Thursday, May 7, 2009

Evaluation

Today started what will be a slew of tests to evaluate whether I can have a transplant.  I had an EKG and an Echo.  It wasn't bad, except that the person who did the Echo was a guy, so that was a little uncomfortable.  But I'm sure I'll go through much more uncomfortable things than that so I may as well get used to it.
Tomorrow I'm going to get a LOT of blood taken.  There is apparently a stack of order an inch thick.  Thankfully most of it will come out of my port so I'll only get stuck for a Tobra trough that was already scheduled for tomorrow.
The original plan (this morning's plan at least) was to do the chest CT tomorrow, but Dr. Hornick decided he didn't want me doing that while I'm on antibiotics.  So, we've tentatively scheduled that for next Thursday.  That  could change depending on how well I'm doing next week.  Contrast dye, which they use in CTs, is hard on the kidneys.  The antibiotics I'm on now are also hard on the kidneys.  So, he will take me off of the antibiotics the day before I go home and have the CT be the last thing I do before I leave.  When I get taken off the antibiotics I'll then get to do a wonderful tasting neb called Mucomyst.  (I'm not exactly sure how it works, but it's an antioxidant that will help the kidneys.)  This stuff smells and tastes like rotten eggs.  I'm not even close to joking.  We used to call it puke-o-mist or other appetite-wetting names.  It's really horrible stuff.
I'll still have my appointment with the transplant pulmonologist (not the surgeon as I incorrectly stated yesterday) on Thursday as well.  Sometime in the next week I'll also do the 6-minute walk test.
As for this hospitalization, things are getting a little better everyday.  My chest isn't nearly as tight as it was and the wheezing keeps improving also.  I'm hoping to see a better PFT number on Tuesday since the one this past Tuesday was only 29%.  I feel a lot better than I did, though, so I hope that's a good sign.
And, just because I want to brag (I've NEVER been able to brag about this!): My A1C number was 6.4% this time!  Woohoo!  I'm kinda proud of myself :)

1 comment:

  1. Great update. Hope that all those tests get done quickly and easily and that you handle them swimmingly.

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