Podcase 3 Transplant Melissa House Since all of that, but I remember they came in with this box. And it was a huge box. And this was my medications for the first like month. Jennifer Van Syckle Thank you for joining us for this episode of Talking Health in the 406. I'm your host, Jennifer Van Syckle, longtime healthcare worker turned health educator. And this is the third and final installment of our podcast series with Melissa House. Let's listen back in as we hear her journey from type 1 diabetes to double organ transplant recipient. Okay, so let's look back around to when you move to Winnemucca, Nevada. So you went from Butte, Montana, to a much, much smaller town? How was that? Can you take us back to that experience? Melissa House Sure. It you know, it was a scary experience, leaving what you know, here, what I grew up with, you know, here in Montana, to now go into somewhere smaller. And, you know, especially when you have a chronic disease or, you know, starting to deal with some of the things that I was seeing, you know, I had high blood pressure, I had diabetes, and then the new stuff going on with my kidneys, and what that looked like it was a lot of unknown and a lot of uncertainty of like, am I going to get the care that I need? Do we have the resources available? You know, and what does that look like? And I think, you know, a lot of people think you have to be in a big city, you have to be somewhere where, you know, everything is advanced technology and all this and I don't necessarily feel that that's the case, the care and the experiences that I went through while I was dealing with all of this. were amazing. You know, you get that small town kind of care. Because I you know, I started working at the mine and then mine and then moved into a new position within the hospital working on the ambulance. You know, I was very fortunate not everybody gets this, but you do in a small town where I could just walk in to my doctor's back door anytime I had a question, anytime I needed thing, anything, they were always there, you know, to see me and you know, work through things. If I had questions, I was on different meds and they were changing meds all the time. So, you know, I had great care, I had access to great care Jennifer Van Syckle A person doesn't always have to go to Seattle, or to Salt Lake or somewhere else Melissa House to find that great care, right? It's just finding, I think it's finding the right connection and be willing to be open and have those conversations. And I think sometimes in a smaller town, you get more time with the provider, it's not that hurry up in and out really quick. You're just a number. You know, you come in, what's your problem out the door. And I know healthcare is shifting to that those value based services. But you know, sometimes in a small town, you get a little bit more of that one on one, you feel like you're a little bit more cared for. I did you know, I was referred to a nephrologist for the kidney issues who was in Reno. So it was about two hours away. And I saw them on you know, about every three months, I would go in and see them. But they connected with my provider back in Winnemucca. So you know, it was a great, great way to connect the resources. It was never like, Oh, we're in Reno, where the big city, we're gonna take care of you. There was always that connection there. And people were talking and making sure that you know, the care I was getting was quality care for you. Jennifer Van Syckle And probably even your local pharmacist, I imagined to your pharmacist would know what medications you were on. And be another great resource to which we we do have all over Montana as well. Melissa House Right? I can't say enough about the community pharmacists in a small town in a lot of places thats who people go to, that's who they trust. And I was, you know, I'm gonna go to Walmart, and that's where I'm gonna get my meds. Because, you know, it's just the easiest, most convenient, but for a lot of stuff that I was on Walmart couldn't get it or they couldn't keep it in stock. So I there was a community pharmacy that I went to, and it was great. They had the time to talk with you. They had the time to connect a little bit more about your medications and ask questions. And you could ask questions, so I cannot give enough credit to the community pharmacists. They're invested in your care. And again, you don't feel like a number coming in, next, next, right and outdoors absolutely Jennifer Van Syckle greeted on a first name basis. They you know, a lot of times they know exactly who's walking through the door. Yeah, exactly. Perfect. And so tell us about your journey out of chronic kidney disease. You were having a rough time, hypertension. How did that what happened? What how did that story go? Melissa House Yeah, I think it was kind of the next phase in my learning process of, you know, what journey am I on now? And I always kind of, again, you know, looking back from my college years in the big shift, everything that I was going on was a journey. And I always felt like, hey, this is what was handed to me. Let's go with it. This is who I am. Yeah. And it took a lot to get there. But this is my next journey. Let's just go with it. And I struggled, I had hard times. But I always tried to keep positive. And that was the one thing I told my nephrologist going through this journey is all right, what's