Graham and I went to see Dr. Rosenblatt on Tuesday or "clinic" as they call it. The process of clinic, no matter when you schedule your time, is always an all day, draining event. Check in - wait 30 minutes; blood draw, BP, weight and temperature - wait 30 minutes; x-ray - wait 30 minutes; lung functions - wait 30 minutes; go back to dr's office - weight 30 minutes. AND he's not allowed to eat until they are sure his blood work has come back with his different levels (somewhere around 2 o'clock, and we might as well wait until we leave so he can get good food, not hospital food). Graham loves food, this is hard for him.
News - it's not good, it's not bad. It's news. His lung functions (percentage of lung capacity he has), which he has kept a secret, are bad. He does not want them shared, because as he says, it doesn't matter; he feels bad and a number doesn't put a "feeling" to it. But I was shocked, saddened and broken watching him blow, blow, blow and almost collapse because he tried his hardest and nothing was left in him, all for him to get the number he got. The poor respiratory therapist asked if he'd go a 4th time - luckily her head is still attached, she should've taken the "patient declines" answer the first time. :)
But what is good to take from all this, nothing has changed. Not his weight, not his functions, not his blood work. As bad as they are, they have not become worse.
Rosenblatt says Graham is "Stable but Fragile." It seems all his treatments have and are working. That if all goes well, he should be able to live like this for awhile, but not improve. When asked if there was a chance for improvement Rosenblatt responded, "I never say never. But if I was a gambling man *cough which I am* I wouldn't bet on it. Then again, it is you." If he does improve, it won't be by much and he won't feel any different. However, any negative happenings (a cold, infection, rejection slowly breaking him down again) will majorly effect him. Minimally will put him back into the hospital...and I'm not thinking about the rest.
Graham's X-rays came back and there is a discrepancy in his lower left lung that was not there in his previous X-ray. With him being on immune suppressants, this could be an infection (or my pessimistic mind says tumor/cancer)...but it could also be his nipple. Now my maturity level actually dropped and shined at this moment. Dr. Rosenblatt said the word nipple at least a couple of dozen times. I giggled every time. I'm pretty sure this is why he kept saying it. No one is worried at this point, why worry if we don't know anything. Graham will have a CT Scan tomorrow to determine if his nipple photo bombed his X-ray or if it is something scary. I will be praying extra nipple prayers tonight.
Rosenblatt is still advocating Graham's 2nd transplant. The surgeon at UT Southwestern (who apparently can trump Torres) is wanting to see all of Graham's X-Rays and CT Scans, before he makes a decision. Rosenblatt will still look into Duke and now Houston is back on the table. Once he learned that we have a lot of family and a good support system down in H-Town - he began reconsidering calling them. It was good to hear that not only does he have Graham's health in mind, he also has our family's mental health in mind.
During all this exhausting clinic, it seems Graham's humor is finally coming back; he was on a roll and made us all roll our eyes and laugh all day. To fulfill our hunger pains, we went to one of my old favorites when we use to live in Dallas, "Wild About Harry's." If you've never been and want a great hotdog and the best homemade frozen custard - you need to go!
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