Home Again Home Again....

So yesterday was the eternal day at Cleveland... AH!

Mom and I drove up there Sunday night and stayed at this beautiful hotel. It was a little on the pricey side, but that's what we get for waiting until last minute to book the reservations, right? haha.

So Monday started at 8:05 with bloodwork as usual. Followed by a chest CT and x-ray. I then had the opportunity to meet with one of the surgeons who was very nice. He explained the surgery and the risks, which I mostly knew about at this point. He did explain that who does my surgery depends on who's available (obviously) and that will determine which incision I have. 2 of the surgeons do the clamshell (basically follows the underwire line of a bra in a "w" shape) and the other does the one straight down the middle of the chest. If I had my choice, I would rather have the clamshell for aesthetic purposes

We then had a needed break for lunch which I picked at my food. I never eat well when I'm there, too many nerves! Then we were off to get my echo done. I had one done a while ago here in Cincy and it revealed a small hole in my heart. They said this was normal and most people have one and that it shouldn't cause any trouble. Cleveland wanted it to be repeated. They thought the hole was a little larger than what they like so they wanted another look. Everything looked good and the hole looked smaller this time, so that's one more thing checked off the list

I then did my pft and met with the pulmonologist. Dr. Budev was AMAZING! I asked a bunch of questions and she had answers. She decided that I am in the window of transplant, but I'm on the very healthy side which is where they want me to be. I will go back to Cleveland on the 25th to see the ENT folks and then be presented before the tx board on Dec. 1st!!! She sees no problem with listing me. Ohio has a state board that transplants have to be approved before, but for Cleveland it's more of a formality. Cleveland does the 2nd largest amount of transplants per year in the US, so experience kind of says it all to Ohio So I will most likely be on the list by mid-December!

We also talked about the fertility issue. She strongly advised against me having my eggs harvested because of the hormones that you need to take prior. It an cause really bad pulmonary side effects, so besides the fact that I don't think I can financially afford it. However, she said that if I chose to adopt, she would be my advocate and support me every step of the way. Not the exact answer I wanted, but glad to know that I have someone who would support my other options.

And that's Cleveland for ya! I gotta go get ready for my trainer! I'll be sure to post more when I know anything!!