1. It's been a snowy week in North Idaho, so I was relieved this morning when I headed out on I-90 that the freeway was clear, bare, and presented no danger. I went to Kootenai Imaging for a CT scan of my chest. Pulmonologist Dr. Robert Scoggins wanted to take a deeper look at the whole of my chest to evaluate the condition of the bronchiectasis he and I talked about eight days ago. Dr. Scoggins liked what he saw in the CT scan. The upper regions of my lungs looked normal and, as expected, there is bronchiectasis in the lower lobes and right middle lobes. The bronchiectasis has been present for a long time, most likely dating back to the infection that resulted when I inhaled all that gas and dust when I had that Zinc Plant accident in 1973. I do not experience recurrent infections nor do I show symptoms of bronchiectasis. Taken together, the scan and my history assured Dr. Scoggins that he could clear me for transplant and wrote a report to Sacred Heart saying just that.
2. When it comes to transplant considerations of any kind, I don't take anything for granted. I think this pulmonary exam is the last thing I need to do before being listed, but I am not assuming that's the case. Until I hear from my nurse coordinator that I've been listed, I will patiently wait and see if I need any more testing, blood work, another conference, or anything else.
Out of relief to have the pulmonary testing completed, I dashed over to Slate Creek Brewing for one pint of Breakside's Kids These Haze, a Hazy IPA. I yakked a little bit with co-owner Danica, but mostly stayed to myself, relaxing, thinking about transplant lists and transplant patients' stories, and hoping for an easy drive back to Kellogg.
3. The drive back to Kellogg was easy. After resting and napping a little bit, I drove up to Kellogg High School to watch some boys basketball. The JV team creamed Priest River by a score so lopsided that the mercy rule went into effect with the start of the fourth quarter.
The varsity also won by a large margin, 72-36. The Wildcats, shuttling about 9-10 players in and out of the game, wore down Priest River by hounding and pressuring the Spartans into numerous turnovers and bad shots and ended up steamrolling the Spartans. It was Senior night at Andrews Gymnasium and all the members of the senior class who were in band, ROTC, on the cheer squad, or played boys basketball were, along with family members, honored at center court between the junior varsity and varsity games.
I returned home in time to join Christy and Everett for the second half of Gonzaga's 73-60 win over Loyola Marymount, a game that was very close until Gonzaga pulled away in the final five minutes with a 13-2 run.
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