Working, working, and a trip to Vail

But don't be fooled, going to Vail was for work as well.

So really the post should be titled:

"working working and even more working in Vail"

Mother Nature decided to DUMP a TON of snow on Colorado last week as I was en route to Vail, CO for an organ donation case. Subsequently, many of the roads were closed and my colleagues and I got all-expense paid trip to the Vail Valley Hospital

For all you Bachelor fans out there...
yes, that is where Ryan and Trista Sutter are from (the only "Bachelor couple to ever make it)
yes, I asked the nurses there if they knew them
yes, they rolled their eyes
yes, they gave me the low down on each of them :)

So here I was in Vail trapped at the hospital, trying to find a way for the surgeon (in Denver) to get all the way up I-70 (which was closed) to recover organs. The State Patrol was too busy with all the accidents and snow problems to help but they did recommend this a guy that does critical care transport for them in these situations. We called up the Good Samaritan and he volunteered to drive our surgeon from Denver to Vail (typically a 90 min drive) and back in the middle of the night in his Hummer, the Beast.

And yes, that is the name he gave his car...which truly is a beast because 3 1/2 hours later they arrived at the hospital safe and sound. The roads had to be bad though because even the Beast went off the road, into a ditch full of snow, on the way up the mountain. But the difference between the Beast and the other cars on the road was that "the Beast is able to get herself out of the ditches."

Thankfully, we were able to recover the liver and kidneys to save three people's lives. The surgeon and the Good Samaritan made it back to Denver safely and I got to stay in a SWEET hotel room in Vail. There was a fireplace in my room, a full view of the slopes and deliciously- overpriced room service. Too bad, I was only in the room from 2 am to 9 am but nevertheless I enjoyed the bed.

Sometimes I get tired of working but honestly, I do have a great job.
On most occasions, I know that no matter how long and hard I work that people's lives are saved.

And sometimes, I get paid to go on fun little adventures.

A grenade in orange juice?!

So work was a tad bit challenging today...

The short story goes something like this: my colleague and I had to take an organ donor to the OR emergently, the surgeons refused to recover due a personal opinion, it was 3 am, we hadn't slept in almost 24 hours and we HAD to find a solution to the problem. Sound fun???

Not so much.

I am pretty sure that about 3 different doctors showed me how skilled they are at using as many 4 letter words as possible in one sentence and then they would hang up the phone before I can get a word in. Good thing I told them all my name was "Phyllis".

I had to get in contact with the neurosurgeon on the case, who had missed his wife's birthday party the day before and had the worst day ever in the ICU, to rewrite a brain death note. Let's just say he that he didn't jump at the opportunity to become lifelong friends.

The amusing part of the night was that he ended his phone conversation (on speaker phone) with me like this:

me: "thank you sir and I apologize for having to bother you so much tonight and appreciate your willingness to help...yada yada yada..."

him: "Good night and will you please be sure to put a hand grenade in the transplant surgeon's orange juice?"

me: "Sure!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Here I am now, after 4 hours of sleep, needing some therapy...

R-E-T-A-I-L therapy!

Can you guess where I am headed?

A Rollercoaster???

My job often requires that I travel throughout the states of Colorado and Wyoming to different hospitals. Most times we drive but since Grand Junction is about 4-5 hours from Denver and time is of the essence in organ donation, we have to fly.

Sound's glamorous doesn't it?

Not when you {loathe, hate, detest} dislike flying...

You see, something happened to me between the age of 20-25. Not only did I get married, graduated from college, start my career, and become a {dog} mom but I developed a very {rational} embarrassing fear of flying. I don't know when or how I developed this new quality but David is quite aware as I always have a death grip on his hand as we fly to various destinations. Even the slightest jolt sends me into convulsions because I am certain that the plane is about to plunge nose first into the ground.

When I think about it rationally, I know the statistics of me dying in a car crash is much higher than in a plane but it doesn't seem to help when I am actually up in the air.

Nevertheless, I must fly for my job and I must keep it all together. This week I experienced my first and second fly-out. Here is a picture of us me and my co-workers before the flight...

Obviously I survived since I am writing this post but it was not without a few pesky anxiety attacks. Before take-off I warned them all that I could, at any moment, feel the need to grab their hand with my notorious death-grip. They were very understanding as we took off in the little tin can with wings. Most of the flight was spent convincing me of what each bump and alarm noise meant as I did Lamaze breathing. hee, hee, whoooo, hee, hee, whooo...

