Happy New Year!

I'm not sure which weight loss program use to run tv ads saying "Happy New Year to a new YOU! but that phrase has been running through my head lately. Next month on Valentine's Day will mark my one year anniversary of receiving my new kidney. Wow! has it really been a year already?!?!? During one of many conversations with other transplant patients, I learned that there would be earmarks of just how well I would feel. The first one is right after the operation and the ansthesia has worn off. I experienced this so much that I told my husband I wanted to adopt another baby! His reply was "It's the ansthesia talking and I'm already gonna be working past retirement to get Samuel (our youngest) through college! We adopt another baby and they'll be burying me in my file cabinet at work!) Sure enough, the next day the idea of having another newborn didn't seem so inviting as it did the day before. The next milestone would be the 6 month mark and I did experience that briefly until the pneumonia hit. August, September and October went by in blur due to all the doctor visits and dealing with pneumonia. At times I felt like I had before the transplant and wondered if the pneumonia was wreaking havoc on the new kidney. These thoughts were always followed by a still small voice saying "You weren't brought this far just to stop".) Yes, God still speaks to people if they will only listen. This holiday season was jammed pack with festivities as most people's lives are at that time of year. For the first time my kids got to enjoy all the holiday festivities with their Dad AND Mom. We never got around to decorating the outside but it was not due to me feeling so bad and not having the energy to do anything. We were out most every night and yes I was exhausted but it was from DOING so much!! It felt great. The final milestone I'm told is the year anniversary. I think I'm already feeling that one. Yesterday, my son Aaron and I went to SARTEC K-9 Unit training and for the first time since I joined the team, I had no problems with being short of breath while hiking through the woods in search of my dog and the "victim" he had found. When I finally reached the place where Sneakers was telling me the "victim" was I became overwhelmed at the fact of how good physically I felt. So much so, I forgot to go into the "victim" and make a big deal over what Sneakers had found. Sneakers was trying to give me hints by doing fly bys and my shadow, Mike was the one who finally grabbed him so I could put his leash on. This was Mike's first time at seeing Sneakers and I work so his report was "Sneakers is doing great in his training, she on the other hand needs alot of work!" LOL I had to agree with his assessment on that. Another thing that added to my euphoria in the training yesterday was my hiking boots. I had resisted on making the investment in boots due to budgetary concerns. Last week, we trained in a wet, muddy, hilly area and I was at such a disadvantage even handling Sneakers due to my lack of appropiate footwear. Called my hubby on the way home and told him to meet me at Gander Mountain, I needed the hiking boots and could no longer put it off. What a difference it made to have the boots on!! I was more sure footed walking over the logs and inclines than ever and never even reached out to steady myself on the nearest tree, branch or person. Sneakers picked up on my confidence of hiking through woods and calmly walked beside me instead of acting like he was trying out for a spot on a dogsled team. Bloodwork is down to 1x a month so I'll go next week and then for February have it done at my year transplant visit. I'm hoping after that it will drop to 1x every two months or so.