next? Let's bring it on. So it was it was crazy. It was learning about food all over again, with you know, anybody with kidney disease has, you know, you really have to look at different foods, learning about different medications, you know, putting you on different things and different regimens of all of this kind of stuff. I remember the one they put me on and I kind of laugh back, looking back at it today. But Rogaine, we all know, Rogaine for hair, right? Hair growth. But it was originally, you know, use for blood pressure. So that's it was called Minoxidil. And they put me on that and it causes hair growth, let's just say that I had the best hair, thick hair that grew like crazy. I call it my monkey medicine that I was on. I had hair growth on my arms. It was miserable. I have to say, you know, it was black and thick. And I think I had hair everywhere. But you know, it was one of those life journeys, you know, am I dealing with that now? No. But at the time, I was like, Okay, this is ridiculous. And kind of crazy. But just kind of the funny things that you experienced. And I can look back now and actually laugh. I hated it at the time. But I look back at pictures of my hair. And I was like, oh, man, I had thick, full hair. It was great. Yeah, but you know, so those things, it was kind of learning all over again and figuring out, you know, and working with my providers. And the one thing I did tell my nephrologist, is I looked at him one day, and I said I'm never gonna go on dialysis. And he looked at me he's like, All right, that's a pretty lofty goal. And I said, No, I'm not going to go on dialysis. That's my goal. And I never did. I never had to go on dialysis. And it came. Yeah, yeah, I was very fortunate. But it was another lifestyle change that I went through changing my eating, eating habits, exercising more, drinking more water, I swear, I'm surprised I didn't drown. I drink so much water. But it was just kind of figuring and figuring that out. And the scary thing about all of this going through, there's probably things that I could have done early on. But people with chronic kidney disease, you know, especially if you have diabetes or hypertension, any of those, which are the two leading causes of chronic kidney disease. It's scary, because a lot of times you don't know you have any symptoms. As I mentioned before I had headaches. But I was young, I was my 20s, I was going working on the ambulance, you know, I'd get off for my full time job, go volunteer on the ambulance service, get a couple of hours asleep, and then back at it. And I just contributed it to stress, lack of sleep. So there was a lot Jennifer Van Syckle 20 something year old with no sleep. And yeah, and woking all the time. Who wouldn't have a headache? Melissa House Yeah, exactly. So that is the one thing that again, I keep talking about patient advocacy and, you know, asking questions, anybody that has any chronic condition, you know, talk to your doctor about these things, because it's scary to think, you know, one in four people one in three people out there have chronic kidney disease and don't know they have it Jennifer Van Syckle 30 million adults in the United States, according to the National Kidney Foundation have chronic kidney disease and 80% are not aware of it. That's frightening. It really is. Especially since it can be slowed. It can, there can be steps in place. Melissa House Yeah, absolutely. There's lots of different things that they can do to really slow that progression. And you know, that's ultimately what I did. So I didn't have to go on dialysis. I was in stage two. And I said, I'll never get to that point. And it progressed over the years. It was about three to four years that it progressed. But I slowed it down tremendously Jennifer Van Syckle So even with your best efforts. Even you know, you at least got time it progressed. But yeah, Melissa House it didn't. Yeah, absolutely. I think at the point where I was at, you know, I knew I wanted to be really proactive and aggressive with my treatment. So you know, after a few years, my nephrologist, and I just started having conversations about the future and where we would go and we started talking about transplant, you know, and what that looked like and I you know, again, I was like alright, what's next? Let's look at this. Let's figure this out. Yeah, trying to be optimistic and also getting ahead of the game because I again, I go back to, I don't want to go on dialysis. That's not where I want to go. So, you know, I had a great health care team. And I'm sure they were probably sick of me because I like I said before, I had a ton of questions. And I was on board and I, you know, came in with my list and we figured out stuff. And I wanted to timeline. I wish I could be like that just my everyday stuff. Right. But yeah, work and things. But yeah, you know, I had a timeline, and this is how we're going to move forward. Jennifer Van Syckle And so how did you are dealing with CKD interact with you're dealing with diabetes, as well? Did you have any complications or issues with that? Melissa House Yeah, the one thing that was kind of scary as some of the meds that I were on for the chronic kidney disease, you know, I could become unaware that my blood glucose level was dropping. So I could be perfectly fine having a conversation like we're having today. And the next thing, you know, I would be completely