and is enjoying a new year! This update is about things that occurred at the end of 2005. I had my 15th biopsy and am making it to a new year which was marked by me being a part of the Lifecenter Organ Donor Network 2006 calendar. This touching calendar features both organ donors and recipients and their stories. I am the month of March (since this is my birthday month). If you are interested in helping the cause of promoting organ donor awareness, please call 513-558-5555 to order yours even if to just make fun of my pic. It actually is very well done and a good purchase if you are looking for a 2006 wall calendar.
In other media news, I was a part of a news story about the record numbers of donors in the state of Ohio in 2005. I was interviewed for the story that aired December 16th on the 5 o'clock news on channel 12 in Cincinnati.
Most importantly, I had my 15th biopsy at Cleveland clinic in November and had great results. My rejection level was a 0, though my allomap(new blood test for rejection) was very high. We are just going to overlook the allomap results since the biopsy was good. I was able to decrease my dose of steroids again, which I am always happy to do. The chest Xray was good as well as the EKG. My blood work was also unchanged. I also had a bone density scan which I still don't know the results of but I still take the medication (fosamax) that helps prevent bone loss. I will go back to Cleveland clinic every 3 months from now on as long as everything goes smoothly. So everything seems to be going pretty smoothly, and I look forward to new year!
love, Jenn

Hey!
Has it really been this long since the last update?! I guess it is a good sign that I have been keeping busy and time has been flying! I will give the next updates in small, tolerable doses, starting with the hugely successful Second Annual Have a Heart Benefit!
Let me say thank you to all of those who made the event possible and a great success: our corporate sponsor, Sibley Heart Center, our bronze and silver sponsors, our silent auction donors, our bands Robbie Levin and Unzipt, our honorary hosts, and our HOSTS, whose efforts make everything possible (Chad Aleman, Dana Bloom, Ginger Brown, Briana Brugner, Jodi Farber, Michelle Giannini, Kerri Golding, Brooke Hanaway, Nichole Louviaux, Penny Koppel, Trish McCann, Christine Mest, Jennifer Ostler, Gerald Owens, Amy Parks, Amy Reardon, Julie Wild). Thank you from the bottom of my new heart!
The benefit took place this year at Andrews Upstairs in Buckhead and featured 2 live bands, an open bar, 2 speakers discussing what it is like to be a donor (Tara Neil) and what it is like to be a recipient (my weeping self, if you were lucky enough to witness my surprising absolution), and the ever popular silent auction.
We were able to raise a total of $18,842.22 and $6,880.00 from the silent auction alone, which exceeds last year's contributions! This year the event was also broadcast through the radio via 99X and Q100. We also had 2 magazines present, Jezebel and the cyber magazine, Atlanta Illustrated. There were also beautiful flyers distributed before the event. All of which helped bring around 400 patrons to the event. They listened to great music, witness fabulous silent auction items ranging from a 5 night trip to Aruba to original artwork by local artist John Tindel, and most importantly had fun for a great cause. With the success of this event, we will be able to help not only my but other transplant patient's medically related expenses and those affected by hurricane Katrina. We will do this by donating to NTAF, Lifelink (the local GA organ procurement agency), and the Red Cross Hurricane Relief Fund.
Keep your calendar clear for tentative upcoming events in February for National Heart month, and April for National Organ Donation (Donate Life) month and of course for the Third Annual Have a Heart Benefit in November 2006.
I hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas, Hanakuh, Kwanza, and happy New Year!
I love you all, Jenn

Hi ya'll!
I recently got back from Cleveland Clinic from my 1 year anniversary appointment for the new heart. Today, Sept. 12th, is the actual one year anniversary! I was just getting put to sleep about this time last year to have my chest cracked open, be placed on the cardiac pump, and have my old heart removed! I still have the echo of my old heart from last year as well as my EKG. Wow, it is still so crazy to talk about.

