Al's Blog-o-Sphere

We’re back from another trip to Pittsburgh. This was the first follow-up visit after Al’s transplant. He had labwork and a clinic visit yesterday and a bronchoscopy today.

We left Thursday morning about 7am and arrived in time for his appointments in the afternoon, then stayed one more night at the Neville Family House. The bronch was the only thing to do today and was an outpatient proceedure, so we were free to leave by about 5pm.

It was done under mild sedation, so there was some observation time before we could leave. The photos here are Al having his first food after being NPO since last night. He really felt okay and was glad to get the sandwich. They wanted to get a lot of fluids into him, so he had some cranberry juice and a can of Pepsi.

We noticed they have a new can design that we haven’t seen at home yet.

Al has been cleared to drive, but with the sedation still wearing off, I drove home tonight. He’s free to drive himself around all he wants to now, and enjoy that until they tell him he can go back to work!

Just a quick post to say Al has been released from Pittsburgh and can go home!

We’ll be driving home this afternoon as soon as we can get checked out and packed up.

We’ll be home well in time for Thanksgiving!

I can’t believe it, but the one month anniversary of Al’s Transplant is here. It sure has gone by fast.

Al visited the Doctors on Monday and had a couple lab tests done. He’s having another blood test drawn tomorrow and if all looks well, they are going to consider letting him go home to Lockport.

We are planning on a quick day trip to Lockport for Thanksgiving (going AWOL) but may not need to resort to that, now. Continue Reading…

Al’s been out of the hospital for one week now. To the casual observer, you’d never know he’d had a lung transplant. He’s feeling good, has energy to walk around and go places and the stiffness and soreness is less and less each day.

We’ve met a few people staying at the Family House who have had lung transplants and are back for check-ups. They’ve been supportive and almost always surprised by how well Al is doing.

There is always need for caution after any transplant. Rejection can appear suddenly. Infection can also happen and appear quickly. Both need to be addressed with immediate diagnosis and treatment. That’s why they are keeping him here for so long. He’s got a contact person who is only a phone call away and can advise him on any aspect of his recovery. Plus, he’s only blocks from the hospital, should there be need for any test or exam. Continue Reading…