out of it and not knowing what was going on. I can remember, you know, working on the ambulance, who have lots of fun stories. And you know, I love those those guys to death, they were a great care and support team. But you know, some of the things that were funny, I was in Winnemucca, Nevada, and I called home to Butte one morning, and I can vaguely remember but talking to my mom, and she knew I was off, she knew things were off. And so she was able to actually call my boss on the ambulance, Pat. And they were able to get into my house, they all knew and they always looked out for me. So they were able to get into my house, him and another paramedic. And you know, it's kind of scary when you come to and you wake up and there's two paramedics standing over you while you're laying in bed. That happened a couple of times, and it's like, Jennifer Van Syckle what are you doing? You picked up the phone and called mom in Butte? Yeah. Oh, my Yeah. Melissa House But they new, you know, they were check on me. And they knew kind of what I was going through. So I always, at times, I was annoyed. Like, seriously, leave me alone. What are you doing? But, you know, it was really them being genuine and looking out for me and caring for that community support Jennifer Van Syckle Yeah, Yeah, that we have here in Montana. Melissa House Exactly. You know, that small town people look out for people people know, people. I don't think you can replace that with big city just being a number. I agree. Yeah. And so Jennifer Van Syckle you're on visiting about transplants with your nephrologist. You know, what happened? Did you Was it years? Was it weeks? Which How did that all happen? And go down? Yeah, I wasn't Melissa House really prepared for what was going to happen next. I remember we kind of had our final conversation, it was in October, in October of 2016, no 2017 is when we kind of had this conversation. And I said, Okay, let's go for it. Let's start thinking about it. Because I was at the point where I was borderline of, you know, kind of crossing that line of being in that complete kidney failure and in the red zone of kind of the red zone. Yeah, exactly. And so we started having that conversation. I said, Okay, let's, let's do it. Let's move forward and start, you know, working through the process. And so it started in, you know, in October, when we went through that looking at insurance, you know, where would be the location. And what we were looking at was either Sacramento or San Francisco, were the two kind of places that I was looking at, at the time, my insurance didn't cover Sacramento. So we, you know, got on the coordinators list with California Pacific Medical Center in San Francisco, and kind of just started that process. So I had to go into Roseville, California, that was kind of the meeting place, and get tons of lab work, go through tons of testing, you know, financial specialists, all of that kind of stuff. So it was a process. And you know, and that continued on for the next couple of months. And you know, this whole time, they're telling you, it can be anywhere from three to five years. You know, that's the typical process for a kidney is looking at three to five years. So I had no expectations of what was next. I was like, Okay, we're just going to handle this. I remember getting a second cell phone because service was not great where we're at. So I had At&T service and I had Verizon service, just hoping that you know, one of those would work and I carry those with me everywhere. But I think I got cleared in January end of January first part of February with all the testing and then I was active on the list. And so you know, it was just that process of now the waiting game. Yeah, you know, just Jennifer Van Syckle continue with years or could I'm ready in case in days. Melissa House Yeah. And that's what they tell you. You know, you just have to be ready you know have that bag packed. Like if you're waiting, you know to have a baby have that go bag ready to go, good analagy. Yeah, yeah. So you know, it was just one of those things that just continue. So things continued. I didn't, you know, I kind of stayed pretty even keel didn't progress any further again I was that was my goal not going on dialysis. But it happened faster than I had expected. I was actually on the list for eight months and four days, okay. So you know, I was young, I was healthy, they do look at those things. It's not just your number one on the list, they look at, you know, the match, of course, they have to match the alleles and the antibodies and all of that, to make sure that you're a match. There, six of those that they look at, I was almost a perfect match. I matched five out of six, which is crazy. That typically doesn't happen, you have to have three or more. So it was kind of a whirlwind. I remember it was a Sunday, we were in the middle of our EMS annual refresher training. It was about six o'clock in the morning, my husband was getting ready to go make the coffee. And down at the convention center where we were having the conference. And I got the call. And it was crazy. They're like, Okay, we have a match, you need to come right now. And I was just like, Jennifer Van Syckle What do I do with the Sacramento don't know, where did you have to go? San Francisco, Melissa House San Francisco. So I had to go from Winnemucca to San Francisco, which is about a five hour