Pulmonary Consult

Yesterday I had my 3rd follow-up consult, this time with the pulmonary people. They took a chest X-ray and I had the pulmonary function test performed. A couple of hours later, I met with the doctor. All in all, it was good news. My pulmonary function has improved significantly compared to how it was when I was in the hospital. My lung capacity is up, lung elasticity has improved, and oxygen diffusion levels are higher too. That means the treatment is working and lungs could finally take a break from all the damage caused by the inflammation and get better.

I was very happy to see this because, to be honest, I've been very worried about my respiratory functions... I get short of breath just by taking a few steps. When I asked about this the Dr. said: well, they're better, but they're still bad. The problem is that the damage that they took was so severe that the improvement might seem mild to me, in comparison. The good thing is that there is some gradual improvement, and we hope it keeps going that way.

The lung function improvement was the green light needed for the Prednisone reduction plan. So, hopefully, in 6 weeks I'll be down to an average of 30 mg/day.