The tooth I wrote about previously is gone. Long live the thirteenth upper molar!

I was lucky. The tooth came out easily, I had no complications, and very little pain.

The imaging of my heart went well today. It doesn’t seem that there will be any trouble with the ol' ticker for the transplant. The test itself took about forty-five minutes and was certainly the easiest, most painless test I’ve undergone through this whole journey. It was, in fact, so boring that I struggled to stay awake during much of it. (Insufficient coffee at 8:00 AM may also have had something to do with that, however.)

The results from the pulmonary test I took a few weeks back were mostly okay, but we found out today that they want to do some follow up with a pulmonologist about my lung capacity. Apparently that bit of the test looked a little off.

I’m not surprised there were some questions with the pulmonary test; the test was extremely challenging as a blind patient. They put you inside a glass booth and, for sighted patients, perform various hand gestures to illustrate how and when to breathe into a sort of large mouthpiece. Oh, and they clamp your nose shut–let’s not forget that part!

In my case, since I wasn’t going to be able to see the gestures, they were shouting instructions at me and giving me patterns to try to memorize before each round. (e.g. “Breathe mechanically like Darth Vader for five breaths, then take in the deepest breath you can, hold it for five seconds, then let it out slowly and don’t take another one for five seconds.") The timing with the test mattered a lot to the computer, they said, so we did each batch of breaths multiple times, trying to get it right. The respiratory therapist who conducted the test was fantastic, and she did a great job with what she had to work with. But it wouldn’t shock me at all if the issue had more to do with me fumbling the test than my lungs. In any case, it’s better to be thorough, so I’ll be getting checked out on that front soon.

Probably the most consequential news today was about the donor search. Their first choice for a match from the donor registry was not available, and they are waiting to hear back from other candidates. The transplant team will be reaching out to my sister as well, to see if she’s a viable option. She’s just an amazing human, and whether she’s a match or ends up being my donor or not, I love her for being willing. I’m a lucky brother.

All of this means that it’s looking like the transplant is more likely for some time during the summer, rather than late spring. These little bumps in the road are all part of the journey. The more hurtles I clear, the better I feel about all of it. That’s a sort of gift in itself.

Finally, I have been moved beyond words by the outpouring of love and support that has come through the GoFundMe campaign. “Thank you” is a wholly insufficient phrase for the gratitude I feel, but it is all the English language has furnished us with. Friends, family, fans of my work, and our amazing UU community have done more than I had ever imagined. I’m a lucky man.