Well, after making it through the Jewish
calendar without incident over the last several months, I guess I was overdue
for having a holiday get messed up.
A year ago, I was extremely ill and was
admitted to the hospital on Purim. A couple weeks later I unexpectedly found
myself being worked up for a lung transplant. I've been a little freaked out
thinking about that, and eagerly anticipated having a MUCH better Purim this
year.
My Purim plans were already small. Between
cold and flu season and the Corona virus, my doctor strongly encouraged me to
avoid crowds, particularly crowds in small enclosed spaces. So no shul or
parties or big communal seuda for me. But I still made plans, and I was really
looking forward to them! I spent hours making lung lollipops and cookies for my
fancy lung-themed shalach manos, and was excited to show off my costume while
delivering them. I've had my costume planned for a year, ever since they
started my transplant workup. I OBVIOUSLY needed to be Frankenstein's monster
now that I'm cobbled together with parts from multiple people! For seuda I was
going to join an immunocompromised friend whose journey to bone marrow
transplant last year closely paralleled my own journey to lung transplant.
Since neither of us could go to any large seudas, we decided to make our own.
My Purim celebrations would be slightly curtailed, but I would still have a
nice holiday, and I was very excited for it.
Aaaand then I woke up feverish today.
Thankfully no other symptoms except a
headache, fatigue, and a slight increase in coughing, but my doctor still
wanted to see me and get testing done. So instead of delivering shalach manos
and having a seuda, I got to rush to Philly for an appointment. My chest x-ray
and bloodwork came back normal, but it'll take at least a day to get the
results from the viral swab. If we identify a virus but my symptoms remain
mild, I'll be able to treat it at home. If the viral panel comes back negative
but I'm still running a fever, I'll have to go to the ER for a chest CT scan
and a COVID-19 test so we can figure out what's causing my symptoms. And if my
symptoms get significantly worse, I'll have to go inpatient for treatment.
On the plus side, I haven't had a fever for
the last several hours, so hopefully it'll stay gone and this will have been a
lot of fuss over nothing. But that's the reality of post-transplant life: any
sign of infection is pounced on and treated aggressively, lest it turn into
something worse. Here's hoping I can weather this one at home!
I did manage to catch a megilla reading at
the Adlers (while wearing a mask, staying on the outskirts, and trying not to
touch or breathe on anyone or anything) before rushing to Philly. I also got to
see some people and enjoy the in-person reactions to my costume and shalach
manos, and some of my wonderful friends delivered the rest of my shalach manos
for me. And just for fun I wore my costume to my doctor's appointment, and
enjoyed watching each member of my medical team do a double take as they walked
in the door. I had already given them lung lollipops and cookies last week at a
follow up appointment - which they greatly enjoyed!! - so they basically got
the full Purim experience!
So that was my Purim. Not exactly what I
had planned! But at least I managed to stay out of the hospital this year, and
hopefully I'll continue to do so for the foreseeable future!
(If you want to see more of my shalach manos, I made a video of the whole cookie and lollipop making process: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=29ARL9xdQ-4)
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