My four-year assessment

I spent today at Toronto General Hospital going through a battery of tests for the four-year assessment of my lung transplant. There were blood tests, a chest x-ray, bone density tests, pulmonary function tests, a six-minute walk and clinic appointments. I still have a bronchoscopy and other tests to complete over the next few days.

During the course of the day I had the pleasure of meeting many other lung transplant patients who I hadn't seen for a long time or had never met. I had a talk with Al Jack, Owen and Rita Davison, Kristi Mitton and her father (Kristi is waiting for a lung & liver transplant), Vern and Audrey Leonard, Helen Bird (waiting for a lung transplant) and daughter Kim, Kori Johansen and her daughter Christina, Kim Cassar, Vivian Rosenberg and Herb Kershaw, to name a few. All seemed to be doing very well with their gifts of life. I also had a chat with Sharon Andrews, a liver transplant recipient on the Birthday Ball committee who was at the hospital promoting it.

As ususal the hospital staff were wonderful, including the physicians. They made me feel like I was the only patient they had even though the waiting room was full.

It's been a full day and I'm now a little weary but have that warm feeling which comes from the special bond those of us in the organ transplant community have.

I'll resume regular posts here when I return from finishing my assessment later this week.