I had my 6 month check up for pre transplant today. First stop was labs. I only needed 2 tubes drawn which is nothing compared to past appointments and she got it with one stick which is nice Next up, chest X-ray. Labs were all within normal limits. Chest X-ray was unchanged. It noted my usual bronciectasis in upper lobes and scarring throughout.

The 6 minute walk was next on the schedule. I did well. I walked 1,176 feet with no breaks and maintained 98% oxygen. At my last appointment (6 months ago) I walked 1,023 feet with no breaks. I don’t remember what my sats were last time but I didn’t need supplemental oxygen during the walk.

Next up, spirometry and an ABG (arterial blood gas). My fev1 was 32%/.90L. My numbers were the same as last time. ABG measures the balance of oxygen and carbon dioxide in your blood. It is a little needle stuck in your artery on your wrist. They are no fun. With that said, my ABG was all good after 2 tries, ouch.

Final stop, see the doctor. He noted rattles and wheezing in my right lower lobe. Things haven’t really changed in the last 6 months. Just keep doing what I’m doing. I’ll take maintaining and being steady. I go back in 6 months for another check up. I’ll continue seeing them every 6 months to keep all my testing up to date. Seeing them every 6 months is more of having a back up plan if I were to have a rapid decline and need to be listed for transplant quickly. If I didn’t maintain all of the pre transplant testing we would be playing catch up when needing to be listed comes.

Thank you for all your love and support! It is greatly appreciated.

Until next time…