I had to skip breakfast at the beginning of day 2, as I wasn't allowed to eat or drink anything 4 hours before my CT scan.



First up was an EKG. I was given an injection containing a small amount of tin. After waiting 15 minutes I was given a second injection of a tracking agent. I was connected to several heart monitors and layed flat on my back as they took 3 videos of my heart doing its thing. Each video was recorded for 7-10 minutes, one looking straight down, one from the side, and one looking at my side with my arm over my head. After the injections this was extremely easy, as I just had to lie still (I'm a professional nap-taker).



Next was a CT scan. I layed on a bed and was told to hold my breath as I was robotically slid into a circular chamber. 10 seconds later a voice from a speaker inside the chamber told me to exhale. They did this twice and I was literally done it under 5 minutes.



Next I met the pulmonologist who explained that it does look to him that I'm at the point where, in his opinion, it'd be better to do a transplant sooner rather than later. He noticed my blood gas test showed high numbers. The lungs also filter carbon dioxide out of your blood, and because my lungs have been conpromised, they are not able to do this as well as they should. This results in extra tiredness and headaches after waking up. When sleeping, the lungs slip into amore relaxed mode, and the carbon dioxide builds up in the blood even more, and when you wake up you usually notice this due to a headache. I have been getting them recently, but they typically go away within 2-3 minutes of waking up. I assumed it was from sleeping with my air conditioning up high or sleeping with my neck turned weird, but it's nice to know there is a reason it has been happening more recently.

Basically I'm not showing anything different then what they would expect from someone with CF with my level of lung damage. I was prescribed to begin a pulmonary rehabilitation program asap. This would consist of weight bearing excercise (mostly tredmills) to help get my heart and organs ready for the increased activity post transplant. They want everything as strong as possible going into the transplant.



Next I met with a transplant social worker. First alone, then with my parents. She was basically outlining what needs to be done before I am placed on the list, and what kind of requirements I will have pre and post transplant. Where I can get funding if I need it. How my insurance changes and whatnot. A big concern for most is the $1000 / month drugs needed after the transplant to avoid rejection. Many insurance companies only cover the first year. It's nice to know these things ahead of time and being able to have a plan in place now will make things much smoother in the future.

Once everything is planned and a go, it looks like when on the transplant list I'll be living in St Louis. This could be for 2 days.....2 weeks....or 2 months, it depends on the length of the list for people my height and blood type. Once a match is found, I have 2 and a half hours to get to the hospital. Surgery lasts 6-10 hours on average. On average 1-2 days in the ICU followed by 10-14 days in the hospital. After leaving the hospital, I have to have someone with my 24 hours a day for the next 12 weeks (3 months). I begin daily pulmonary sessions and daily clinic appointments. I can begin to start driving after 6 weeks, and after 12 weeks I can pack up and go back home.

(and play with my kitty, who will have probably been wonder where the heck I've been!) After that I go back for a recheck in 6 months, then once a year after that.



I met with a dietician next and again got a pep talk about trying to gain as much weight as possible to help my body handle the transplant the best it can. I'll probably gain weight after the transplant, but not everyone does.



Tommorow is the most invasive procedure so far: a heart catherization. I can't eat or drink anything after midnight and have to be there at 8:30 sharp. Luckily that's the only thing scheduled tommorow and I should have a nice report when it's done

Day 2 stats:
2 injections
3 bottles of vitamin water
2 times lost in building
3 times the GPS told us to take roads that no longer exist



--Chris Falco