Transplant qualications?

[Vampy]

I'm a long way off of having a transplant, my PFTS are 73%, in two years they dropped from 86%. I'm very knowledgeable and I am always asking questions. What qualifications do you have to meet to be a candidate for a lung transplant. and when do they add you to the list, about what PFT level. (NEB)I am just happy that with my new Clinic that they are taking my role as a mother to a 6 year old elementary school student serious. I am unable to go in for a treatment Fall, Winter and Spring while my sons in school because he would have to miss school. I don't live around people who can help and my husband works out of town everyday. So he would miss 2 weeks of school. So because my clinic is so amazing they are taking this serious and I had asked the question Monday what if I HAVE to have treatments and its during a school period. He said that he would have to write for home IV fluids. That really took a lot off my mind. I am so glad that I have changed clinics. I have to drive 2 hours to get to it but its well worth it.

 

[mkosborn]

Typically they will send you to a transplant clinic when your FEV1 is consistently 30% or less and you have constant infections that need IVs....which I think is 3 to 4 times a year or more not including the routine clean outs. Once you see a transplant doctor they will give you a score (allocation score)... and it really depends on how high the score is if you are listed or how bad you get when you get sick. Sometimes people may have a lung function higher than 30% when they are healthy but when they get infections they might get so sick they go to the ICU then they may put this person on the transplant list. The allocation score counts if you use oxygen, your FEV1, a walk test (how far you can walk in 6 min)....and probably other things. I forget. I was sent to a transplant clinic a year ago. I was originally put on the transplant list...I had 25% lung function but I used no oxygen and could walk quite a long distance. They mainly put me on the list bc of my lung function and my constant infections. However, I got better and my infections eased up and my lung function went to 30%. Now its almost a year later and I cant walk very far and Im on constant oxygen so we are looking into relisting. So its a lot of different factors and one big factor at least with my clinic is how is your quality of life. some people can have low pft and have good quLITY