End of April Update

Somehow it's May already.  The biggest win of the month was completing the Strides for Life 5k here in Dayton.  I finished dead last, but I finished.  Thanks to all who cheered and encouraged me.  Amy and I also got to participate in the Cincinnati Reds Findlay Market Opening Day Parade. As another Donate Life Month event, we got to spend time in Life Connection Green Chair Sit In at Cox Media (Channel 7, Dayton Daily News).  It was a fun month volunteering and helping promote organ and tissue donation in Ohio!

Here's my progress report on my new year's resolutions.  I hit a lull in the middle of the month that nearly knocked me off my pace for reaching 2016 miles.  I had a cold/allergies that knocked me for a bit of a loop and kept me off the bike for nearly a week.  I rallied to end the month with 675 total miles completed on the bike for the year.  My pace requires 667, so I'm actually a little ahead still.

In terms of reading, April also didn't see much movement, but I had a pretty good buffer there to reach 16 books.  I am about halfway through "The Magic Strings of Frankie Presto," by Mitch Albom.  This is the same book I had just started at the beginning of the month.  It's a fast read.  I just didn't pick it up much until near the end of the month.  Fantasy baseball gained much of my focus for the last half of March and the first half of April.  Hopefully I'll get back on a bit of a speedier pace from here on out.

My current list is as follows:
1. Seabiscuit - Laura Hillenbrand
2. Heart - Dick Chaney
3. The Real McCoy - Hal McCoy
4. Mercy in the City - Kerry Weber
5. And God Said Play Ball - Gary Graf
6. The Magic Strings of Frankie Presto - Mitch Albom (about halfway)


It wasn't my best month, but the fact that the year is more than 1/3 complete and I'm still talking about it is a win.

Healthwise, April was fine.  I felt a fair amount of fatigue, which was probably more related to my cold/allergy/sinus problem than anything else.  I must admit, I haven't done much walking since the Strides for Life 5k at the beginning of the month.  I will need to get back to it as I am signed up for two more walks this summer.

Spoiler alert, May will not hold the same good news from the health front.  I received a call today letting me know I was back in Atrial Fibrillation.  My home monitor tipped them off to this change.  I don't particularly feel any different, so lets hope I can continue to do my biking, as well as get out and walk more.  I've got to get ready for a couple those 5k's this summer!

That's about all I have to report for now.  As always, please keep us in prayer as well as my future donor and his or her family.

What a whirlwind the last month has been.  I could have posted much more, but it seems there hasn't been much free time available at all.

Amy and I were rather abruptly nudged to consider moving in August when we discovered our rental company intended to raise our rent by about 25% in one year.  Although they came back a few days later with an offer of a much smaller increase, we had already begun looking at other options.  We found a place we liked in an actual neighborhood and in a duplex, rather than an apartment complex.  Our landlord is a friend of ours and my cousin also lives nearby, so although neither of us like to move, we decided it was a good situation to go to, especially since there was no guarantee from our previous rental company that the rate wouldn't jump next year.

So, the move has been the major factor in my silent blog.  We moved in the first weekend of October and are still working to get settled.  Many boxes still sit unpacked in our parlor (yes, we have a parlor...it's an old house), the basement and in one of the bedrooms - the one that has been designated as my baseball card room.  The rest of the house is mostly settled, so we are already miles ahead of where we were for our previous move last summer.

Amy and I also have been part of a team for a Christian Awakening retreat for Holy Cross High School seniors.  We have been meeting for several weeks and that planning has led us to the retreat this coming weekend, sp please offer up your prayers for us, especially the seniors, that God guide us all and that we all come away with our faith awakened anew.

As for my heart transplant goes, I am waiting still.  I have been feeling well and my checkups have been positive.  My most recent was last week.  During my visit, I was again asked to speak to a potential LVAD recipient about my experience with the heart pump.  Although the first time I was asked to do this, I felt a little awkward meeting someone for the first time and discussing this possibility, I have grown to actually look forward to being able to do this.  It has become a ministry of sorts that I can impart my "wisdom" on these people who are facing the same uncertain future as I was just over a year ago.

The other benefit of this is that I come away with the realization that my situation is very much under control and I am in good hands.  It's not as if I don't look forward to the time I receive my new heart, but I see so many people who have a greater need than I currently have and it makes me count my blessings.

One other note to add.  Last week, I took part in a fundraiser for Team Ohio, which is an organization of people who have been affected by organ transplants.  They also support sending recipients to the Transplant Games of America to compete in various athletic events.  This group is also connected to Life Connection of Ohio, which is a donor advocacy group for people in the Toledo and Dayton areas.  There are other group who do similar work in other parts of the state.

This was a great time for me to connect with other people who have faced similar situations as I


have.  There were several organ recipients, including a heart recipient.  The family of a woman who passed away after her second heart transplant, a bone marrow donor and a heart recipient who recently celebrated 17 years with his new heart.

As always, please continue to pray for Amy and me, but also for my future donor, those in dire need of a transplant, and the families of those who will bring hope to others in the midst of their own grief.