Rounds Inspirational Journeys

May you never stop dreaming that impossible dream. As difficult as times may get, hold on to the promises God has made to you and do not falter in your faith. Do not be afraid to ask for a miracle; if you believe it can happen it will. Never lose your faith and trust in others. Let people love and care for you and in return do the same. Two years ago I began the quest for an impossible dream. The road that I travelled was rocky and full of potholes that tried to consume me, and yet I walked on. Yes I faltered, yes I doubted, and yes, at times I wanted to give up. But a wonderful group of people came along to help me, giving me nourishment , encouragement, and love (YOU). They continually reminded me of how much I am loved by God and others and that gave me the strength to carry on. On December 10, 2008, when I didn't think my body could take any more suffering, my impossible dream came true and a miracle was given to me by a stranger and her family. Through their love and generosit...

Hello friends, I am worn out! I had an ultrasound on my legs at 9:00 (they found no blood clots, hooray!) and then I had a CT of my chest at 10:00. I kept nodding off during the CT I was so tired. I am looking forward to a nice nap when I finish my breathing treatments. Hannah and Dad went with Carter, Reilly, and their dad and grandpa to the Science Center. We dropped them off at Cammi's house on our way to the hospital. Hannah told me she was so excited her tummy hurt. I hope they will have a wonderful day. A home health nurse will be coming today to pull out my Picc line and access my medi -port for the remainder of my IV medications. I am a little nervous. The Picc hurt like crazy going in! My cousin Joni had asked me how my Christmas wish was coming, so I thought I should give you all a report. So far I have sold 228 Chronic Illness books, not quite to my goal yet, but REALLY close. Thank you to those of you who helped with this special wish of mine (and especially to my dad...

Dear friends, As my blog approaches its 30,000th visit, I thought it would be nice to set up a Guestbook for all of my friends who have been following me along on this journey. Please take a moment to sign my guestbook and let me know who you are and where you are from. The link is to the right and once you have signed, click on the home link and it will take you back to my site. Thank you all so much! Nancy

Hello! Today I had my appointment with the surgeons to assess how I am progressing. No one could believe how good I looked. Things are looking okay so far. My biopsy showed no signs of rejection (Thank you God!), but I do have a touch of Bronchitis, so I need to take things a little easier for a few days. I will continue my 7 doses a day of IV antibiotics until I see Dr. Pilewski next Thursday. I am scheduled to have a CT of my chest tomorrow morning as well as an ultrasound of my legs and feet to check on the swelling. I couldn't believe it when I got on their scale today and weighed 134, obviously I have a lot of fluid buildup because I am sure I didn't gain 20 lbs. of fat or muscle in the last few days. Rose and Haley got off safely this afternoon. It sure was great to see them! I never got to share the pictures from our dinner with Julie and Mary the night before I was transplanted. We had a lovely visit and Julie actually ate more than I did. (What an amazing miracle consi...

Rose and Haley arrived around 1:00 today. It was so wonderful to see them! We have had a terrific day catching up. Hannah and Haley have really enjoyed each other's company and Rose took the two girls to Barnes and Noble while I was sleeping, so they each got to pick out a book. Dear Rose was also good enough to get me some large/wide shoes to wear to my doctor's appointment tomorrow, I can't fit into any of my shoes. Wasn't that so thoughtful of her? I guess she thought I would look goofy in my slippers. I have an appointment with the surgeon tomorrow at 10:20. I am anxious to see what they say about how I am progressing. I am a bit nervous about the swelling in my feet and hope they can adjust my medications to help with that. I will let you know tomorrow afternoon what I found out. Rose brought this picture of Scott, Hannah, and Santa from a Christmas party they all attended. I had to share this great picture of my two cuties ( Santa's a cutie too!) ...

Good Morning! I wanted to tell you about an amazing nurse I met while I was in the hospital. His name is Alphonse. He is from Ghana and is currently working here in the US. Alphonse is the father of 16 children, 4 biological and the rest adopted. He and his wife are both becoming educated in the medical field so they can open a clinic back in their home country to assist the people there. Alphonse is a CPA, a Geologist, and now an RN. He was the sweetest, most gentle man I think I have ever met, a genuinely good person through and through. As awesome as all of that is, when I asked Alphonse about Christmas and if or how they celebrated, he replied that they do not buy gifts for each other, but instead purchase gifts for those less fortunate. On Christmas day his family volunteers at a soup kitchen serving Christmas dinner to the homeless. I was so moved by this! Alphonse is a true angel on earth and I wanted to introduce him to you. My friends Rose and Haley come today, I can't wa...

