Author: Stacey

Peter, thank you so much for writing. I would be really interested in meeting you and Karen when you come to Stanford. I will e-mail you with my phone number. Yes, your name is very familiar. I have read about you in more than one climbing magazine or book! I would love to meet your Yosemite friends sometime. Stacey, from H.O.M.E. apartment

Aunt Carol, thank you for your sympathy but I’m sure childbirth is much harder than gall bladder surgery. They put me under general anethesia so I didn’t feel anything during the operation. I woke up to some pain from the surgery, but the internal pain I was feeling had evaporated so I guess surgery was the answer. It seems strange that we would have an organ that we can live without safely, but I suppose that is the case. After the surgery, I was taken off IV food (called TPN) and disconnected from the other IV medications too. Once I was off certain meds, the nausea lifted and I was able to eat normal food and keep it down. I was still very weak on Friday, but within three days I went from hardly being able to move or speak, to being able to sit up, take a shower, and go for short walks, and sit up most of the day. Moving day was long. It took 2 1/2 hours to take down all my posters, card display, books, clothes and deliver them to Dave’s truck. We waited for 4 more hours for the doctors to come by with the proper forms. Now that I’m out, I feel more normal and healthier. I still have to lie down much of the day, but I can get up and walk around the house, take a shower, wear real clothes, sleep in a real bed, and eat regular food. Thanks to a friend, I have a full-time paid caregiver named Myrna for the next two weeks, which frees up Dave so he can go to work. My mother, who is visiting for a week, has been busy cooking ahd teaching Myrna the ropes about transplant patient care. Stacey, from H.O.M.E. apartment

Denise, it’s great to hear from you! You must be a great teacher to have a barely 3-year-old already reading words! I noticed it’s her favorite word. Yes, things are coming along here. I’m improving well and the doctors are discharging me from the hospital tomorrow! Today, my mom and I took a walk around the hospital and visited the chapel. It is a very pretty place, oriented towards many popular religions at once. Inside, there is a stained-glass waterfall wall with real water cascading over the rocks. To me, waterfalls are very peaceful and symbolic of everything changing, in motion. I was glad my mom showed me the chapel. Later, my friend Sudha (sister of Suma Rao, a climber friend from India) came to visit and brought a stained-glass elephant god symbol, a ganeisha. We put it in the window to admire. Stacey, from Stanford Hospital

Hi everyone, I’m recovering from the gall bladder surgery well. I was able to get out for a couple walks yesterday, and as well as today. Talking on the phone is still tiring, though! Yes, Dave has been a great and dedicated friend throughout this lung transplant experience, and my most recent setback! I couldn’t have gotten through these challenges without him, or my mom. My mother and Robert arrived in town today, and we had a great visit at the hospital. I am looking forward to some of her cooking. more later! Thanks for all your support on this website and beyond. Stacey

OH, Cherie! Must we get technical? My subconscious mind is finally coming around. Last night I had the first climbing dream in years. I was bouldering at a secret place in Berkeley with Chris Sharma, even though I have only met him one time! Good-bye dear gall-bladder! After 37 years of service, it’s out the body for you tomorrow. At least it’s not a gall bladder transplant, then I would have to take more immuno-suppressant drugs than I am already on. First lungs, then gall bladder, let this trouble stop! Stacey, from Stanford Hospital

Oops. Here is a correction: Stacey Li Collver Stanford University Medical Center 300 Pasteur Dr. Stanford, CA 94305 Thanks for reading this website, by the way! Love, Stacey

Here is my address at the hospital in case anyone needs it :p Stacey Li Collver 300 Pasteur Dr. Stanford, CA 94305 I will probably be here for at least two more weeks. Stacey

