This year my dad is spending Father’s Day in the hospital. 🏥 It’s been just about 6 weeks since he received a bilateral lung transplant. 🫁 Although the journey has felt long and exhausting, it’s very great seeing him on the road to recovery. So far, my dad’s body has accepted his new lungs. 🙏🏽 We’re working with him daily to get back to being able to walk and take care of his daily needs. 🚶🏽♂️
These new lungs are a second chance at life for my dad. Before the transplant, his pulmonary fibrosis was making it difficult for him to do even basic tasks without getting winded. Our hope is that we’ll have him around for years to come.
We’re raising money to help make this transition back into life easy for my dad - rent, food, pharmacy costs, and potential medical bills that we expect could come from this extended stay at the hospital.
Please consider donating by visiting the link in my bio 🤍
🫁🤍 This has been home for me and my dad for the past month or so - an extended ICU stay for pre- and post-lung transplant care. There’s been a few complications here and there but things are fairly stable right now. It’s still looking like we’ll be here for another while longer and then for a few months in the city for tests and more.
I’ve been out of work for 9 months at this point, something that’s difficult for me to admit. It’s been a serious test of my values, relationships, and more. It’s been months full of anxiety, depression, and a lot of stress. Six of those months have been spent on many trips to and from medical appointments in a city 4 hours from home.
I’m not always a religious person these days but I sometimes still have moments where I like to think that there might be somebody out there. And as much as I don’t like the idea that somebody would get sick as a test of faith, I sometimes wonder if the timing of all of this was necessary so that I can be free to take care of my dad. I don’t know honestly.
This journey is only just starting for me and my family. We need to take it day by day, week by week. There’s a lot of work to do to make sure my dad’s new lease on life goes smoothly.
One of the biggest ways you can help us in these first few months is by donating and/or sharing our story. I set up a GoFundMe for my dad. Check out my profile to visit and help us out. And if you’re the praying type, we welcome that too!
Hi friends! 👋🏽 I need your help - my dad is sick. My whole family has been on a journey the past few years but even more recently the past few months. We’re looking for your support in this next part of the journey. Please take a moment to read about my dad’s progressive lung disease and consider donating. ❤️ I wrote about it on the website in my bio - where you’ll also be able see how you can help.
I appreciate y’all 🫶
The sun and window were working so hard to give us this wonderful strip of light ☀️🪟🙏📸 @tayloringaustin werked! ✨ (I love it when the professionals in front of the camera make it so easy for photographers 😇)
Even though I don’t really go to mass anymore and haven’t in a long time, I occasionally still go into a church because I miss the smells and the sounds. ⛪️
Hi! I’m alive and well. It’s been over a year since I’ve posted on the main feed, but I’m still here! I mostly enjoy liking photos over posting them nowadays. It’s been an eventful year to say the least.
In the past year, I left Nashville after living there longer that I expected. I’ve bopped around a few beds throughout Texas with friends and family, but in the end I made it to Austin! I’m so glad to have made it here now. It’s been my dream to move to this city since I was a teen.
The move has been overshadowed a bit by the global pandemic, but I made it. And also! I’m vaccinated! I realize that with this vaccination I’ve a great privilege that isn’t shared throughout the world. I’m still being careful where I can - keeping up with the science to make adjustments if I need to. The vaccine has given me the freedom to finally visit old faces and share hugs with loved ones. It’s honestly been soo good for me.
Most of 2020 and early 2021, I had a visit from an old friend named Depression. For the first few months they brought their pal, Anxiety. It was not fun. Depression was most aggressive near my move to Austin and shortly after, but I finally got a chance to do what I always advocate for those with the means to and went to therapy!
Most recently, I left my job in search of new opportunities for growth as a web developer. The job hunt seems promising, but I’m still searching. (Hire me?😅)
Things are still shifting around me, but encouraged by my friends, I’m a bit hopeful about what the next year brings.
Enjoy this photo dump beginning with my new pfp. 😊
Sometimes the thing our soul needs the most is for our bodies to move into action.
I wrote about my experience at a march for Black lives. ✏️ I Prayed for the First Time
🔗 Link in bio, as always.
