Special Edition: My Lung Transplant Journey July 10, 2013 - Life on Hold

I am in a holding pattern. That's just how one of my very good friends described what's happening with my life right now. I'm waiting. We're waiting. Again.

This time we are waiting for THE call from the lung transplant center. It can come at any time, day or night. We jump every time the phone rings. If the caller ID shows the Cleveland Clinic, we must answer the phone. However, if  the call comes after business hours, it might just be the unknown cell number of the on-call coordinator, so again, we must answer the phone. The call may come within days, weeks, months or even longer!

Meanwhile, while we wait, we are preparing as best as we can for the call. It's almost like preparing for the birth of a baby, but without an expected due date, it's so much different. One way we are preparing for the transplant is by planning and kicking off our fundraising campaign, U4Sue! New Lungs New Life. While our health insurance will cover most of the medical costs of the surgery, there are many other expenses that our insurance will not cover like travel, lodging, and household expenses for myself and a caregiver in Cleveland for at least three months after the transplant. Travel includes the clinic's medical jet, which will fly us out for the surgery when a donor match is available. Let's just say we will not be flying economy, instead it's more like super-duper first class for a rather large amount of dosh (as my sister from London would say). We also will need to keep up with our household expenses here in Yorkville. It's quite a huge endeavor!

So that leads me back to our fundraising campaign.  I created this little promo to spread the word:

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The promo includes one of my favorite songs, "Whole Wide World" by Mindy Gledhill. It's upbeat and inspiring. I'm hoping my lung transplant will be a success so I will have the chance to do so much more with my life besides waiting . . .



If you would like to donate online to U4Sue, you can do so via PayPal by clicking the donate button in the right column. You do not need a PayPal account to do so. Donations also are being accepted at Old Second Bank, 26 W. Countryside Parkway, Yorkville, IL 60560 c/o Victor Ramirez, Universal Banker. Please make checks out to Timothy or Suzanne Borowiak, account number 12201033425. If you would like to keep up with the campaign on Facebook, just "like" our page, U4Sue New Lungs New Life . Thank you for your support!