Well I had my appointment with the transplant pulmonologist and things went well. He thinks I'm a good candidate for transplant since other than the lungs I'm in really good shape. He went over all the available information, the failure stats, what to expect etc.. The ride home was worse than the appointment, stuck in traffic for hours.
Next step is to go for a three day evaluation at Penn. They do many tests over three days and I get to meet with the whole transplant team. The most invasive testing is a blood gas (blood drawn from artery) and a heart catherization. They do the hard tests on the last day so I can go home to heal after sitting around for 6-8 hours after procedure.
After the tests as long as all goes well then I would be listed for transplant. He said since I'm taller it would more than likely mean less time on list (depending on blood type). He stated that most people are transplanted in 3 months to a year. So scary and exciting is all I can say about it really.
I don't know what is the correct decision is, nor does anyone of course. Leaving friends and family behind is the only thing that makes me hesitate. I'm not afraid to die or of the pain they spoke of, but to saddle everyone with the potential loss really sucks. It's tough when you have to make decisions that effect others so deeply.
After surgery I will have to be at Penn a minimum of 3 times a week for the first 12 weeks so would probably get a long stay hotel or an apartment type place. I will have to figure out how to manage the need for support afterwards because someone would have to be with me at all times. Hopefully people would be available in shifts until I would get my shit together. Knowing me it would be as quick as possible. I HATE being dependent.
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