Joshua's Pulmonologist Appointment

Today was a big day for us as far as feeling like we are finally headed in the right direction. Our doctors have been great as far as building up a file of tests and procedures that need to be done, but today was the day to finally have the big bright light shine on it all. At least for me. It's been a lot for my NON medical brain to take in and comprehend. I'm thankful John was able to be there with us today.

We finally saw the pulmonologist today. He was quite impressed with Joshua's case and the battery of tests we've already completed. That helped him to speed things up I believe. Thank God my sister is here pushing and helping me SO much.

So... he added another diagnosis to the bunch. As well as the pulmonary hypertension and chronic obstructive asthma, he has added COPD, Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease. It's all kind of the same thing but then again it's not. He also confirmed Joshua's lungs are only working between 40-50% and that they look like the lungs of a 60 year old man who has smoked for 40 years. He said the damage that has been done cannot be repaired but the function of the lungs can be improved.

As expected, he added medications to be taken daily. They are Advair, Singulair, and Pro-Air, as well as a nasal spray. When he listed them orally to us, Joshua said "wow, sounds like I'm gettin' a lot of air." :-)

He wants to do a right heart cath and ordered additional lab work (some which were a little alarming but he says not to be worried), as well as encouraging us to get the sleep study completed, which just happened to be our afternoon appointment today.

So.. we went to the sleep clinic this afternoon and Joshua was evaluated for a sleep study. The doctor there firmly believes he does have sleep apnea and we've scheduled the study to be done next Wednesday night. He also mentioned him having his tonsils removed and possible sleeping with a CPAP machine. So it looks like there is much more to come. I'm not at ALL wanting to have the tonsils removed so we'll have to really get more info on this one.

Thank you for praying for our sweet son. He is such a great kid and we love him so much. Please pray for his peace of mind today. He was on the phone in the car with his best friend and I could hear apprehension and concern in his voice telling his friend about it. Of course, he still has an awesome outlook on it all but I'm not sure he totally understands what this means long term. We are all still figuring that out. I really hope God will shine through us as we continue on this very uncomfortable journey.