Hannah and my parents had a wonderful afternoon with Cammi's Family. Hannah is already looking forward to a trip to the Science Center with Carter and Reilly later this week. Vance, Ann, Judy, and Dennis Reilly, Hannah, & Carter Lance and Cammi I stayed home and enjoyed a nice nap. Scott left around 10:00 and got home safely, thank goodness, I miss him already. I didn't get a chance to tell you that I had a special visitor the day after Christmas. Sister Margaret Carney, the President of SBU grew up in Pittsburgh, so she is here for the holidays. She came to visit and it was so lovely to see her. She has always been so supportive of me and I was touched that she would take time away from her family to see me and my family. The St. Bonaventure family has been so supportive and good to me, I feel very blessed to have made so many wonderful friends while I worked there. I hope you all had a wonderful weekend! My love to you all! Nancy

Hannah got some Bendaroos from my parents for Christmas and has had a great time decorating my room. I wanted to share some of her art work, it has made my room so much cheerier!

Hannah created this beautiful cyber-flower this morning and wanted me to share it with all of you. Good morning!

Hello! We are having the BEST weekend! Yesterday the family stayed busy playing some tennis, a game of baseball, and had a fun filled bowling tournament (even I was able to play that a little). This new Wii is great, so interactive! I have been struggling with swelling feet and ankles (cancles as my mom calls it) and did not have a comfortable way to elevate my legs, so Scott took a trip to Ikea and got me this great new chair and foot rest. It is so much more comfortable than what I have been sitting in! Scott leaves tomorrow (I will miss him so much!), but Hannah will stay with us until next weekend when Scott's mom, sister, and brother-in-law come for a visit. My friend Rose and her daughter Haley are also planning a visit next week, so I have a lot to look forward to. Hannah is super excited because she gets to meet Cammi's (my friend awaiting transplant) children Carter and Reilly tomorrow. The two sets of grandparents will be taking the kids to a park close to their renta...

Christmas Eve at Gramma Gail's (NY) Distributing Reindeer Food Christmas Morning (Home in NY) Christmas at the Apartment (PA) Hannah got her Wii! I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas! Love you! Nancy

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Hannah and Scott arrived safely and this has been, by far, the BEST Christmas EVER!!!!!

I don't remember a time I have woken up on Christmas morning with more peace, joy, and thankfulness. It still seems as though I am dreaming. I had a good night and only had to wake up to take my pain pills twice and to run two IV antibiotics. Last night I saw the pictures my dad took right after surgery. At the time, we didn't feel comfortable posting any of them because we didn't want to cause fear or concern for all of you. Now that I have come so far, I thought you might like to see what I looked like that first few days after surgery. What an amazing transformation in just two weeks! Pictures taken Dec. 11 (one day after surgery) I was very tired and sore last night and when we unpacked all the pills I had to organize and take I almost burst into tears. Have you ever seen so many medications? This is a one week supply! Scott and Hannah should be on the road headed to Pittsburgh by now. What a wonderful present for me to be able to see Hannah, I feel like a little kid...

Happy Christmas Eve! I am home, I am home, I am home!!!!! I still can't believe it. My bronch went well this morning, the procedure was at 9:30 and I was awake back in my room by 11:30. We did not get released until 3:00 , so we have not been home long. I am just trying to let it sink in that I actually made it back to the apartment for Christmas, what a miracle! Scott and Hannah will be celebrating Christmas with his family this evening, but will get up bright and early to come to us tomorrow. I am so excited to see them! I wanted to wish my Dad a very happy 64 th Birthday. He just keeps saying that he got the best present ever, I would have to agree. Please enjoy this holy and blessed evening, there is so much to celebrate! My love to all of you! Nancy

A Christmas Wish Granted By Kate Day Sager Olean Times Herald “I love you all and have experienced a most amazing Christmas miracle,” wrote Nancy Matthews in her Web site this week. “God bless my donor and her family for giving me this second chance at life.” For Mrs. Matthews and her family, the Christmas miracle is one they had been praying for while waiting for a transplant that would replace lungs diseased by cystic fibrosis. The transplanted lungs came from a female donor during an eight-hour operation on Dec. 10 at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center’s Presbyterian Hospital in Pittsburgh, Pa. The procedure came after approximately seven months of waiting for a donor to be found. A resident of Westons Mills and native of Wyoming, Mrs. Matthews is an alumna of St. Bonaventure University. She had worked with the Disability Support Services program on campus until she had to leave the program last year due to her own disability from cystic fibrosis. The disease causes cloggi...

