Several people have asked this question, "when is the surgery?" This got me thinking, maybe I should explain a few things. I mean, a lot of this we didn't know till we HAD to know.
Lung transplants can not be scheduled like other surgeries. Put bluntly, Lee is waiting for someone to die in order for him to get new lungs. It's an incredibly sad thought, that someones life will end so that Lee can live. How that donor will die, we won't know. But when we get the call that lungs are available and we're celebrating, a family somewhere is grieving.
The nature of the surgery requires us, the patient and caregiver, to be on call 24/7. Because organs can only be preserved for a limited amount of time, we have to be in Pittsburgh and ready for the operation 4 hours after we're given the green light. That's not a lot of time.
This is why we can't use Angel Flight and other services like them. They only fly for scheduled appointments and often require 5 to 10 days notice. As as you can tell, nothing about lung transplantation is scheduled. Or easy.
We're still researching our transportation options. And I've even contacted our UPMC transplant coordinator and social services worker to ask more questions.
And of course as many of you already know, we've got our first benefit/fundraiser on Sunday Oct 16th at The Blind Tiger in Greensboro NC. Should be a fab show! Hope to see you all there!
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