Cardiologist: Lexiscan® Explained

I had a phone call with my cardiologist today. I thought it was supposed to be a Zoom call but we just talked on the phone. She was very cheerful; I guess that’s a good trait for a cardiologist since her patients all have some heart issues.

She explained the results of the Lexiscan test to me. Basically they were looking for defects or damage to my heart, and also to see if it is reversible. The results showed that I do have some heart tissue damage (infarction), but it’s not reversible. I probably suffered one or more heart attacks prior to the bypass surgery. That was corroborated by my high troponin test results days prior to the surgery showing heart muscle damage. However, she also said that there’s nothing in the test that would rule me out for a kidney transplant. There is some elevated risk, but since I did not have a stroke before, and the bypass surgery basically “rebuilt” my heart, I should be fine for transplant. Of course, the final decision is up to the surgical team at UCLA, but she will send her findings in to them. She also said the chest CT scan indicated I had probably up to 500 mL of fluids in my right lung, but dialysis should be able to take care of that. I think we’ve taken care of that already since my breathing is near normal as my nephrologist dropped my dry weight to 80.0 kg. Finally, she was agreeable for me to stop taking my blood thinner a week prior to the transplant surgery without the need to switch to coumadin/Warfarin. Yay for small victories!

Finally, I made the initial consultation to see a doctor about colon cancer screening. That is (hopefully) the last test I need to take to be cleared for transplant. My sister is already cleared as a donor so I’m finally hopeful that a live donor kidney transplant may actually happen.