Chicken Apple Bacon Walnut Salad

Prednisone is a common steroid used before and after transplant to help fight infection and prevent rejection of the lungs. Prednisone makes Jens HUNGRY! We jokingly call him "Hungry, Hungry Jens" whenever he gets like this on Prednisone. Now that his body isn't working overtime to breathe, he burns calories at a slower pace. This is a good thing, as he's  been able to gain some weight. However, if he eats when he's hungry, he'd eat most of the day!

I made this recipe a few weeks ago. Neither of us love salad, and this one is great because there are a lot of interesting flavors in it. It's not the healthiest salad, but it is a filling salad and one that we actually like. It's a great salad to leave you feeling satisfied and full without feeling sick.

http://www.cookingclassy.com/2013/11/apple-feta-salad-chicken-bacon-walnuts-balsamic-vinaigrette/

For the two of us, 1 chicken breast and 3-4 pieces of bacon suffice. I also use my apple slicer, and then cut the apples into smaller pieces; we use one apple in this recipe. Our favorite bacon is Trader Joe's Uncured Black Forest Bacon.

I hope this helps to feed your hungry, hungry transplant patient!

Visitors when you get “The Call”

We moved to Pittsburgh so that Jens could have the transplant at UPMC. Jens’s closest family members were over three hours away. When he was officially listed, we talked about who we would want to come right away and who we would want there with us in that critical time (while he was recovering in ICU and the first few days). We had a game plan going into the waiting process, and he made his requests known to me. I also had family and friends offer to come to be with me when the time came.

Things aren’t cut and dry in this situation. Here are just a few things we had to consider:

• Sometimes you’re called as the “back up” and go home without getting a transplant (and this could happen multiple times).
• The expense of “last minute” flights for family/friends
• Who I (the caregiver) would want with me and feel comfortable around in a very emotional, stressful situation at the hospital that day/night while waiting for him to come out of surgery
• Who would follow hospital protocol as far as germs, visiting hours, etc.
• Who we would feel comfortable staying in our apartment
• Who was self-sufficient to take care of their own meals and get themselves around town (so that I wasn’t having to play “hostess” or “chauffer”)
• The medical needs of visitors (Are they sick? Do they have issues/medical needs that make it harder on the caregiver?)
• Family dynamics and relationships (this isn’t the time for drama or to meet extended family for the first time)
• The patient will be in a messed up state afterwards- who does he feel comfortable seeing him like that without being embarrassed
• Who will provide an encouraging and positive environment for the patient and caregiver

When we got the call, we were informed that we were the back-up to two cases. When we called his family, we let them know that we didn’t want them to get in their cars or on a plane right away. We knew that, most likely, they weren’t going to get to Pittsburgh in time to see him before surgery, so we wanted to make sure Jens was going to be chosen to get lungs before they started their trek. Technology is a great thing, and we were able to talk with them on the phone and FaceTime with them while waiting. I will warn you that those calls are emotionally charged things.  I don’t know that you can prepare for those kinds of phone calls.

 

Jens passing the time before surgery with baseball and his phone

One other thing to consider is how to share the news with your team of supporters. We had a website/blog, Facebook page, and Twitter to help us get the news out. We purposefully did not post anything the minute when we got “the call.” We knew that there was a chance we would go to the hospital and go home without new lungs. We knew that would be an emotional time, and we didn’t want to spread news that he was getting a transplant without being sure he actually was. While it was hard to keep this news to close family members for the first few hours, we eventually were told, “Yes, the lungs are for you.” This worked out well for us as we had a few hours after the “yes” to receive texts, posts, calls, and well wishes from our team of supporters around the country to give us a boost going into the surgery. We read them all, and I held off on responding to anything until he was in surgery. This gave me some purpose and something to do in the waiting room, as well as helping me to feel the presence of so many cheering us on.

“Hurry up!... and wait…”

The title of our blog is how we jokingly sum up the transplant process in our experience. 

Every step of our journey has been this rush to _________________[turn in paperwork, move to Pittsburgh, get to the hospital, get out of the hospital, etc.]. We’ve scurried to get done what needed to be done, only to find that we would have to wait no matter what. The transplant process is a waiting game. You’re waiting on doctors at appointments (no, this doesn’t change because you have new lungs), you’re on pins and needles waiting on “the call,” you’re waiting on discharge papers to leave the hospital, you’re waiting on your body to work things back to a normal state, etc.

In those moments when you've felt like you've hurried just to wait, we hope you will take that time to breathe and find rest.