Well this appointment was so much better than last year. Last year as some of you may remember, I bleed out after the procedure and had to be rehospitalized. At this appointment I had a full cardiac catherization performed; this looks at the heart in more detail via a long wire that is introduced through the groin and snaked up to the heart. The pressures and function were good, and my coronary arteries looked ok. The IVUS was not able to be performed b/c last year's study could not be obtained, but no matter, less mucking around my coronary arteries (the vessels that supply the heart itself, stopping blood flow=bad), is fine with me. They did find an anomaly of the right coronary artery that was interesting and not seen last year. Thy told me there are 2 orifices of the right coronary artery (instead of one)! I am assuming they meant that I have a separate branch called the the conus branch that occurs in 50% of the population. So instead of having 2 holes for the right and left coronaries, I essentially have 3! (Did ya'll get that?) I guess I am probably their only patient who thinks this is neat.

Anyway, labwork was ok. My cholesterol is good, which they follow b/c the most common cause of death after a transplant is accelerated coronary artery disease in which high cholesterol contributes. They performed that new test called the ultrasensitive C-reactive protein at Cleveland which was normal and assesses risk for cardiovascular disease (this test has been getting a fair amt of press and was in a recent Time magazine). I'm not sure it is actually helpful in a transplant patient, but at least its another point of information and mine was normal. The electrolytes were ok, my allomap and immunoassay(new blood test for rejection) are not back yet, but mine are always high, so I expect it to be high again. My CMV (that infection that I was hospitalized for last Dec.) continues to be negative off medication. My kidney function appears to continue to be normal, as well.

The chest Xray looked normal, and the EKG was unchanged.

So the things I get to do now? Go down on my steroids, yeah!!! Go down a little on my prograf (the one that makes me shake and have pins and needles), yeah!!! Stop my Bactrim, which was the antibiotic I was taking prophylacticly for lung infections, yeah!!! And I don't have to go back for another biopsy until December, since the biopsy this time was 1B(slightly worse than last time, but acceptable). I will still be taking around 40 pills a day, but less than b/f!

My other medical problems are still in the middle of their workups. I had a mammogram and ultrasound for the tumor last week, and will have to get a "boob biopsy" this week, since it was not cystic on the ultrasound. The repeat ultrasound for the ovary mass will be in about 1.5 weeks.

Other than my medical issues I have been a bit more stressed lately with things related to hurricane Katrina, planning my future, and studying for the pediatric boards. At least I was able to volunteer at the Red Cross here in Cincinnati for evacuees. I wrote prescriptions and assessed patients that had non-infectious issues. I loved it! Everyone I know from LA is safe, though some have lost their homes. It will be a long healing process...but NO will rebuild.

On happier notes, LSU won against AZ state this weekend after having their first game postponed and moving the game to AZ. I recreated my stance from last yr. in the hospital by wearing my pink LSU hat and ordering pizza for the game as a treat! The Saints also won! And the 2nd Annual Have a Heart Benefit is set for November 4th, so look for more details and mark your calendars! This year we will be giving proceeds not only to NTAF, but to the Lifelink organ procurement agency and the Red Cross hurricane releif fund (since LA is my home state). Oh, and the happiest news again is that I am alive and made it to the year milestone, and since the survival rate for heart transplant patients at one year is 65%, I can give a bonafide sigh of relief that I am officially a part of that 65%!
Don't forget to mark your calendars for Have a Heart Benefit II! And I love you all for taking this past year's long journey with me!

xoxoxo, jenn

Hey all!
Well, it seems this is not the best time of year for me. It was a year ago on Aug. 30 that I first echoed myself on that fateful day. This year hurricane Katrina has ravaged my home state as well as running me out of Destin, Fl a day early. My parents in Baton Rouge are ok; they just lost power for a few days, but there are so many friends I still have not heard from because all the phone lines are down. Thank you to those who have contacted me with your concern. The reports by the media are so heartbreaking! I and Chad want to go down there to help, but of course my condition precludes me from being around the unsanitary conditions, so I feel very helpless. If all the looters would just stop acting like they are a part of Lord of the flies...
I also am in the middle of a work up for a mass I found on my left ovary and some other things. I will keep you up to date once I complete a battery of tests. I will also be going up to Cleveland next week for my 1 year check up, so I will get a more extensive work up including a full cardiac catherization, lab work, and IVUS(a study that looks more closely at my/the new heart's coronary arteries. This is done annually b/c the most common cause of death after a heart transplant is coronary artery disease for unknown reasons. Maybe I will get to go down on some meds too! Cross your fingers.
Anyway pray for the safety of those affected by hurricane Katrina! It is so completely devastating and I just hope everyone's loved ones are safe.
love, Jenn