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.
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.
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.
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