Below are some posts on waiting that a dear friend sent to us on her journey to come along side us from afar as she trained for a marathon this summer:

http://run4jens.blogspot.com/2014/06/roadblock.html

http://run4jens.blogspot.com/2014/05/be-dressed.html

It made me think about you all and the relief you may be needing from some long days, exhausting breathing treatments and the weariness of the waiting game.  Whatever it is that you need, I pray that you will find a time and a space this weekend to exhale and to find some needed sweet relief.  

Seven Spiritual Gifts of Waiting:

Patience: http://run4jens.blogspot.com/2014/07/the-first-gift.html

Loss of Control: http://run4jens.blogspot.com/2014/07/the-second-gift.html

Living in the Present: http://run4jens.blogspot.com/2014/07/the-third-gift.html

Compassion: http://run4jens.blogspot.com/2014/07/the-fourth-gift.html

Gratitude: http://run4jens.blogspot.com/2014/07/the-fifth-gift.html

Humility: http://run4jens.blogspot.com/2014/07/the-sixth-gift.html

Trust in God: http://run4jens.blogspot.com/2014/07/the-seventh-gift.html

What is Cystic Fibrosis (CF)?

Jens was born with Cystic Fibrosis (CF). He was diagnosed when he was about 1 year old. CF is an inherited disease that affects about 30,000 people in the United States. A defective gene and its protein product cause the body to produce unusually thick, sticky mucus that:

• clogs the lungs and leads to life-threatening lung infections; and
• obstructs the pancreas and stops natural enzymes from helping the body break down and absorb food. (http://www.cff.org/AboutCF/)

Each case of CF is different. Jens has a tougher case than most because he also has a bacteria called B. Cepacia. Because it is dangerous for CF patients with this bacteria complex to be around each other, Jens cannot be in physical proximity to anyone with CF. Jens spends over 4 hours a day doing breathing treatments of inhaled medicines, including time using an airway clearance device called “The Vest.” He must also take enzymes before every meal and snack to help his body digest his food. (For more info, stay tuned for an upcoming blog, “A Day in the Life of Jens”)

There is no known cure for CF at this time. A lung transplant will not cure CF because the defective gene that causes the disease is in all of the cells in the body, not just in the lungs. At this time, scientists are not able to “fix” genes permanently (see gene therapy). While a transplant does give a person with CF a new set of lungs, the rest of the cells in the body still have CF and may already be damaged by the disease. Further, organ rejection is always possible and drugs that help prevent organ rejection can cause other health problems. (http://www.cff.org/AboutCF/Faqs/ )

Food Safety: Salad Spinners

After having an organ transplant, your immune system is compromised due to the anti-rejection drugs you have to take for the rest of your life. Without these drugs, your body would reject its new organs. Any "little" virus, infection, or bacteria could make you very sick or even cause death.

Food safety is huge for transplant patients. It is recommended that you thoroughly wash fresh fruits and vegetables before cooking or consuming them. Although some lettuces and salad mixes come "pre-washed" in bags, it is recommended that you still wash these products before eating.

Jens hates wet lettuce. I'm not great at starting the salad early enough to be able to dry it in time. Plus, I always hated using so many paper towels to dry the lettuce. Once we moved to Pittsburgh for the transplant, I decided I wanted to get more serious about food safety while we were waiting for "the call." We decided to purchase a salad spinner, as this would encourage us to take the extra step to wash the pre-bagged lettuce.

We LOVE our salad spinner! I do most of the cooking, but Jens wants to be able to help out. Using this device is super easy, and it's actually kind of fun!

We usually give each bunch of lettuce 3 spins, emptying out the plastic bowl in between spins. I have found this to be most effective in giving us the driest lettuce in the shortest amount of time!

We bought ours on Amazon.com, but you can find these at places like Bed, Bath, & Beyond, Target, and department stores.
http://www.amazon.com/OXO-Grips-Green-Salad-Spinner/dp/B001QTVT4A/ref=zg_tr_289801_7

It says that you can wash it in the dishwasher, but since our top rack is usually full, I can quickly hand wash it and leave it to dry. FYI- the top/spinner part usually takes a little longer to dry. After a few hours, just rotate it's position while it's air drying to release the trapped water.

Who We Are

Jens was diagnosed with Cystic Fibrosis when he was 1 year old. Thirty years later, he had a double-lung transplant at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC).

Abby is Jens's fiancé. They met almost five years ago in Nashville, Tennessee.

We created this blog as a resource for others who can related to our story. Whether you have CF or know someone who does, are pursuing a transplant or have had one, or if you're just interested in our story... you're in the right place!