My 3rd Call for Transplant*

Whenever my phone rings sans caller id my heart starts galloping away! That was the case at 8am on July 2nd. What a way to start the day! I've learned that every call initiates a specialized strategy as every donor scenario is unique. With this call I made it farther along the process.

We arrived 11:15am and took care of basics as with previous calls: vital stats, double set of blood work, venous IV which was placed on the 1st try (insert sigh of relief here), x-rays, and ecg.

3:45 - 8:00pm Pulmonary resident stopped by. Talked about the possibility of going into the OR and coming out without the surgery. Surgery would be ~8hrs. No info about the donor lungs available. I was the only person called for transplant for this donor.

Ready for this? Around 7pm the room curtain parts and a Jimmy John's delivery guy comes rushing in "Dinner is here!". Our heads all popped up and I had a crazy smile on my face since I hadn't had anything to eat or drink since 8am. It turned out another patient had called in the order and gave the wrong room number. Oh my.

8:30 - 11pm Dr. X on the transplant team let us know the surgery was now anticipated for 1pm tomorrow, going to pre-op at noon. All he could tell us was the delay resulted from logistical reasons. I could eat dinner before midnight! The surgical staff could go home for some sleep. Very nice. A rare occurrence. Stacy read Facebook comments while we ate ;)

July 3, 9am - noon More prep and transplant meds. Gabe and Stacy kept me sane while I waited.

12:45 - 2pm The pre-op nurse showed up with the stretcher. A new experience for me was a "bear hugger"! It was a heated air raft the nurse put under the blanket that keeps you snugly warm. Nice! Off we went to pre-op. The anesthesiology fellow, Dr. Y, spent time explaining their plan and answering questions. It took a few attempts to establish an arterial IV which caused me grief. To help out Stacy showed me a flash mob video with folks happily and energetically singing and dancing away. The link came to us via one of you folks out there as my "song for the day". Thanks! It helped! Gabe shared his headphones so I could listen to Bocelli...and conduct the orchestra, ahem.

Dr. Z on the transplant team already went to extract the donor lungs and bring them to the UW. They remove the heart first and lungs second: I thought they would be close to last to keep the brain dead body functioning. My mind was definitely in the transplant zone. I thought this was my time and it felt right.

2pm The nurse wheeled me to the OR and my kiddo's went to the waiting area. I can't describe what it was like to see so many medical devices in that one room! The standout item in my mind was the heart/lung bypass machine. They were getting me situated when Dr. Y's phone vibrated. He had that "look" when he hung up. Dr. Z noted enough bruising to decline the lungs on my behalf. The kids were informed and we were discharged directly from pre-op not long after.

Of course I was disappointed. But I am really, really thankful I am with a transplant team that only wants the best for their patients. I'll continue to recover and be ready for the next call. I remain hopeful.

My best wishes to the donor family that successful transplants took place with other organs.

*Please note I didn't blog about my 2nd call because the donor lungs failed before we drove to the UW. They had called very early in the process to give me "high risk" information about the donor such that I had to accept/decline before they followed up with me as recipient. I had accepted. The lungs failed before we were asked to leave.