Medically busy again!

It’s been a medically busy month!
 
I started things off with a CT scan. Almost 2 months ago I noticed a lump on one of my transplant incisions near where I had an abscess a few years ago. It wasn’t visible and was barely noticeable, but I was obviously concerned due to my history. The CT scan fortunately didn’t show any signs of abscess or infection, and my doctor reassured me that it was just a suture granuloma, which happens when the immune system reacts to a foreign object (in this case, a leftover suture from my transplant) by trying to form a barrier around it and wall it off from the rest of the body. My doctor gave me the option to meet with a plastic surgeon and have it surgically removed, but I decided not to pursue that unless it became more of a bother. Well, barely a week later it started bothering. Not only had it grown, but it had become slightly red and sore, which are both bad signs. I’m now scheduled for an MRI in mid-December, and will be having a plastic surgery consult afterwards. Let’s just hope Lump can keep it together until then and I don’t end up rushing to the ER with more significant symptoms the way I did the last time I dealt with something like this.
 
A week after my CT scan I got to have a colonoscopy. Not only have I reached colonoscopy age, but both CF and transplant put me at higher risk for colorectal cancer. Unfortunately for me, the last time I had a colonoscopy a few years ago the prep didn’t fully clear me thanks to my stupid stubborn CF gut. So this time I got to do the extended prep, which meant 2 days straight of clear liquid diet plus a ridiculous amount of laxatives. And guess what? After all that, I wasn’t clear AGAIN! What they were able to see looked fine, but instead of waiting 5 years for my next one, I have to do it again in 2 years. And who knows what kind of godawful prep I’ll have to go through next time! I’m already dreading it!
 
The week after that I had my last scheduled appointment with Dr. Courtwright, my transplant doctor, before he moves across the country. He’s not actually leaving until December 13^th though, so if anything goes wrong before then he’ll still be my doctor. And with the current Lump situation, I wouldn’t be surprised if I see him again before he leaves!
 
Last week I had my annual appointment with my ENT. Though a recent CT scan showed that my sinuses are blocked, he actually didn’t think that I would get much benefit from sinus surgery. One the one hand I’m glad to not have to go through an unpleasant surgery, but I’m also disappointed that there’s basically no chance of ever getting my sense of smell back. It disappeared completely again several months ago, and though there was no guarantee that I would get it back even with surgery, I had some hope because I unexpectedly got it back after my last sinus surgery. But no surgery unfortunately means no chance of regaining my sense of smell. I can definitely live without it, but I do miss it sometimes. My ENT also looked at the ear that has been giving me problems and saw a lot of drainage from the ear tube. He gave me antibiotic and steroid ear drops, and sent off a sample to see what infection I have brewing in there. And OF COURSE, as always, it’s my nemesis pseudomonas! My ENT is currently consulting with both my CF team and with colleagues who specialize in ears to come up with a treatment plan. I actually was pleasantly surprised that he dealt with my ear at all, as previously he referred me to another ENT since he specializes in sinuses and not ears. Hopefully he’ll be able to come up with a plan that finally deals with this ear issue once and for all!
 
And that brings us to today, and my consult with an oral surgeon. A couple months ago I went to the dentist for the first time in years. Between transplant and Covid, dental appointments kind of fell by the wayside, but fortunately I have good teeth so I could mostly get away with it. For years I said that G-d balanced things out for me, and gave me good eyes and good teeth to make up for all my internal organs being trash. I never needed glasses, or braces, or any other significant dental work. In fact, I never even had so much as a cavity! Well apparently getting new lungs voided the contract, because earlier this year I finally got glasses, and a couple months ago they found the first cavity of my entire life. Unfortunately, it’s close to the nerve, so they have to either extract the tooth or do a root canal. On the plus side, it’s in a wisdom tooth which is fully in, so extracting it isn’t a big deal. My dentist wasn’t comfortable with the angle of the tooth, however, so she referred me to an oral surgeon. The oral surgeon said it should be easy to extract with just local anesthetic, so I have an extraction appointment scheduled in 2 weeks. Here’s hoping it goes smoothly!
 
Overall my medical needs have been keeping me pretty busy lately, with still more to come! Hopefully I can get these various issues taken care of quickly and things will settle down soon!

The end of an era

It’s the end of an era.

A week ago I had my last scheduled appointment with Dr. Courtwright, who has been my transplant doctor for the last 5 and a half years. I first met him a few years before my transplant during one of my many hospital admissions. The outpatient lung transplant doctors are also part of the inpatient Advanced Lung Disease team, so they all take turns being the attending doctor on the inpatient unit. I was always happy when Dr. Courtwright was my attending. Not only is he extremely skilled and knowledgeable, but he is also friendly, supportive, and has a good sense of humor. When I was being worked up for transplant, it was actually Dr. Courtwright who told me that I could choose anyone from the team to be my outpatient doctor after transplant. As soon as he asked, I immediately chose him!

Dr. Courtwright happened to be working on the inpatient unit the week of my transplant. A couple days beforehand he told me that I was at the top of the list and that he thought I might even be transplanted that weekend. And he was right! We actually had a funny moment with him after I went down to pre-op. I was brought down first, and Katherine and my mom came down shortly afterwards. It was a Sunday, however, which meant most of the operating area was closed. When they tried to take an elevator to the pre-op area, the elevator wouldn’t open! They had to go back up to the floor and find a nurse with an access card to let them in. Then when they finally got to the pre-op area, they couldn’t find me! Everything was closed and dark since it was the weekend. They were wandering around and couldn’t find anyone to direct them, when somehow they ran into Dr. Courtwright, who was also looking for me! The 3 of them video chatted with me asking where I was, and I showed them the area I was in, which gave Dr. Courtwright enough information to lead them to the one open pre-op area where I had been taken. It was a chaotic but funny interlude during a stressful time!

Over the last 5 and a half years I have had countless appointments with Dr. Courtwright. He has guided me through various complications both big and small. He has always been available for all my questions and concerns, and never once made me feel like anything other than a top priority. He is a very special doctor, and I’ve been so blessed to have him! Sadly for me and the entire transplant team, he and his family are relocating to Salt Lake City. I trust the lung transplant team at Penn and am sure that my new doctor will be great, but nobody will be able to replace Dr. Courtwright. Having a good relationship with your doctor is HUGE when you have a chronic illness, and I’ve been so lucky to have someone as phenomenal as Dr. Courtwright in charge of my care for so long. I will truly miss him, and I wish him the best of luck in everything wherever he goes!