Ashley here – Long time brokenbeatblog reader, first time guest poster. So Brandon can’t swim because he can’t get the IV pump or the line that runs into his chest below his right collarbone wet, and he can’t run because his heart function is still crappy. But today he did strap on his sweet pump-containing fanny pack and hit the road for a 14 mile bike ride. It was sunny and beautiful and perfect. And we saw a snake. So a good day for all.
I think Brandon does a good job on this blog of sharing the severity of his condition balanced with good humor and education information, but seriously, transplant medicine is rotten. These patients deserve better care, better drugs, and a better alternative to sticking a foreign body into a living person and watching it slowly kill them. In a case like Brandon’s where his heart failed due to no fault of his own, it’s devastating, but I bet it’s a pretty awful feeling if you develop end-stage heart disease because you ignore your pre-existing high blood pressure, high cholesterol, overindulgence, etc.. The important thing I hope y’all notice is that he keeps on taking care of himself despite his many disabilities. His doctors have more than once commented on how he’s one of the few patients that has not allowed himself to become obese despite high doses of prednisone. So if you’re using something in your life as an excuse to sit around and watch the world pass you by, learn from this dude. Because he rocks.