drive. On a good day with no traffic. Oh, yeah, it can take anywhere up to seven hours, just depending on the traffic. So it was crazy. It was like packing the bag grabbing stuff I remember. And my mom still laughs everybody's like, well, who did you call first? Your mom is like, No, I actually called my friend Debbie. And let her know. And I it was that shock? Like, I don't know what to do. And she was like, Have you called your mom, you need to call your mom and get your stuff and get in the car. And I was like, Okay, let's go. And so we were just kind of, you know, moving at like the speed of light, calling everybody in my family was gathering. My mom and dad and my grandma, my aunt were driving to Salt Lake to get on a plane. My other aunt and my grandma, were getting in the car and driving and they would meet us there. So again, that family support. They were all coming from Montana. And so, you know, we get in the car. And I don't remember how fast my husband drove. But we made it there in like four hours and 15 minutes. And I remember them calling me as I'm walking into the hospital where yet and I'm like I'm outside thinking they want me now like I'm going into surgery right now this is happening. But I get there and they get me checked in and then it's like, okay, now you're gonna wait. Now you're gonna wait, I got there about one o'clock on Sunday afternoon. And it was crazy. As the whirlwind Jennifer Van Syckle had you signed up. So you were a double organ transplant. So pancreas and kidney, had you signed up to receive both organs or just a kidney. So I had the Melissa House option I could do kidney from a living donor. So if they found a living donor, I could do a kidney and then go in for a second surgery for a non living donor for the pancreas. And I was like, No, I don't want two surgeries. So I just said, Let's just wait until you know we can have a non living donor. And I had tons of people that were a match friends and family. One of my best friend's mom was a match. But I was like no, I want to wait, I'm at a good enough spot where I want to wait, I just do it all at once. But there was still a lot of unknown so my family got there. And you Jennifer Van Syckle were still waiting in the hospital and your family had time to come from Montana. And you're still just waiting. Okay, and you were an inpatient hooked up to IVs Yeah, just waiting. Melissa House It was kind of crazy. And they took me off my insulin when I got there, which I was not used to. So that was a kind of a roller coaster of experience. I think it was like three or four in the afternoon that took me off my insulin and they did it on purpose. They were trying to let my blood sugar rise. So when I went into surgery, but I didn't know what was going to happen. Kidney they can look at and know okay, this is a viable kidney. We're good to go pancreas you don't know until it's actually removed from the individual. And they can physically put their eyes and hands on it to see if it's a viable organ. Wow. So I didn't go into surgery until like three o'clock on Monday morning. So I got there at one o'clock on Sunday and waited until three o'clock on Monday morning to go in. And they wheeled me down everything by this time I was sick. I hadn't had insulin since like 12 hours prior. I was nauseated. I They were giving me like antibiotics, antivirals, all of these medications, like, preemptively, so I felt horrible. And it was like, just put me under, I cannot wait to be put under, I was so scared and so nervous. I was crying. And it was just a huge emotional experience. And I remember when they came in, and this, they said, The pancreas is viable. Let's go. And it was, it was a crazy emotional experience. Like, here's my second shot. And my husband tells me, they told him, it would be about a six hour surgery. The doctor came out after three hours. And I guess everybody just dropped. They were like, Oh, what happened? But it was a very easy surgery, it was successful right off the bat. It didn't take them as long as they had expected. So that was pretty exciting. I'm sure my family was like, going, Oh, no, what happened, but everything was great. The surgery went phenomenal. You know, I don't really remember much of the next few days. I know, they got me up right away. The next morning, I was sitting up in a chair. My friend who was living in San Francisco at the time actually came and saw me and I remember bits and pieces of that. But then it was just like, okay, you know, here we go the next adventure, right? Like, what happens next? Yeah. Jennifer Van Syckle And so did you get some of that education while you were staying in the hospital? Or did you have to kind of like diabetes, go find your own advocate, you know, from decades before to help you through it. Melissa House It was great. They, I have to say the transplant team was amazing. There was tons of different people, nurses everywhere, and they came in and every day was like a learning experience where they were going through things and there's a lot of stuff you have to do kind of preemptively to learn about the process. And they, you know, talk about all the medications, but this was the time to really get down and dirty. And it's, it's a very eye opening experience. Like I said, I was like okay, here's my second shot, you know, at a healthy life. And here, here I go, ready to start this new adventure. And it was really