Dear friends, I have wonderful news, it sounds like I will be discharged tomorrow and will be back at the apartment for Christmas. This is more than I ever could have hoped for, I have been granted one miracle after another in these last few weeks, God is SO GOOD! I will have my first bronchoscope tomorrow which will indicate whether or not my new lungs are experiencing any rejection, please pray that the results come back free of rejection. I have had a busy day today. I was taken to walk up and down my first flight of stairs, which I was terrified about, but did great. This afternoon I attended a Post-Transplant class that discussed what life will be like once I leave the hospital. I'll have to take a picture of all of the medications I will be taking, it usually takes me two cartons of milk to get them all down and I am an expert pill swallower already. We will be picking up all of these new drugs tomorrow and I dread seeing how much that is going to cost monthly! Let me sh...

So far today has been a good day. It is amazing how much better you feel when you get a good night's sleep! It sounds like I might be able to return to the apartment by the end of the week, hooray! As long as home health can be arranged and I continue to be stable, that is the plan. If you want to know how happy I am about this prospect, please visit this site (well worth the trip!): http://elfyourself.jibjab.com/view/g7y95BCdgzTbo7ndDovc My love goes out to all of you. Thank you for your continued prayers and support! Nancy

Good Morning! I am so happy to tell you that I actually got some good rest last night. Though there is still a great deal of discomfort, without the tubes I was able to sleep more on my sides and give my tail bone a much needed break. It was such a relief to sleep, the last several nights have been very stressful for me. I hope you all had a good night as well! Love you! Nancy

I am so thrilled to report that the surgeons removed my last set of tubes a few minutes ago. I am cautiously hopeful this will mean some pain relief. It feels nice not to be hooked up by my chest anymore. I had another rough night, but hopefully tonight will be better. I have already gone for 3 walks today and it gets easier with each step I take. I am very tired, so need to take a nap, but wanted to share this recent wonderful development! Love to you all! Nancy

All that blogging wore Dad out! : ) Hello! Today has been a very sleepy day. I am trying desperately to catch up on the sleep I am losing at night. I have also been getting out for several walks which is great! Unfortunately, because of the pain, I have yet to be able to fully appreciate taking a deep breathe with my new lungs, but I know that is coming soon. Hopefully with the increase in nighttime pain meds I will be able to report a better night sleep tomorrow. The Brady/ Stohl (Cammi's) Family sent me some wonderful decorations for my room, so we have been slowly making it feel a little more Christmassy , thank you so much! I also have my special Hannah table all se t up to remind me of my beautiful little girl! My love to you all! Nancy

Good morning! You all found my missing item, oxygen! It feels so strange to not have that cannula on, I have become used to it and am still experiencing nervousness without it, but so far I am keeping my oxygen levels up, praise GOD! Yesterday was a busy day. I was taken down to the CT department to have my picc line (a catheter that runs through the veins) adjusted, OUCH! Then the surgery team pulled two more of my chest tubes, OUCH OUCH!!!! So I am now down to one tube on each side and hopefully will get that pulled on Monday. The nights continue to be very difficult for me. The pain increases dramatically when I am trying to lay down and rest comfortably. It makes for an extremely long evening. They are going to try to increase my pain meds at night to see if I can get some better rest. Scott just left to drive home. What a wonderful visit we had. We are feeling so much hope and can finally look forward to what the future may bring, what an incredible blessing. Okay, th...

Good morning friends! I had a long night. I was able to cough out a lot of gunk when I first went to bed, but I obviously irritated my already painful back. I ended up in hysterical tears before they could get me my pain medication and it threw off the rest of the night. Hopefully I can get some sleep today. I wanted to share the thing that made my day yesterday, over and above even hugging Scott. Scott brought Hannah's letter to Santa to share with me before he put it in the mail. In her letter, which she composed all on her own, she asked for the typical kid presents, but at the end she wrote: Also if you can't get all of these things don't worry. I already got a really great gift. We sure did get a great gift, Hannah, and I can't wait to appreciate it with you for years to come! My love to you all! Nancy

I coughed up white sputum today, hooray! I don't know that I have ever seen this color sputum in my life, it was lovely! Good night to you all! Nancy

Wow, I am speechless by the outpouring of love and friendship you have shown me and my family. Thank you for welcoming my father's posts. Though I do not have the concentration, nor visual ability to type long, I did want to at least say hi. This has been quite an experience so far and I know I have a long road yet to travel, but I have been greatly blessed in these last few days with my ability to improve daily. I am in GREAT hands and am being well taken care of. Hopefully, once all 6 of my chest tubes have been removed this terrible pain will subside, but the medications finally have it at least manageable. Scott arrived this afternoon, so I am feeling better seeing him and letting him see my improvement. Please know we will continue to keep you posted with significant events, but no news is GOOD news, so don't worry too much. I love you all and have experienced a most amazing Christmas miracle. God bless my donor and her family for giving me this second chance at lif...