Up The Farway Tree

Day 21- Thursday

Well the news for today is - I'M GOING HOME TOMORROW!!!!!! I still need to come back next week for my second bronchoscopy, but I think it's much better to go home in the meantime rather than hang about the not-so-comfy hospital flat. I'm not sure of the exact details on when I've to come back etc, but I've to head up to the ward tomorrow morning to finalise things and be officially discharged. My drugs were ordered today but they have changed the dose of my anti-rejection drug so I suspect we might be hanging about waiting on another prescription tomorrow. I think I will stay around long enough to attend the gym session as I'm sure by the time we get home I really won't feel like doing any exercise!

Apart from that exciting news, today was a generally a bit better than yesterday. I had an early start as I had to get bloods taken at 8am before I took my anti-rejection drugs. Annoyingly the doctor didn't turn up for another 40 minutes but he managed to get the blood first time, so I won't complain too much. I then had to get another chest x-ray and lung function. I assume the x-ray was ok as I haven't been told otherwise, but the lung function was down marginally to 1.7 litres (60%). They are not usually concerned unless the drop is greater than 10% and I was reassured by speaking to my friend Emily that the lung function does tend to fluctuate on a daily basis. I also spoke with another post transplant patient at the gym and he said his lung function had been up and down several times in the past few weeks, so I felt better knowing that. I was still a little worried that they would keep me longer to re check it, but when I phoned the ward this evening the nursing staff were certainly under the impression I was still going home. I'm sure it will be rechecked when I come back for my bronchoscopy next week anyway.

I also had my usual gym session this morning and I think I managed more than yesterday, probably because I wasn't as sore today. I have been fiddling with my pain medication so that the doses are a bit more staggered and this seems to have helped. The physio seemed really pleased so that's always a good sign. I don't think she will have time to do my 6 minute walk test before I go home, but they will do it at outpatient clinic at some point.

In the gym - see how fast those legs are going?!

The only thing getting on my nerves just now is my blood sugars, which are all over the place and constantly running high. I have been increasing the dose of short acting insulin by myself but it's not really coming down to an acceptable level. Hopefully I can see the diabetic nurse when I get home to sort out a new regime, as I suspect I will need some longer acting insulin to keep things on an even keel. I could do without the hassle really, but it's just one of those things I will have to get used to. The other side effect I am noticing now is a tremor from one of my anti-rejection drugs. It's not too bad at the moment and I really only notice it when trying to keep my hands steady - for example when plucking my eyebrows. Anyone who knows me very well will understand how important it is that I can pluck my eyebrows. Put it this way - if my body put as much effort into staying healthy as it did into growing my eyebrows, I probably wouldn't have needed a transplant. I get a 5 o'clock shadow on my eyebrows, I kid you not! Anyway hopefully this will settle down as I get more used to the drugs. It's just as well I'm not a surgeon, that's all I can say.

Well my next blog should be from home - how exciting! I don't know what time we will get back but I suspect it will be tomorrow evening. I will try and do a short entry at least to let everyone know I'm home safe and sound.....I can't wait :-)