Good Day Faithful Followers... thank you for your patience as I endeavor to get "caught up" and then to keep up...
Oh wait... TIME OUT - since I am so behind, let me give you a current status report -
as of today (Wednesday, Sept. 17th) most all my tests seem to be completed,
save for a Colonoscopy early next month. So far everything is good,
although I seem to have a "swallow" issue which is under treatment,
am continuing to lose weight (currently 188lbs) which is NOT good,
and am on oxygen for pretty much any activity. And on we go!
OK, I think I left off on June 6th with the Lung Biopsy and cultures. Well the second culture came back normal, nothing to report there.
June 27th Phone interview with Social Worker, Renee Saito. Pretty much "20 Questions" about just about everything. Needed confirmation of Care Givers of Record (Primary = Anne Wall; Marci Walsh; Carol Ruby; Carl & Wendy Stephens; and of course Amanda - who however remains busy in her new position as RN (Cardiac/Pediatric Ward) at MMMC. ) She also coached me on a few things so that I would best measure up to the standards and requirements of the TRANSPLANT COMMITTEE. Evidently of which there are three. First, there's Hawaii, then there's the National Transplant Board run out of LA, and then the final one at UCSF.
June 30th Dr. John Draeger - Psychiatric Evaluation: Another version of 20 Questions, Family and Personal history, pretty in-depth. Childhood, High School, Navy, work history, marriages, Family, drugs & alcohol. When he was finished he asked if I wanted to know what he "thought"... I figured I might as well, since this was a first time experience for me... and I was a bit surprised by what he had to say, and his positive response. He was very encouraging about the Trnasplant process and the Science. It was pretty encouraging.
July 16th Dr. Pamela Gordon - This was a preliminary visit for the Cardio Cath proceedure (a nifty one where they insert a "camera" through an artery in your groin to examine your main heart valves and arteries for blockage, pressure and general health) scheduled for next month. First I met with the Nurse, Sandy who ran down the procedure, how I'd prep, what to expect and the recovery
August 19th Dr. Pamela Gordon - This was just the final check to make sure I was good to go for next week's Cardio Cath in Oahu.
August 21st Speech Therapist - Susan Suziki. This SWALLOW TEST was a bit more than I was expecting. First I met with the Therapist and she explained the test and that it would involve X-ray screening of how well I swallow. (Historical note here... since I was a child it has always been difficult/impossible for me to swallow pills. I would gag on 1-a-Days... When I went through the Cancer treatment all my meds, and there were a bunch had to be liquid, which at times was a real hassle. ON the up-side, or so I thought, I chew my food real well, heck, I have to chew applesauce.) She further explained that I would swallow a cracker, some applesauce, and milk - all mixed with Barium. Well, we did the test twice with both the Nurse and the X-ray Tech coaching me and basically, I failed! Evidently this is NOT good.
Kind of a bummer to have this seemingly minor issue become a stumbling block. The Therapist gave me some suggestions on how to improve my ability to swallow and referred me to the ENT to see what he could determine. Nice thing about this is it's Dr. Scott Newman, who's been my ENT all through my Cancer ordeal. And hey, what's one more Doctor's appointment...?
And that's where we'll pick up on the next installment. CHEERS YA'LL.
"I have so much chaos in my life, it's become normal. You become used to it. You have to just relax, calm down, take a deep breath and try to see how you can make things work rather than complain about how they're wrong." - Tom Welling
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