Health Update

Update

I haven’t done a health update in a while, because things are about the same, and my tremor is so bad, typing is hard. Forward the occasional piece, but don’t write much.

I’ve expanded the list of people to keep in the loop, so sorry about the extra background, but I’ve heard from a lot of old friends and classmates.

Gmail bounces me as spam if I send to more than a few people at once. If you get this more than once, sorry, you are on more than one list.

As I think you know, I had a right lung transplant on 12/23/2013 for pulmonary fibrosis, which killed my mother. Things went okay, and I went back to work PT in July of 2017 as a writer-editor in the VA’s My Life, My Story program, interviewing vets and writing their life stories. I think I’ve done 328. Been working from home since COVID hit.

Without Dr. Jim Maloney & the VA team, I’d have been dead six years ago.

I have coughed up blood for two years. My old lung had a fungal infection they could not beat back. They were worried the infection would jump to the transplanted lung, so they decided to take it out, which they did on June 8. I was in the hospital until June 17. I told my PCP I thought I’d be back to work by now. She laughed. Hard. The Thoracic NP said my body had two major insults on 6/8 (they had to go back in to close an artery) and it might be three months before I was well. The challenge is getting there. I continued to feel puny and lose weight. I went back in on July 5 and was released on July 8. The dx. Was “failure to thrive.” All they found was a couple of small ulcers in my stomach. They told me to force myself to eat and to try to exercise.

My main problem of upset stomach and thus not eating remains. It comes and goes. When It’s better, I try to force myself to eat. GI consult with VA on 8/3, first available. Weight 140.3 this morning. It was 139.7 on 7/9, the day after I can home from the VA on the last time. Been as low as 137.7. Waist and weight about what it was when I graduated from Marine boot camp in 1964, but not near as good shape! Living on protein shakes.

Been bothered by restless legs. I have ropinirole for them, get 40 pills a month. Last couple of days, two pills a night hadn’t done it! Even get them during the day when I lay down.

The prostate is also a problem. Going every hour at night, painful to get started (not burning), and ever half hour during the day. The terazocin I ordered last Friday to help it has not come yet.

Last five day have gotten outside and walked about 4 blocks, feels like I ran four miles.

Pain less every day. Not coughing much and no blood.

PCP sending a visiting nurse tomorrow as PCP’s nurse said I didn’t sound good. Not sure if this will help on be another annoyance.

Blood work, x-ray, and consults with thoracic surgery and infectious disease at the VA next Tuesday. Consult with BiPAP people at VA next Thursday.

Thanks for the thoughts, payers and good wishes. ~Bob