kind of eye opening when they came in. I remember you know, they were bringing me my meds and some of them were they were giving me IV because that's a huge change the antiviral medications and immunosuppressants and all of that, but I remember they came in with this box, and it was a huge box. And this was my medications for the first like month. I thought oh, this is like the first six months. Oh no, it was the first month and when I got out of the hospital and went home, I was on 18 medications in the morning. One in the afternoon and 15 in the evening. Different medic Wow, different medications. So it was antiviral, antifungal, antibacterial, anti everything I Then I was on stomach meds I was on an immunosuppressant for the kidney. I was on a different immunosuppressant for the pancreas. Prednisone. You know, they still had me on some blood pressure medications just to see how things were going. They immediately removed those medications. That was like the first thing to go. Because my blood pressure was like bottoming out. And I remember I , Jennifer Van Syckle kidney do this for me. Yeah, you were dealing with that. And then you probably had big abdominal incisions, big cuts in your tummy where they had to put. Melissa House Yeah, very different. I didn't know a lot. You know, going into it. Some of the things I didn't know I thought they removed your, your native kidneys, which they don't. So native kidneys are in the lower back. My new kidneys is on the left side, in the lower abdomen is where they placed that they only replace one and leave the old ones. And then my pancreas is actually attached to the bowel on the left or the right side. And did Jennifer Van Syckle they remove your old pancreas is in there to the left, there's risk Melissa House of bleeding and all of that kind of stuff. So they basically leave them their body is amazing what it does, it basically kind of redirects itself. And you know, your body kind of takes over. So those kidneys kind of just eventually, you know, completely shut down and, you know, kind of fade away in the same thing with the pancreas. Jennifer Van Syckle So when you were on that donor list, were potential donors just coming out of California or like the Western US or are we talking anywhere in the country is a fair game to come up with this donor for you when you guys were initially? Melissa House Yeah, there's 1000s of people on the list. From everywhere, you know, across the US, it's just it's one big list of everybody and there's a lot of different factors that go in, you know, age, health wise, have you had a transplant before, and they kind of classify you, and that's kind of where you fall on the list. But yeah, it could have happened from anywhere. So it could have been an organ from, you know, the organs could have came from New York or Texas when I was very, very fortunate that my organs were actually they came from somebody in the hospital that was in the hospital there. So they didn't have to pack them and ship them. They were right there. So they, you know, were harvested right there and immediately placed and so Jennifer Van Syckle you're going through this change already mentally, you know, receiving two organs already, you're gonna have a huge shift in your health, did you have any guilt you had to process or feelings about the fact that this came from a deceased person? Were you having to pack and deal with that as well, in addition to all this? Or did was it like, you know, thank you, and I'm going to live my best life and move on? Did you have any issues, Melissa House it was mixed, I had a lot of mixed feelings about it, I accidentally kind of learned that it was from a younger child from a traumatic brain injury. Typically, you don't know that unless the family lets you know. But in my medical records, I had my medical records when I was moving. And so I did find that stuff out. So that really hit hard knowing that it was from, you know, a younger person who didn't get a chance to live life, you know, to their fullest. And, you know, to me, it felt like a sacrifice for that family just to give me another shot. I'm very, I'm very, very grateful. It was overwhelming. It definitely was overwhelming to, you know, get to experience that. I had a kind of a across the hall, there was an older lady who got the other kidney. Oh, and actually lived in the area, kind of where we did. So it was kind of we were kind of buddies for a while. But yeah, it definitely was an emotional experience. It took me a few years after to write a letter to the family, because you can do that. I never did hear from them. But it took a number of years before I felt, you know, where I was ready to be able to do that. You know, it's definitely a different experience. I was so happy and so grateful. But it's, it was hard. Yeah, it was really hard to adjust to that. Jennifer Van Syckle And so, no more diabetes. Now, diabetes is gone. Are you? Do you consider yourself cured of diabetes? Melissa House I wouldn't necessarily say I'm cured. I get asked that a lot. Because I love to share my story I love to pass on, you know what I've learned? And I do get that a lot like you're cured now. And I wouldn't say that I'm cured. Yes. I don't have to check my blood sugar. I don't have to take insulin. But is there a risk that I could re-develop diabetes? Absolutely. So I don't think that I'm completely cured it. You know, just