stents Deployed

Well, it looks like everything went well yesterday. Dr. H, came into the pre-op area about 3pm and went over all the details on what he intended to do. After hearing how I felt the week immediately after the last balloon bronch, he was fairly confident this should help.

Procedure really only took about an hour. I was waking up from sedation around 6pm and out the door by 7pm. My recollection of last night is a bit groggy, but apparently it went perfectly. Dr. H, is happy with the placement and said there were no issues placing the stents, and that all things considere, the airways and new lungs looked good. No signs of any lingering infection either.

I demanded Chipotle, and my Dad took me there. I got a loaded Burrito with chips to go. Back at the hotel I got a few different drinks, as my throat was now starting to really feel sore. I don't remember devouring the burrito in my room, or drinking a bottle of water, a bottle of coke, and a bottle of apple juice. Or making tea, but when I woke up in the morning someone must have done those things!! I wonder if that counts as a "light meal" that the discharge nurse suggested for the evening.

Anyway, I woke up with a continued sore throat and body aches. This has been typical from these procedures and the full sedation. We were not sure what really to do, as Becky briefly mentioned coming to clinic either today(friday), or next friday. I was still in a bit of a daze, although I felt more open and my breathing was much easier. So, my Dad and I decided to just leave and I would go to clinic next week. Well, 20 minutes out, I get a call from the doctor and they want me back to do PFT's.(Pulmonary Function Tests), I guess they really wanted to get a baseline of where I am at after the stents. Probably would have been best to wait 24 hours or so, but since it was friday and we wanted to get back to Maryland we really had no choice.

So, we headed back to the hospital and did the test. Surprisingly, it was quite good. My best numbers since the transplant, and this was in this groggy painful condition. So, that is very comforting news, by tomorrow or sunday, I should feel back to "normal" and resume some exercise. If these stents keep my airways open, hopefully my numbers will increase even more! The plan is to return to clinic next friday and get an xray, bloodwork, and another set of pfts. See how things look and make a long-term plan from there.

Overall, it appears to be a successful trip. Glad I did not wait until the 20th to have this done.

Talk to you all soon,
Mitch