…but not quite. I met the transplant surgeon last week but there is still the uncertainty of when I go on the list. It should be ‘within a week’ so I’m waiting for the call anytime.
The surgeon was reassuring ie confident, and talked through the procedure with enough but not too much detail. Essentially it’s a 6 to 8 hour operation and they cut the lungs in half and insert one at a time through a slit either side just below the ribcage. At least that’s the standard, there is always the possibility of a variation on the theme depending on what happens at the time eg you could need heart and breathing support so would get cut down the middle.
The thought of the actual operation isn't causing me any great anxiety, it's more the ongoing waiting which seems to have been forever. Although my first appointment at Papworth was last April so that is a long time.
I also met the lead transplant nurse who talked about the recovery time, that being a few days in ICU and a month in total as an inpatient, again that’s standard and varies according to all the imaginable (and unimaginable) things that could go wrong! He also thought that I would get a transplant quite quickly as I have an unusual blood group so will be the only one on their list.
So I am very distracted again. I have been doing some painting but still grappling with the oils although quite pleased with this little abstract one:
Maybe I will go back to some watercolour and break my impasse. I do have a new painter of the week:
These are by Gillian Ayres. Big canvasses a hundred times the size of mine, and more colourful.
Fingers crossed I will have some bigger news next week.