While working at the Kansas City Division, known throughout the years as Bendix then AlliedSignal and finally Honeywell, Bob was exposed to Beryllium. His body reacted to it which puts him in the Beryllium Sensitization (BeS) stage. Since 2003 he has been visiting National Jewish Health in Denver every 2-3 years, a recognized expert in lung issues.
His last visit was in the fall of 2014 so it was like he was a new patient again. Plus the doctor he has been seeing for a number of years has moved on. His first day consisted of bloodwork, chest CT, pulmonary function test (basically spirometer testing on steroids), riding a bicyle exercise tolerance test, and a visit with his new doctor. Here is where the pulmonary function test was conducted.
On the second day he was scheduled to have a bronchoscopy with biopsies and a lung lavage (saline pumped into the lungs and then sucked out). It is a little embarrassing to admit but Bob screwed up and drank a few more sips of water than he should have before the procedure. Here is where we have a good news/bad news scenario plays out. It was bad news that they had to cancel the procedure but the good news is the doctor looked over what results were available and said she thought they wouldn't find anything anyway so the procedure could wait until his next visit in 2 years.
Since then more results have been posted on the portal and except for not riding as long as they expected on the bike Bob came through the testing. The good news on the bike is that his leg strength was the cause for ending the exercise tolerance test and not his breathing. It looks like Bob has not progressed to Chronic Beryllium Disease yet.
Let's just say Bob is happy that is over for at least a couple of years
Till next time,
Bob and Jo
Great news. Love it when they say they don't want to see you for two years or even one year.
ReplyDeleteThat sounds like really good results:))
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