24 hours later I was on my way home and the cab driver from the hospital to the airport told me to "pretend it's a roller coaster" during all the drops. I am sorry Mr. Cab-driver but there are a few differences between planes suspended thousands of feet up in the sky and roller coasters that are on tracks, bolted to the ground and inspected daily.

And between me and you, I also HATE roller coasters so his advice really didn't give me the warm fuzzies.

Like I said earlier, this week was not only my first fly-out but my second. What did I learn from these experiences? My fears may be a little bit unhealthy. The Lord is obviously trying to help understand that this is an area in which I haven't trusted Him. God is good that way, He is always teaching us. This may sound cliche but I realized I am afraid of is dying in a plane crash.

I don't want to die... and often times I feel more in control when have the illusion of control. When I am driving the car, I feel like I can prevent the crash. When I am running, I can prevent disease. But really, when it is my day to meet him, it will be my day. Whether I am in sky or sitting here writing this blog.

Hopefully this new realization will help me enjoy the next flight a little more. :)

We're Back!

We have been so blessed this past month to have lots of time to rest and visit new places. After I took a few personal days off around Christmas, David and I left for Pasadena on December 29th on the trip that I won at work. We went to help with the building of the Donate Life Float for the Rose Parade. It was such a great experience to see the entire production and meet all the families that had given so much to others through organ donation.





Learning how to properly cut and prepare flowers to be place on the float:


Float in progress:


Our Group at the Stars of Life Gala
(don't we all look dressed for a funeral in our black outfits, ha!)


The night before the parade...people sleep on the streets and all the stores are boarded up. Quite the experience!





The Finished Product:


The float was named Stars of Life. It honored those individuals and families that chose to donate in the midst of unthinkable tragedy.

We even found an In-N-Out while we were there...yum!




After the parade we went to the Rose Bowl. David and I both love football so it wasn't hard to scrounge up the funds and justify why we should get tickets. We decided to be Penn State fans (David has always liked Joe Paterno)and then ended up sitting in a sea of people cheering for USC. We were lucky we made it out alive.







We came back to Colorado for 4 short days before we were off to Flordia to embark on our Caribbean Cruise! I will post pictures of that vacation soon...I have to go finish laundry.

Where will you be on New Years Day?

David and I will be on an all-expensed paid trip to sunny California to watch the Rose Bowl Parade!




No we didn't win the lottery or rob a bank to pay for such an excursion....I won the "creative challenge" at my work!

Yes me, the left-brained, numbers girl, won a right-brained contest...nothing short of a miracle, I know

Let me explain...

Each year the Rose Bowl Parade has a float that honors organ and tissue donation across the country. Each year my work sends a donor/recipient family to walk with the float and two employeese to help with the final touches on the float. One of the employees is chosen by a drawing. The other employee must submit a creative work that communicates what donation means to him/her. I chose to compete and spent many hours in prayer trying to come up with something meaningful.

I used a lot of pictures to communicate what donation means to me and I don't have a release to post the picture mosiac that I made on the internet so you will have to ask me to email it to you if you want to see my work of art! :) Nevertheless, the panel selected my picture as the best and that is why we have been blessed with a free trip to Pasadena.

Thank you Lord!

Drained

Two Families this week both suffered much in the last few days
Two Families had the opportunity to have their loved one save lives
Both families said no.
I am sad...

You see organ donation (like most things in life) is not cut and dry. There are so many variables and different circumstances with each potential donor. Everything must somehow align for it to even be an option for families--its truly a miracle.

The circumstances are always horrible. There is much tragedy and I get thrown into the mix of it all. I do everything in my power to make sure that the opportunity to donate, to save lives is preserved. When it comes time to speak with the family, the naivety in me always hopes that it will be the easy part in the whole process. If I were approaching myself, then that would be true; however, I am not.

I am drained today because two times this week I poured myself into the mission of Donor Alliance. Two times I prayed fervently that the Lord would make it possible for 18 of the people who die every day to live. Two times I tried my best and it didn't make a difference. I keep running all the events around in my head and thinking about what I could have done better. But truly, it just wasn't meant to be.

I may never understand how people say no to saving a life
I may never understand unless I myself am experiencing tragedy

For all those on the waiting list...I will keep trying because I want you to have more life, I want you to know Jesus if you don't and if you do, then I want others to know Him because of you.