having a transplant is not a cure, it was almost trading one thing for another. Because now that I don't have to worry about the diabetes, there's so many other things that I have to think about in you know, my daily life. I'm on medications for the rest of my life. So you know, getting in that regimen, 8am and 8pm. That's my Jennifer Van Syckle how many medications? Are we still talking 18? Or is it less? Melissa House No, no, I am on a lot less. Now. I actually take three main medications, I'm still on prednisone, I'll have to take that. And then I take the one immunosuppressant for the kidney and one for the pancreas. I'm very low doses and on the very, you know, the minimum doses. So you know, I still have to get annual visits with my care team, my nephrologist the kidney doctor and they you know, monitor all that I get my blood drawn every three months. So again, I replaced one thing for another. But there's a lot of other things that I have to consider now. Yeah, I'm still on meds. I have to take a pre antibiotic before I go to the dentist because it was a risk of infection. So you know, I'm at 10 times a higher risk for skin cancer. So you know, having to apply the sunscreen everywhere I go. So, you know, it's a replacing one risk for another do I live a better, healthier life? Absolutely. I'm able to do so many more things. And it's easy to manage, but flu season, you know, during the pandemic and things right now. It's not easy. You have to be so so much more cautious. You know, my body doesn't have a regular immune system and can't fight things off. So a common cold for you would be a week two weeks for me it could last Just up to four weeks. Yeah, so my body just takes time to process things and again pre meds for this pre meds for that. Jennifer Van Syckle Right and and, you know, walking down the street, I would never know it. You know, I'm sitting here for the viewer listeners looking at Melissa and she's, you know, still healthy young, fit, I would never know just saying in the street that you're immunocompromised or that you have, you know, have to be this cautious. Yeah, yeah, there's Melissa House just, you know, a lot of new things. So you replace one thing for the other diet, I still have to think about that, do I get the cupcake or the brownie or cheese cake, which is my favorite? Yeah, I definitely treat my stuff to that more than I did before. But it's not an everyday thing. You know, I still have to watch protein intake, and I have to do all of that. immunizations, you know, making sure that I'm getting those and labs and making sure you know, adjusting medication. So it's still dealing with some of the things that I did before, but in a kind of a different light in a different aspects. I feel better, I feel healthier, don't have as many restrictions. But sometimes it's I replaced one thing for another. Yeah. Jennifer Van Syckle And are you still having to go to San Francisco for all of this care? What do you do for that? Melissa House No. Um, so after my surgery, I was stayed in Nevada. And then we got the made the big decision to move to Colorado. So again, now going from, you know, getting comfortable in that small town care again, to the big city. And I was like, Okay, what happens next, and things that you don't typically think of, but okay, now I have to change my provider. And I'm really comfortable with this person, I was very fortunate that my provider at the time, actually did his residency, with my current provider, at Anschutz Medical Campus in Denver. So just made a direct referral, and I was able to get into them. But, you know, that's one of the things I was excited for this opportunity now to go to Colorado with all of you know, medical advances, and, you know, just being where there was more research resources, and I thought, well, this is a great opportunity to, you know, continue my journey. And because I think I was three years post transplant when we moved, so I was like, Oh, I've got, you know, lots of things available to me, if I have complications, you know, whatever that's gonna look like. And I don't necessarily think that was the case. You know, one of the things that I learned about being in the city, it was no more walking in the back door of your provider's office, right? No more, you could pick up the phone and call them directly, I felt more like a number. When I would go to a place, I didn't feel like people knew me or knew my history, which was a big learning curve. With the exception of, you know, my current Nephrology and transplant team, I mean, they really know you and get to know you, and in all of that, but it was a very different experience than what I was used to growing up in Montana, and then moving to Winnemucca. So that again, I think that was the kind of the next phase and how am I gonna handle this? You know, and, you know, continuing to grow in my career and looking at family and all of those kinds of things. So it's like, oh, boy, this is a new adventure. Bigger is not always better is one of the things that I say, you know, absolutely thinking about that. Jennifer Van Syckle Absolutely. And so you lived in Colorado, for several years. And then you moved back to Montana. And so how was that transition? Are you able to have care here? Or do you have to go to Colorado for your transplant? Yeah, Melissa House um, you know, Montana is always home to me, it always has been my