Big day at Penn...Meeting Goals..

Today was my four month checkup at Penn and it went awesome.

It started with my Pulmonary Function Test (PFT) and I must say we kicked ass. My FVC was 4.15l (80% of Predicted) and FEV1 was 3.44l (83% of Pred)! All in all an unbelievable gain, so much so that after the first attempt they re-calibrated the machine to ensure something was not amiss. Note: last time I was tested 8/17/2010 my FVC was 3.62l (70% pred) and FEV1 was 2.98l (72% pred). So in short I added 10% to my capacity in just over a month.

My weight was 153 on their scales which was also a huge gain from the 140 I was last time .

We then went to see Dr H who was impressed with my improvements also. He flinched at my new numbers and questioned the accuracy. He stated that they usually don't see large gains after the initial pop post recovery. I assured him that they checked the machine and they are accurate, also they closely match what I have been getting here at home on my spirometer.

So things are not only feeling good, I now have some quantification from the experts that they are in fact very good. We are sticking to the same level on all my meds and getting bloodwork done this week on my rejection meds and vitamin levels.

One thing this visit reinforced with me is the need to set goals and work towards them. When I was at my lowest weight of 123 I set what I thought was a stretch goal to be back to 150 by my 41st birthday (Oct 1) and when I had my last PFT I said I wanted to be at 80% of predicted.

Well Goals Achieved my friends!

Quotes (by Denise):

"We're getting our life back...little detour." Jim after telling me he got us tickets to see Dave Matthews Band tickets for November.

"What's so important that you have to put your life and others in danger?" Denise regarding some idiot dodging in and out of traffic.

"Maybe he got his transplant call." Jim :)