Lungs for Mandy

The weekend was one of those weekends where you are glad to be alive. We went camping and it was great. The weather was hot and humid, but we all made the best of it and enjoyed the freedom of a somewhat stress-free weekend.

We arrived Friday around seven o’clock, set up and then just enjoyed the fire, stars and the chill in the air. Yes believe it or not my friend Cindy and I were chilly on a St Louis summer night. Saturday was an entirely different story.  

I believe the temps were in the high 90s, but luckily we were on the water floating on a spring fed river that was very refreshing. Cindy, Adam and their children did not attend the float and came back here to St Louis.  Little children and camping……not a relaxing situation. We floated with one of my best girlfriends Deb, her husband and their son Janson. Early in the float I fell from the raft and almost strangled myself with the string from my hat. That fell ended up being the first of many, many falls into the water.

The float turned disastrous when the beer ran out and we were only at the 3 mile mark out of a 6 mile trip. I was fine because my drink of choice was water and 7-up, but I did feel bad about the beer situation. The last half of the trip was filled with hatred for the lack of beer. Everyone was tired and irritated by the time the float was over. I think 6 miles was too much for one day! Today my shoulders are killing me from the rowing. Now I feel that there is not need to go to the gym until mid-week because of my activity level over the weekend.

Saturday night I slept in my sleeping bag, outside under the stars which was so peaceful! There were millions of stars, so many that the sky was actually lit up. It was the best sleep I had in a very long time.

Sunday we left the site early and made our stop at McDonald’s were we met a couple in there 80s that were as cute as can be. The couple had been married 60 years and were so spunky! They must have been regulars at this particular McDonalds because everyone knew them by name.

Hello. I hope this post all of you doing well and enjoying the summer. If you are in St Louie I bet you wish the summer would cool off. I know I wish it would be a little less humid, but Mother Nature knows what she wants.Before I write about myself I would like to ask you all to continue to pray for Michael. Things are not looking so good for him as he waits for a second lung transplant. He is still one of the strongest people I have every met and will get through this My health seems to be doing well. My lung function is about 60% now and it should continue to increase near 80%. I have been taking pilates and yoga classes through my gym, which has been interesting. It is very difficult when you have been away from the gym for a while. Each week it seems to be getting a little easier. Two weeks ago I went in shorts and of course the only man in class happened to be right behind me. I am not sure if I was more worried about the guy seeing up my shorts or farting right in his face. Well I can tell you one thing I did not fart! I also tried a Zumba class on Friday and I WILL NEVER GO THERE AGAIN. I certainly have two left feet because I could not keep up with the class. Instead I decided to trip all over myself and leave ashamed of my clumsiness. (I waited till the end of class) On a less pleasant note I had to have a lot of possible skin cancers removed from my face, lips, head and hands. The California sun was not good to me however I never re-applied sunscreen when I was out. I usually just put it on once and now I understand the key to skin safety is re-application. So, I just have to see the dermatologist every two to three months for a check up.

Take care and I will be back soon. 

The evaluation
Each patient considering lung transplant will have a comprehensive evaluation by all members of our lung transplant team. The transplant evaluation includes a transplant pulmonologist, transplant surgeon, nurse coordinator, dietitian, anesthesiologist, psychologist, social worker, and financial coordinator.

Part of the evaluation process includes several tests, which are done in one convenient location at the Center for Advanced Medicine on the campus of Barnes-Jewish Hospital. However, the tests may require more than one visit to Barnes-Jewish Hospital. These tests may include:

• Blood tests
• Chest X-ray
• Electrocardiogram (EKG)
• CT scan
• Pulmonary function test
• Heart catheterization
• Lung ventilation/perfusion scan
• RVG (heart) scan

Waiting times vary for many reasons. Currently, there are nearly 3,100 people in the United States waiting for a lung. The shortage of organ donors causes most patients to wait for a transplant. The length of time a patient spends on a waiting list depends on many factors including:

• blood type
• tissue type
• height and weight of transplant candidate
• size of donated organ
• medical urgency
• time on the waiting list
• distance between the donor’s hospital and the potential donor organ recipient