homes. And same with my husband, he grew up here in Montana, as well. And, you know, we have a daughter and all of our families here. So we always knew we would come back, but didn't think it would ever happen. How it did, I got laid off from a job, you know, they were downsizing. And I was looking, and my husband said, Well, let's look, let's take a look. You know, and so it was, I think it was perfect timing. It was the perfect time. And it was like, I got the job as being the Diabetes Program Manager, which for me, it was probably one of the most exciting things that could happen because it was like, I've lived with this, you know, I know what it's like, you know, real life experience. And now to be able to work in this role was so exciting, just for an opportunity to kind of give back and do that. So yeah, it was okay, here we go on a move again. And there was a lot of things I was doing really well. I have, you know, had zero complications since after initial surgery and things have been going well. And it was like, oh, here, I'm moving to Montana. We don't have a transplant center. What is that going to look like? So that was all coming back. I'm I know what I had here before. But now what its gonna look like 17 years later since I moved, you know, and 10 years since the transplant, what is this going to look like? And so it was kind of scary. It really was, you know, here I'm going back to, you know, a more rural state with not a lot of options. But again, I don't think always bigger is better. I'm very fortunate, I still get to work with my transplant team in Colorado. So I see them, they kicked me out. I'm boring to them, which, hey, on my end being born, is amazing. Yes, we love it. So I still meet with them once a year, I typically like to go down to see them because then I get to see all my friends and everyone in Colorado. But this past year with the pandemic and not risking traveling, I was able to do a telehealth visit, which was amazing. It was still a really dedicated call talking about how I was doing and you know, checking in on my care checking in on my labs. And it was still a very personable experience. So we're very fortunate to have that opportunity here. So yeah, I still work with them. But I also have amazing providers that work with my provider in Colorado, and they connect, so every time that I go in. So here in Helena, I'm getting just as good care as I was in Denver, or in San Francisco or in Winnemucca. It's amazing to see just the shifts. And so being in a smaller town or a rural state, there's not a lack of resources. And I think that's one of you know, another big point is even somebody who's dealing with their chronic condition, there are resources available. It's just taking the time to find the right person that fits to you. You know, I have amazing providers here, like I mentioned, and I don't feel like anything's changed. I feel like it's just continued. Jennifer Van Syckle Awesome. Awesome. And so then you move back to Helena, and life kind of came full circle when you took your Diabetes Program Manager position. And your you actually got to see had a blast from the past with somebody you encountered working in the Diabetes Program. Melissa House Yeah, it was kind of crazy. And you never think about it. You forget how small, you know, Montana is, you know, on a certain scale. But one of my first meetings here with the Diabetes Program and working with some of our lifestyle coaches from our prevention program, I walked into the room and there was a lady sitting across from me and I just kept staring at her. She probably thought I was crazy. But I was staring at her and I was like josh, she looks so familiar. And I just couldn't place it. And the lady that she was with, I knew her because she was my one of my really good friends, bosses when we were in high school in college. So I knew her and I was like, well, she's from Butte, like, Who is this person, and then it kind of clicked when I heard her name and her talking and we were talking and it clicked. So it really did come full circle. She was the nurse at the time who actually diagnosed me at the urgent care with diabetes. Jennifer Van Syckle They you walked in there she was and now here she is again. Exactly. So Melissa House you know, she diagnosed me at the time. Again, she was working in the urgent care. So didn't have, you know, much more experience with her but making full circle and now I'm working with her at on a different level is incredible. You know, just to make those connections and continue those connections. It's kind of a crazy world we live in. Jennifer Van Syckle Absolutely. And yes, and especially in Montana, because we really are one community under the Big Sky as our tagline goes, and that just kind of proves that. Absolutely. Yeah. Awesome. Well, thank you for joining us, Melissa. In sharing your incredible story and all the journeys that you've gone through, we definitely appreciate it. Melissa House Yes, thank you for having Jennifer Van Syckle Thank you to Melissa for sharing her incredible journeys with us. Please remember to tune in for future episodes. Like, subscribe, and share to help ensure the success of our podcast. We'll see you again next time. But for now, thanks for joining us for this episode of Talking Health in the 406,where we're one community under the Big Sky. Until then, take care. Transcribed by https://otter.ai