A Week In The Hospital

Last Monday, after a difficult weekend when I couldn’t really get out of the house either day because increasing shortness of breath, I contacted the Transplant Team.

They recommended I go straight to Emergency where I was admitted. It is now Sunday evening and this will be my seventh night here.

After many tests, including a CT scan with injected dye, they determined I have several blood clots on both lungs. The rest of the week has been constant intravenous heparin drips and higher than normal doses of Coumadin to try and raise the level of anti-coagulation in my blood to therapeutic levels. This has proven a challenge; one day the levels seem normal then the next day they drop. Who knows why but I’m staying off green vegetables for the time being.

The physical manifestation of all this has been further deterioration in my breathing to the point where I can’t walk to the door of the room without stopping to catch my breath. Taking a shower is a major undertaking and one that now I cannot manage on my own.

This creates problems for the Transplant Team. I was listed as being able to take either two or one lungs, the advantage of only one lung being a shorter and hence less challenging operation. With bilateral blood clots I think this means I need two.

I think it also means I’m here until a lung comes. I can’t imagine being able to manage at home with this severely curtailed level of functioning. But things can change – the clots could clear and I could regain more lung capability as a result.
That could mean I am able to go home with the required level of support.