Hi Everyone! It has been a rough week. For a while I couldn’t get out of bed at all, and was too sick to do anything but lie still. Things are looking up now; I’ve decided to take some pain meds which enable me to at least get out of bed a little bit each day. Today was a great day since I am fresh from a shower, have already taken a walk, and even ate a little Japanese food that my friends Cindy and Guy brought. Unfortunately, my daily goals still remain 1) keeping pills and food down after meals 2) going for a walk 3)taking a shower 4) visiting with guests who come I have not been able to do much reading right now, but I appreciate everyone’s suggestions and books you have brought. I have started an art gallery and card collection…now, in addition to my own drawings and paintings and posters of Hans, Lynn, and Scott there are also wonderful drawings by 3-year-old Sophia, 7-year-old Mahony twins (Maya and Zoe) and an overlapping string of get well cards that have acccumulated over the past six weeks! Kristina, Carlos, Lorraine, Denise, Isa, Bill, MIki, and Joyce, thanks for your encouragement and the updates when I wasn’t feeling as well. Off to try some stairs while I am still a “free woman” not hooked up to the IV pole for the hour. Then it’s back to the ol’ hospital room for meds. Stacey, from Stanford Hospital

The doctors came by this morning with the latest prediction that I will need to spend six more weeks in the hospital before they take the gall bladder out. This is much more time than I expected. I might as well get comfortable here. Friday, I had the pleasure of many visitors. Carrie came and showed me a video of her son’s play and taught me a card game. We talked about the boys, and I gave Yuri a climbing goal chart for his birthday. Then Stephanie came, which was special since she lives in Seattle and I haven’t seen her since the climb-a-thon time! She stayed several hours, and we enjoyed the homemade Japanese food Isa had brought the day before. Ana, who had a transplant almost five years ago, stopped in to say hello during Stephanie’s visit, and lastly, Mark came by in the late afternoon. I was happy I had enough energy to visit with people. I am feeling a little better. Usually, I have only a couple visitors per day (including Dave) so it was a pleasant surprise on Friday. Thursday, Isa visited for a couple hours and brought delicious miso soup with rice and edamame beans. Unfortunately, I have not been able to keep food down, but it tasted good and so thoughtful of her! Also, later that day I got a visit from a very cute and calm dog in the PAWS program. The owner set her on the chair, and then dragged the chair over to my bed. (You should have seen the look of trepidation on her face as the chair moved under her.) She was very beautiful, and reminded me of our childhood dog, Emma. She was soft and sweet, and took her job of getting petted very seriously, making sure to hold her head still for me. Later on Thursday, the art therapist stopped by, but I wasn’t feeling well enough to do any projects. I hope to do something today on my own. Stacey, from Stanford Hospital

Miki, great to hear from you again. As much as the reunion sounds like a lot of fun, I already have a daunting amount of trips and goals on my plate related to my health, and visits to those who have sacrificed so much to get me through the Nov. 22 transplant and my two years of illness prior and after. I have been completely humbled, dependent on machines for breathing, the nurses for daily care and later under the full-time personal care of my mother and Dave for four months. Many friends have generously supported me (like yourself) financially and emotionally while I was on the decline and now as I struggle through illness. It has been a complicated challenge in teamwork, and I want to make sure I do my part to show my appreciation when I get better. When my health gets better, I will have to attend to financial challenges of supporting myself and maintaining a lifestyle that is extremely healthy to avoid months in the hospital again. I used to scoff at the doctors who couldn’t believe I was thinking so much about climbing goals, when their goal was “keeping me alive a year from the transplant.” The statistics are 70%…and 50% after five years. I was too brash to believe them but I now know that I’m as mortal as any transplant patient; as much as I’d like to believe otherwise. Of course, I still have my high hopes. My dream is to become strong enough to go ice-climbing with pro Abby Watkins, who just wrote to say she is committed to the trip when I am ready. I was just starting to get back into easy climbing at 3-months post…this set me back another 3 months to be sure. But I have to stay focused, one step at a time, for now. It was an accomplishment to take a shower today, get dressed, and walk down the hall to sit up at the computer. I do want to say I have been very touched by the concern and kindness so many of the class of’85 has shown me since you sent out the notice. I am so glad to hear from everyone even though I have not had the energy to write everyone back. I have many happy memories of high school (even though it might have looked like I was asleep at the parties.) Among my fondest were our walks, talks, gymnastics, track, softball, soccer teams, math team, UW-O classes,and Mrs. V’s class. And our meeting in the cold city of Minneapolis a couple years later! I am truly touched by those of you who remember me 20 years later! Stacey, from Stanford Hospital