Kalkin/Eric

Love,
Steve

I realized, after reading the whole thing a dozen or so times, that it wasn’t Shiroki who posted this… I really should read more thoroughly — my wife yells at me about that all of the time. But, I do the same thing when she’s speaking too — she regularly looks at me when she’s talking, pauses, and says, “You’re just watching my lips move, ain’t you…” (She does have beautiful lips…)

I’m so happy for your wife — and for you and your children… She’s in for an amazing journey… I hope so very much that her recovery, and her life afterwards is as amazing as mine has been…

My beautiful lungs came four days before my 40th birthday — all of our friends and neighbors were planning a big, surprise 40th birthday party for me — that got screwed up! But I got a combination 41st / 1st party the next year… Wow — Rose will have something so very special to celebrate for the next many, many birthdays!!!

It’s going to be a crazy couple of weeks, and months for you guys… You take good care of her… You’ll come across some scary times, and wonderful times — take things a day at a time — and deal with problems as you encounter them — don’t imagine or fantasize about problems or complications that may, or may not happen — deal with them when they present themselves, and get through them…

And I hope Rose is breathing like me very, very soon… It’s beyond explanation, Eric… It’s been over eight years for me and it still amazes me every day…

And if there are any questions I can answer, from a patient’s perspective, just hollah!!!!

Love,

Steve

In one of those strange happenings, RoseVortex (my wife’s “Global Handle” on City of Heroes) aka Allison, just finished her transplant surgery…..on her birthday.

They called yesterday afternoon while she was still in the hospital and said they had a potential donor….we went from there right into surgery which apparently went well. Now its off to ICU and recovery.

This has been the craziest week I can remember, but its the best birthday present for her I can imagine.

We’ll be in touch down the road….

Kalkin/Eric (Kalkin is *my* global ID in the game)

You have weird hair, and a beautiful smile… And a husband who obviously loves you very, very much… That’s so important when you’re going through something like this… I have a wife who loves me very, very much — she made it easy to want to get through all of this…

I imagine that, from time to time, this might be terrifying for both you and Shuroki… But Oh-My-God, Rose — wait until you’re through this and on the other side… This breathin’ stuff is freakin’ amazing. It’s been over eight years for me now, and it still rocks my world every single day…

I too have cystic fibrosis… My CF took the upper hand 11-12 years ago and we decided that new lungs was going to be my solution too… I waited an unusually long time at the time I waited — but I survived — and I survived the surgery and recovery… I was transplanted 4 days before my 40th birthday…

You’ll survive too — I can see it in your smile… And I hope this rocks your world too… I don’t think we realize how much we struggle with our CF until we’re not struggling any longer… It’s beyond explanation, Rose… Maybe you do too, but now and then I had dreams where I didn’t seem to have CF — I was running or doing something and not coughing and exhausted… I know now that I wasn’t qualified to have those dreams… I didn’t have the frame of reference… How I feel now is more amazing than my wildest dreams…

I have some of my story at http://www.ClimbingForKari.org and I blog about organ donation at http://www.ReviveHope.com Your husband also has my email address (and it’s on my website) if you have any questions or thoughts or concerns about getting new lungs… I’m only too happy to give you my opinions and throughts…

I’ve been lucky enough to learn of my donor — the beautiful 17-year-old girl who saved my life… Her name was Kari and she was from Iowa… I think about her throughout the day, every day… I can see her smile when I close my eyes… I hope you get what you need soon… I hope your recovery is amazing, and your life afterwards is wonderful… I hope you have many, many more happy birthdays…

You take good care of her, Shuroki… And you take good care of yourself too… I have little doubt you are one of the biggest reasons she wants to stay on this beautiful planet…

Love,

Steve

Steve Ferkau
Chicago, IL