11 Weeks

Not much to report here... I did get to help celebrate Milton's 27th Birthday and Met some of his family! It was awesome to finally meet them. Milton is doing great!!!
I have turned in MyStory at LifeChurch.tv so we will see what happens with that. On Feb. 13th I met an owner  of Aqua Express Car Wash, Dave, they just opened a new location at 6922 N. May in Oklahoma City... And he is going to donate a Full day of SALES to me to use to help raise awareness. I will be donating the money to Integris Transplant Center. I want to help potential living donors that are not able to afford taking off work for surgery or testing. I have picked March 13 to be the day of carwash, this would have been my dads 70th birthday. I can't wait to see how much money we can raise. I am trying to spread the word for sure. https://www.facebook.com/events/312659725523175/ You can see the event I created on FaceBook. I'll keep this up to date on how it goes. God Bless!

Feeling great...

Today marks two months...The incision is looking great.. No pain, still tender around the scar(will be for a while) my appetite is completely back to normal..I have a check up with Dr.Patel, liver doctor, on Thursday the 14th...We received good news on Ashlynn, she still has positive antibodies for Lupus..but does not have the disease... Life is great!!!! Milton is doing great as well... He was able to go back to church and preach last week.. I even read on Brittany's Facebook about them having a night out :-) ... At church this morning our campus pastor Brian asked me if I would go to the LifeChurch website and tell my story.. He wants Craig to be able to see it and possibly feature My Story... This would be HUGE... Talk about raising awareness...According to the Internet LifeChurch.tv has over 100,000 online viewers a week... In over 120 countries.. Then you have all the campuses... WOW!!! Super excited... So let the camera roll and get this story out there!!! I thank God daily for the life he has given me and that I was able to share part of me to help a fellow man.. This has been such an amazing journey.. I want to THANK everyone that has been part of my dream to donate life... THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart... God Bless!
Update: 02/14/13- Dr. Patel has released me from his care.

6 wks post op..

I can't even believe it has been six weeks.. I feel awesome today.. The last few days I have actually felt 99.9%... My iron was a little low today when i went to donate blood, so i didn't get to donate..I am having no pain.. The incision is a little tight on the inside.. My back is much better.. I am also getting out of my funk that I've been in too.. The funk was pretty crazy, I just feel blah.. Laying around.. Being tired.. Not going out as much.. This isn't only from my surgery.. I feel it is from only working one job.. The surgery...along with a few other things..overall it's getting better:-) I am still in love with life.. I started a 21 day creating abundance meditation challenge this morning... It will be interesting to see what this journey brings..
I have heard that Milton is doing really good.. There are no signs of FSGS so that is great news!

Where has the time gone?

I can't even believe it has been a month already... Today I feel awesome!!! Since my surgery the pain has never been extreme... Hardest days have been day 2 and day 21(first day back to work) they were not unbearable, just a little rough.. My incisions didn't hurt till going back to work.. I think sitting in the chair for the majority of the day put a little too much pressure on my abdomen and my back. Since going back to work I tend to have dinner and lay down for the evening as soon as i get home.. It has helped with building up my strength level. The scar is looking amazing also!!! My eating is getting back to normal. LifeChurch has been amazing also... I received a phone call on monday that they wanted to provide a week of dinner for me.. it started today.. and man was it delicious.. spaghetti, brownies and dinner rolls.. what a blessing... I'm also trying to drink my 2 liters of fluids a day(sometimes it's hard)... Yesterday was a long day.. I drove to Tulsa for the Justin Bieber concert.. It was amazing!!! We actually got to meet and take a picture with him! Although, it was only for about 30 seconds... I was still able to talk to him about helping me raise awareness for being an organ donor.... Chelbi and I wrote JB a letter and in the letter I added my blog address... So I'm sending out some prayers that those letters will reach him...:-) He was such a sweet young man.. Made my long day worth it.. Today I still felt great just a little tired.. But overall I'm still feeling fabulous!!!

I really hope this blog is helping people that are curious about being a living donor and takes the scariness out of it. I said before that I would do it again in a heartbeat... And I am sticking to that... What a great process! Thank you all for reading my blog... If you have any questions or comments you can leave them here or find me on Facebook, Cynthia Hernandez Decker in Oklahoma City. Thanks again and God bless!!!

21 Days.... 3 weeks...

At this very moment(11:54am) 3 weeks ago I was waking up in the recovery room with an aching back and sick to my stomach. What an amazing journey this has been. I have met some wonderful people along the way. I have met people that are in desperete need of a kidney and no donor to match, as well as a reciepient. And here it is New Years Eve time for resolutions to be set. I have been trying to think what kind I would make for myself this year... I never really make out a list to follow, just kinda toss some ideas in my head and try to stick with them. So this year I choose to Live my life with more Passsion, I already do this but I want to continue to grow in this way... I also choose to live a little healthier with my diet and exercise, I am already pretty good with this too, well not the exercise part :-/ Volunteering more is on my mental list also...more than just at the food bank. Volunteering with LifeShare of Oklahoma to continue my vow of raising awareness. So wish me luck!
On the 27th, I went to my post op check up and did my first round of lab work, everything looked good! I am a little bit anemic, due to not eating enough, but overall all of my numbers are good! I don't have to go back till I reach the 3 mth mark, then it's just lab work unless there are problems! Dr. Samara was pleased with everything and thanked me for my donation. My scar is healing really well too! While I was in the waiting room I met a young man named Jason. We started talking and he had a transplant in 2005.. He said since that his life has improved so much. His donation was from a young man in his 30's that passed away in a motorcycle accident. Jason has tried to find the family to thank them for saving his life but there has been no such luck.:-( it has me thinking who received my dads corneas?!?! Does anyone in my family know?!?! Something I haven't asked anyone.. I need to see if I can find out! Jason also said his transplant also lead him to meet his amazing wife! What a great story. Fate, that's all it is! Congratulations Jason on your new life!!! It was so nice to meet you!

Today I went back to work.. It was a nice easy day.. We closed at noon, for the holiday and we are closed tomorrow. This will make for a good "get back into the swing of things" I am definitely ready for this... My back has been hurting a good deal today, but all in all I'm good.

Milton is also improving:-) can't wait to be able to hang out with Milton, Brittany, and Zarria... And get to know each other! All in due time I know..
Well I'm going to close up now.. Thank you everyone for your love and support. God Bless!

15 Days Post Op

Christmas Day... It's been 15 days.. I would say the recovery has gone very well.. My back pain has become very minimal,Thank God.. I have had some amazing support from my friends and family.. Beautiful flowers made my house smell delightful.. I started driving at Day 10... No problems! I actually drove to Enid(1.5 hrs) on Sunday(day 13) and returned home the same evening... I still felt pretty good.. I'm still forcing myself to take it easy.. I go for my checkup with Dr.Samara on Thurs the 27th. To be released for work... I am to return on the 31st... Then life will be back to normal..

The recipient has encountered a few health issues, that lead to another hospital stay in ICU...I hear he is recovering well... I don't know what of them were connected to the transplant.. The kidney has continued to function well for him.

Extra Extra Read All About It!!!!

This just in!!!! Susan emailed me the pictures that Dr. Scott Samara took with his cell phone. This is just simply amazing. Unheard-of actually!!! They don't usually allow pictures to be taken in The OR. I am so thankful for this team of doctors, nurses, and care takers... Thank You God!!!! And a huge shout out to my dear friend David Lee Grayson Jr., he Is on the bandwagon to spread the awareness to all his contacts in Hollywood... Together we will raise awareness!!!!!