In the Beginning - part 2

Thanks to "Grey's Anatomy", one thinks that you just go on to a list for transplants without any problems - wrong. You have to undergo a series of tests to qualify for the list, be rated as to you need, get a pager and get training on what happens after.

My first experience with testing started at 8am on September 1st of 2004. A couple of days earlier I had a TB test and a Candida test for my skin. TB test is to make sure that you don't have any issues with that and the Candida test is to see if your skin has any yeast infections that might keep you from healing properly. On the 1st, I was sent to the lab to draw 19 vials of blood....yes, that is right, 19 vials of blood. Only problem is, I have very small surface veins that didn't give out a lot of blood. They got 9 but not 19. Since I was also going to have a heart cath that day, they decided to wait till then to get the rest. Why they couldn't get them all then, I'm not sure. What the multiple vials of blood did get show was that I had a wierd antigen. Nothing that would keep me from getting the transplant but one more thing that would have to match the donor organ.

Then it was on to get a carotid doppler of my neck. Good news! No blockages to deal with there. Then on to get a heart cath to check for oxygen and ejection fraction measurements. They were going to try to do this through my right subclaven artery, but the "problem child" syndrome came up again. So, after poking me for 35 minutes (and remember, you are awake during this procedure) they decided to go through my groin, which meant that I had to lie flat for about 4 hours after. While lying there, I got a visit from the social worker with the transplant clinic who informed us that without insurance meds would run around $3800 per month but if I had insurance that could be reduced. Thank God I did! I finally got home about 5pm from all the tests and was exhausted. My friend Amy brought dinner by and Rob and Susan came to get the low down.

The next day I met Dr. Spahn, the cardiac surgeon. He and the the other docs on the transplant team had gone over all my records and he was the final hurdle. He asked me some pointed questions about my lifestyle and mental stability, as well as my parents regarding care after the procedure. He wanted me to go back to Dr. Schelbar and get some baseline tests ran on my lungs as it is possible that my lungs may wear out before I get a heart transplant, which would cause me to have to add those to the transplant organs.

A week later I went back to Dr. Schelbar and did the tests. I also thanked him for his quick decision on the first test results because they probably will save my life. He's a very humble man and didn't want to take any credit, but I gave him a hug anyway!

The next day, when I got home from work, I had a message. I had been accepted to go on the transplant list. I was given instructions on how to get my pager, but in case something happened before I got it, they would call my cell phone and ask me to come in. Man, talk about reality hitting you in the face! From this point on my life would never be the same. I would live with a pager that would offer me a second chance at life. Everyone in my family would be on standby. My friends would have to be put on a calling tree and had offered to take me to the hospital 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. I had to stay within 2 hours of Tulsa not only until the transplant but about a year after. The transplant clinic told me that they were averaging a transplant every 6 weeks but that it could take as long as two years. The next day, I picked up my pager and the life of waiting began.