Day 6, Friday January 21/11

We got to sleep in today as my "MIBI"  Mycardial Perfusion Imaging Scan was shifted from 9am at Toronto General to 11am at the Toronto Western Hospital.  This test takes six hours to complete up here, but if it was done back home it would take two days to complete.

This test checks the blood flow in various arteries.  If an area shows decreased flow it may mean a blockage or narrowing in the blood vessels.

We reached the imaging department of the Peter Munk Cardiac Center,  Alan sat in the waiting area and they came and took me to another area where I donned a johnny shirt and went into a smaller waiting room.  Up here they always give you two johnny shirts, you put one on forwards and the other on backwards (just saying for anyone who might be interested) haha!  After awhile,  I was getting  a little bored, turned and looked out the window and this is what I saw!  NO SHIT,  WHAT A VIEW!



The MIBI is done in two parts.  First they inject a radioactive tracer into the veins then I had to lay perfectly still for 25 mins while images are taken.

Then I have to wait 60 mins so Alan and I go down to the cafeteria area for lunch.

 After the break,  they hooked me up to an IV and injected a drug which made my heart race starting a little at a time, at first it felt like I was out for a leisurely stroll, then a fast walk, a jog,  a run by the time I reached the peak I felt like I was running in a marathon and that there were millions of ants crawling around in my hair. Man what a weird feeling, thank God they forewarned me.

Lastly they injected the tracer and again I had to lay still for another 25 mins while more images were taken.

After the testing was finished,  we headed back to the hotel and celebrated with a ton of Pepsi haha I deserved it after fasting for the past five days.  Funny thing happened however,  it was the first night since coming to Toronto that I didn't sleep well, maybe I should give up the Pepsi ... NOT!!

Day 5, Thursday, January 20/11

Up early this morning as we had scheduled another 6 min walk test. Third try was successful, I need free flow oxygen and a walker.  This makes perfect sense to me as I have no problem walking on my tread mill or pushing a shopping cart, it seems my hands/arms need to rest on something.

At 11:00 we had a consultation with Yieu Vuong, Pharmacy Consultant.  I understood she was suppose to go over my medical coverage, both my private insurance and what is suppose to be available to me from my home province.   However, all she did was hand me over a list of drugs that were paid for by the province of PEI for another patient. ( I was to learn later at home, by the provincial pharmacy, that the other patient had to have been on the old age pension or welfare, in order for the government to pay) The province will cover the immune suppressive drugs and I will have to take care of the rest, thank god we still have blue cross.

After lunch, we met up with Melissa, who is a fellow Islander and just received her new lungs in November.  Just two months after her surgery and she is so full of life and has tons of energy. It was great to see how wonderful she is doing, and so uplifting to watch and listen to her.  She gave Alan and I such an incredible incentive to keep on going with this journey.

At 1:00pm we moved on to another consultation. This time with Social Worker extraordinaire, Ursula Dignard.  What a great person she is. We just sat around and discussed everything from our finances to family support in preparation for transplant to how to find an apartment in Toronto. Time just flew by., and before I knew it the day was done.

This evening we had a meeting with a brother-in-law of a friend of mine.  Hudson is a superintendent  of  an apartment building just up the street from our hotel. His building had just one bedroom and we were looking for two or three. We discussed things that we should watch out for with apartments in Toronto and what areas that we should try to stay away from. 

Hudson wanted to show us the botanical gardens just one block from our hotel.  Because of the exertion from the walk, I wasn't able to enjoy the gardens and so someday  I will return.  With the walk back, the cold and the fumes from the city traffic I got  overwhelmed and I barely made it back.  Considering I just found out this morning that I need a walker to help me to walk distances, I guess I should have known better.  Poor Hudson, I think I scared the life out of him. We made another date with Hudson to go out for supper Saturday night.  Another lesson I did learn today was that if the city traffic fumes can get to me in the middle of January,  just imagine what it will do to me in the summertime. NOTE: Look for an apartment outside the downtown area !! hahaha.

Day 4, Wednesday, Janurary 19/11

This is a picture of the cabs who line up outside our hotel.  Every morning, we just hail one and head for hospital, very easy!

This morning my first appointment was on the first floor at 9:30 and it was the

MUGA or RNA Scan (Radionuclide Angiography).  This test helps determine how the ventricles of the heart are functioning and can help detect blockages in coronary arteries restricting blood flow within the heart. This procedure requires two intravenous injections. The first prepares the blood and then fifteen minutes later you will receive a second injection, a small amount of the radionuclide technetium 99m. You will lie on a table with electrodes on your chest to monitor your heart and a special camera will be positioned over your heart. You will be asked to remain very still while your blood pressure, pulse and heart rhythm are monitored. Then you will put your feet in bicycle pedals while lying on the table. You will pedal while the workload is increased and in the last couple minutes of the test pictures of your heart will be taken with the special camera. Your doctor will use these measurements and pictures to evaluate your heart function.

We met up with another hopeful candidate Geri and her sister-in-law Susan for lunch. Very nice people, we had a few laughs then on to our 1:00 appointments.

At 1:00pm we had a consultation with an anesthesiologist. We were suppose to meet with Dr. Karen McRae however she was called into surgery so we met with a young intern from South Africa Dr. Justin.  We discussed which methods would be used for putting me under.  How the surgery will take 10 to 12 hours,  how they will keep me heavily medicated for about 4 days after the surgery and by this time the worst of the pain will be over with.  Also discussed how the surgeon will make a horizontal incision just below the middle of my chest.  It goes underneath my  breasts to the breastbone which will also be cut.  First they will extract one lung replace it with a new one and then extract the second lung and then replace it.  I was spellbound while listening to how it all worked. Pretty fascinating stuff!

My 2:00 appointment was with Dr. Loretta Daniels, cardiologist. She will review all my medical test results, paying special attention to the heart tests.  She will be the one who will determine if my heart is strong and works well enough to withstand the lung surgery.  She will also set me up with the angiogram in Halifax for when I return home.  While we were talking, we found out the she was from Pugwash. NS and that her dad still lives there.  She has made many trips to the Island over the years.  It's funny,  if I were to picture in my mind what a successful female doctor should look like, this would be her.  She belonged on the set of some soap opera. She was probably late forties or early fifties, intelligent, beautiful and looked like she ran 10 miles every day and spent at least 3 days a week pumping iron.

On our way to our 3:00 appointment,  Alan and I discussed how everyone on staff of this huge hospital  (meaning doctors, nurses,and technicians) all looked like they spent a good chunk of their week at a gym.  We have yet to meet an overweight person! We starting joking around saying " Oh my, I gained  5 lbs this week, surely I will be getting my pink slip today" hahaha


My last appointment today lasted 70 mins and it was with my transplant coordinator, Cathy Whytehead.  She discusses everything with us starting with hospital philosophy, what is expected of me and Alan's role for the next couple of years, the transplant team and their duties, the assessment process,  the costs associated with the surgery, legal information, the waiting, donors, medications, possible complications, the easy call system for transplants,.  How to best take care of myself after transplant, medications post transplant and living a healthy lifestyle for the remainder of my life.  My family doctor will look after the rest of me but my transplant team will own my lungs.