One month Lunganniversary!

Today has been one amazing day! First of all today is our one month lunganniversary!! A whole month has past since I received my new lungs!! Still hasn’t sunk in. Although I am loving life!

Our morning started off early. We had to be at UW by 8:30 for a port draw. Basically the idea was to draw 7 test tubes of blood out of my mediport for various studies. Vitamin levels, checking the levels of several medications I’m taking and then they also look to see how my kidneys are functioning. The doctors like you to have your labs done first so when you meet with the Pulmonologist they have your results. My port decided to be on the stubborn side today. It would not give one drop of blood!! After a million flushes (not really but it felt like it) and two flushes of heparin, it still wouldn’t give blood. Last resort was to put TPA in my line. It’s basically a medication that busts up any clots or fibers that might be in your line and blocking the blood from drawing. The longer you leave it in your port the longer it will clean your line out. So the nurse put TPA in my line and was going to take it out after I was completely finished with clinic.

Next we were headed downstairs for PFT’s. For once in my life I was actually excited to do PFT’s. Pre transplant I absolutely HATED doing PFT’s. Not only would it take me forever to complete, and I would have major coughing fits, plus it was extremely depressing. Knowing your doing everything your suppose to, and then some, but your health is still deteriorating drastically and there’s nothing you can do. Today my FEV1 (which is how much air you can push out in one second) it was 73%!!! Last week my FEV1 68%. We are moving in the right direction! I was so stoked!! Besides my PFT’s being up, it took me about 10 minutes to complete! Pre transplant it would take me a good half hour to forty five minutes to complete. No joke! I was trying to recall the last time my FEV1 level was in the 70% range was probably 2002-2003. My senior year of high school and freshman year of college. Which was awhile ago!

After PFT’s we were headed a short distance down the hallway to radiology. Time for another chest X-ray. I’ve lost count how many chest X-rays I’ve had over my life time. Lol. This time around we waited less than five minutes, and I think it takes longer to put on the gown then it does to take the actual picture. Quick and easy!

Finally we headed back upstairs to clinic for our appointment with Dr. Sid again and the Kathleen the nutritionist. When we arrived at clinic Nancy (the medical assistant) was there to greet us and check us in. We followed her to an exam room, she did the normal routine. Took my weight (which I’m happy to say it’s holding steady!), blood pressure, heart rate and my oxygen sats. I am also happy to say my O2 sats were 97%!! After Nancy finished her assessments she left the room and quickly Dr. Sid walked in. He was happy to see I brought my whole support team to clinic. He came in sat down in front of the computer we went over my medication list. He discontinued my hyper tonic saline solution (which means no more neb’s!!!), he also discontinued my low dose of aspirin. Hey that’s two medications down! He then moved on to my labs. Everything looked good except my vitamin D and magnesium levels were low, so he made several adjustments to my medications. My Tacrolimus level was still on the high side, so he made an adjustment to that as well. Then he went on to discuss my PFT’s he was extremely happy with my results!! He said my new lungs are progressing nicely! Dr. Sid also said “we generally don’t see an FEV1 level that high within the first month!” I was beyond excited to hear those words! Next on the agenda was the X-ray. Everything is looking great. Air pocket is still there, but is getting smaller, sternum has shifted (no change from Monday though) and no spots or fluids have shown up! The last and final piece was to listen to my lungs. They sounded crystal clear! No crackles, no wheezing, no nothing just LOTS of air movement!! Dr. Sid did a quick recap of our visit, he also wants me to start pulmonary rehab. He words were “it’s only going to help you.” Why not, if I can get out of here a little early I’m all in!!!!! After Dr. Sid was finished Kathleen came in. We had a long discussion about what I’ve been eating, my blood sugars, and my weight. She is very pleased with my weight and my eating habits. I need to consume 3,500-4,000 calories to maintain my weight and continue with NO tube feeds! Hey I can do that! Blood sugars look good, she said I’m trending nicely. Finally after our visit with Kathleen the picc/port nurse had to come back in and draw the TPA out. As soon as she pulled back on the syringe blood started rushing out. Well my port is working! Let’s hope it cooperates next week when we have to do blood draws! She finished flushing my port, put heparin in it and then de accessed me. I was finally free to go! It was almost 1:00 in the afternoon and we were done! Yyyeeaaahhh! We all headed out of the exam room and headed for valet.

Our car came, we all piled in to go celebrate our one month lunganniversary. Crab pot here we here come! My favorite place ever!!!! My dad treated all four of us to a very yummy late lunch early dinner. I threw down lots of crab, shrimp, potatoes, sausage and corn! I was stuffed when we left! Man oh man was it good! Can’t wait to go back! Ha ha. The entire waterfront is under construction and a lot of the piers are closed. So we didn’t wonder around as much as we would have liked. Plus I was getting pooped it was a long day for me without a nap.

It was after 4:00 by the time we arrived back at our hotel. Needless to say I walked in the door, took my mask off and plopped down on the couch and have been here ever since!

Well my eyelids are getting extremely heavy and it’s getting close to 9:00 o’clock time to take meds and do my nightly routine. I have nothing on my schedule tomorrow except walk walk walk, but I do plan on sleeping in and watching The Price Is Right! My all time favorite show! Ha ha

Hope everyone enjoyed the article in tonight’s News Review newspaper!!

Until next time……..

~Jen~
“Just Breathe”