And the verdict is...

And the verdict is… no more surgery!!!
 
I saw the plastic surgeon last week, and he said my wound is all healed up and doesn’t need any further intervention! That was a HUGE relief!! I also had a transplant appointment last week, and my lung function was at 99%! Which means that once again I have weathered a respiratory virus without triggering any rejection. Whew! I’m SO glad to finally put this round of medical drama behind me!!
 
That doesn’t mean I have nothing left on my plate however. Now I need to catch up on stuff that got pushed off while I was dealing with more pressing issues. A big one is that I still need to get a tooth extracted, which my transplant doctor wants me to prioritize due to the risk of infection. I also have a follow up hearing test and ENT appointment to see how I’ve recovered from the pseudomonas infection in my ear. In a couple months I need to get an ultrasound to make sure the DVT in my arm has resolved, and I might need to follow up with hematology since this is the second time I’ve had a PICC induced blood clot. Then there’s the standard stuff like getting a mammogram and following up with my diabetes doctor. Never a dull moment!
 
I also now have a primary care doctor for the first time in decades! A few weeks ago I randomly started having pain in my shoulder. My transplant team sent me for an x-ray to make sure my bones were ok, since they’ve been weakened by years of steroid use. Thankfully nothing was broken, so they told me to follow up with a primary care doctor, since joint issues are really outside their area of expertise. So I got to overwhelm a primary care doctor with my insane medical history, which was actually kind of amusing. She was so overwhelmed, in fact, that she scheduled a second, longer appointment to finish going through everything. In the meantime, I have shoulder exercises to try before looking into PT. And I also have an orthopaedic appointment to deal with some on and off hip and foot pain that has been an issue for years but I never bothered dealing with. Look at me having normal people problems!
 
Finding out that I don’t need further surgery and that my lungs are doing well was GREAT news after over 2 months of medical drama. Hopefully I can stick with my baseline level of medical involvement and avoid any more urgent issues for a good long while!

Not the best

Well, it wasn’t the WORST doctor’s appointment, but it also wasn’t the best.
 
Last week I saw the plastic surgeon who is in charge of my wound. Though the wound looks like it’s closing well on the outside, there’s still an open pocket under the surface that hasn’t closed. The plastic surgeon said it’s currently unclear whether or not that pocket will close on its own. It’s possible that my body has formed a sort of film inside the cavity that will prevent it from closing entirely. We’re giving it 3 more weeks, and if it hasn’t made significant progress by then, it will have to be closed surgically. Unfortunately that would mean putting me under general anesthesia, re-opening the outer incision, excising the film from inside the cavity, and putting in a drain before sewing everything back up. I’m REALLY hoping things look much better in 3 weeks, because I do NOT want to have to go through surgery and a lengthy healing process all over again. There’s no way to tell what will happen though, so all I can do now is wait and see.
 
I was pretty unhappy after that appointment. I had no idea this was coming, since everything looks like it’s healing great from the outside. I feel like the last 2 months have just been one medical issue after the next, with no end in sight. And I’m REALLY upset at the thought of having to go through ANOTHER painful surgery and recovery. I’m trying to be hopeful that maybe things will improve over the next few weeks, but it’s hard when it feels like every time things start looking up I end up getting punched back down again.
 
2024 ended really poorly, and so far 2025 hasn’t been going much better. Honestly, just typing all this out kinda makes me want to scream! Let’s hope things turn around soon so I can finally move on from this round of medical shenanigans.