Hospital Followup - 3/7/17

It's been a long day at UT Southwestern.

Started at 7:30 with the routine X-Rays and labs, then up to see the Transplant Team.

We take care of getting my vitals, then off to Spirometry.  The last few times I did my PFT, we had a new tech. She has moved on to a different department so my original tech was back behind the machine.  It has been awhile since she's done my pulmonary function testing, and I could see the shock on her face after my first test.  My function has dropped that much.

My lung function is still very good for transplant due to IPF, just trending in the wrong direction.

We talked about how the reflux might be causing this, but there is none of the damage you would expect to see.  The HRCT, x-ray, and bronchoscopy all look good.  We don't have any environmental changes at the house to focus upon. I use the best furnace filters and run a HEPA filter in the bedroom.  Labs show my Creatinine trending a little high, but that has to do with how much water I've been drinking and wouldn't affect lung function. Cultures have all come back negative so no infection or fungus. Process of elimination is leading to the reflux.  

We went over some of the other tests/studies I did in the hospital. There are a couple of more we have to do to develop the 'big picture'. Some interesting stuff, but I want to have all the data before I share.

Then we were off to the hospital for the Esophageal Motility and PH Impedance Studies.  As I mentioned in an earlier post, the results of these tests will determine weather I have a permanent feeding tube installed, or have a Nissen Fundoplication surgery. 

I was fairly sure that it would be the tube as I came home from the hospital with a feeding tube, that became much less likely today. The very prelim, very unofficial results are that the muscles in my esophagus are working well. I do have a Hiatal  Hernia that explains the reflux. I'm doing the PH Impedance test overnight, but that's just to determine the extent of the reflux.

Back to the Clinic next Tuesday to go over today's results and finalize the plan for getting this issue resolved.  

Then I can get back to talking about kettlebells :)