As I often do at this time of year, I dug through my journals from March of 2000 for inspiration. I was looking for something I could say tonight which hasn’t been said on March 21 in the 21 years since E’s heart transplant. I have added a link, for those of you new to the blog, with anniversary posts since we moved here. There are ten.

March 22 Heart Transplant Anniversary posts

Reading through page after page, journal after journal, beginning in 1999, one thing did strike me as a common theme. We spent a good deal of our forties and much of our fifties driving back and forth to hospitals, and Dr. appointments. I had four surgeries and major mental health issues. Although E had just the one surgery, it was a doozy. We had E’s Dad stay with us for six months of palliative care, and my Mom needed a ton of medical support along with our kids and their usual kid issues. There was a three month period when I didn’t go one week without a trip to the emergency ward with someone in our family. It reveals a lot about our reasoning for moving escaping to this island when we could.

We are ever so grateful for the care our family has received and I should note, for my American readers, none of it cost us a penny. But we are done, cross my fingers, it is time for us. Selfish? Yes.. I admit it. Hell, I celebrate it.

Twenty two years ago tonight was an amazing night. The actual concept that science had come to the point where one person can gift a heart they can’t use anymore with another who needs it desperately is honestly still unbelievable for us and we have actually held E’s original heart in our hands.

Every single medical professional we have ever dealt with and, believe me we have seen more than our share, has been exemplary. The combined expertise of the Delta, VGH and St. Paul’s medical teams saved E’s life. The care that Fraser Health took of my Mom and E’s Dad was incredible, up to and including their dignified departures off this mortal coil. The General Practitioners, the Specialists, the Nurses, the Social Workers and the Physios… All of them were awesome. As a side note, I doubt any of them gained their knowledge on the internet. Years of study, hard work and respect for science gave them the ability to save lives and I am willing to bet my life that each and every one of them is vaccinated.

E spent his 22nd anniversary (which I have come to include the 48 hour period of the 21st and 22nd) playing with our granddaughter. Hours and hours pushing her on a swing, walking up and down the hill, watching for whales outside the window and reading book after book after book.

In 1999, I just really needed him to live long enough to get our children raised healthy and happy. Check… Then, the goal was to meet a grandchild or two or three. Check… Now that we are here, he needs to stick around long enough to get the house finished. Side note: this house is never going to be finished.

Our granddaughter helped make him a cake.. There were a lot of candles…..

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