Hollywood

Yesterday morning at 730 AM I was picked up by LifeLink III and taken by Air Ambulance to Hollywood, CA.  The trip was in two parts.  The first was to Colorado to a regional airport by Littleton and after a short refueling we departed for Bob Hope Airport in Burbank, CA.  The fun started shortly after the second flight departed when the oxygen masks fell out of the ceiling and the temperature started to rise.  For the next two hours our flight temperature hovered around 108 degrees.  I was hot but the poor flight medics were in flight suits and were dripping with sweat.  They used the telemetry box temperature probe to monitor the cabin temp.  All in all the flight was great.

I was then met by the Los Angeles critical care ambulance team who transported me to the bowels of Cedars Sinai.  We went through downtown Hollywood, down Sunset Boulevard and saw all the touristy stuff.

I arrived about 1 PM PT to Cedars and was transported to Room 6S28 in the cardiac ICU.  I have met my new surgeon, Dr. Arabia, and all of the ICU staff.  Dr. Arabia initially seemed perplexed about why my pump is not just being replaced and after some discussion left to do more research.  I have had 20 tubes of blood drawn, swabs of every hole in my body for infection, visits with Infectious disease, the IV team, 10 x-rays, Cat Scan of my chest and abdomen, interviewed by the docs, transplant coordinator, a surgical fellow, a social worker, and am expecting a psychiatrist shortly.  However, it does appear after all of this that I should be listed for transplant at Cedars Sinai tomorrow morning.  My doctor thought I would have the most wait time of anyone in the western US.  Ultimately nobody knows when an organ will come available but it could be very quickly (days-weeks).

More to follow.  I want to try and update every day while I am here.