I met with the transplant doctor with Spectrum Health on Monday. I believe it went well overall, he took my history and examined me. They need to get my records from U of W and there should not be any further testing needed at this point--I think I've had every body system examined already!
He agrees that it would be in my best interest to be listed at 2 places for a better chance at receiving lungs. My recs will be reviewed within their team and I follow up in 1mos.
Even though Spectrum is relatively new at doing transplants (heart transplant ctr is a few yrs old), they have recruited what appears to be an A team for the lung transplants. Every transplant center does things a bit differently when it comes to post-transplant care/meds but all have the same goal for the end-a healthy patient.
We have prayed about it, I have talked to numerous individuals who have inside info and so far no red flags have come up.
I did not sleep well Sun night and started to feel anxious again before meeting the doctor on Monday. I knew what to expect but it is hard to relive it all again. The statistics after a lung transplant are sobering, a 80-85% survival rate at 1yr, 50% survival rate at 5yr, and 35% survival rate at 10yrs. I know those stats are for older patients on avg but I can't help but think about it. And once I start really thinking about those stats, I wonder if doing such a huge life altering surgery is worth it.
I could die from my current condition, I could die from the transplant, I could die tomorrow in some freak accident. The unknown is so hard and you can examine/worry about things until you are blue in the face but I was reminded of something today. One of the docs I work with recited a quote he read from Tim Tebow: "I don't know what my future holds, but I know who holds my future."
That is the truth, thanks for the reminder Langy!
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