{"id":28,"date":"2017-01-05T11:28:33","date_gmt":"2017-01-05T16:28:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/davidwkurtz.com\/wordpress\/?p=28"},"modified":"2017-01-05T11:28:33","modified_gmt":"2017-01-05T16:28:33","slug":"the-nuclear-option","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/davidwkurtz.com\/wordpress\/2017\/01\/05\/the-nuclear-option\/","title":{"rendered":"The Nuclear Option"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>So&#8230;. lung function still declining, albeit more slowly. \u00a0Need to look at what other options are out there to ensure I live past 2017! \u00a0As I see it, there are four other paths that others with systemic scleroderma follow with varying degrees of success.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>An antibiotic protocol (AP) that I do not know a whole lot about just yet.<\/li>\n<li>Stem cell transplant. \u00a0My rheumatologist, Dr. Khanna, recommends against this.<\/li>\n<li>Accupuncture along with Chinese herbal therapy. \u00a0They have found some success in putting autoimmune diseases into complete remission using this, although I do not know of any scleroderma patients that have gone this route.<\/li>\n<li>A full lung transplant (the nuclear option). \u00a0This will work, but I can likely see my ultimate demise on the horizon because average life expectancy following a lung transplant is about five years. \u00a0Plus, many lung transplant centers will not perform a lung transplant unless scleroderma is already in remission, which leaves me out right now.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>After sorting these out, I settled on a path forward. \u00a0First, I need to learn more about stem cell transplant. \u00a0After much research, I found that one of the world&#8217;s foremost authorities on hematopoetic stem cell transplant for systemic sclerosis (diffuse scleroderma) patients is Dr. Richard Burt at Northwestern University Medical Center in Chicago. \u00a0I initiated a contact with them to see if I could be evaluated for their program. \u00a0At the same time I met with Dr. William Lynch, a thoracic surgeon at the University of Michigan lung transplant center to begin the process of being accepted for a lung transplant. \u00a0I figured that if I ended up going the transplant route, I could try the accupuncture\/herbal therapy while I was waiting for a transplant and if herbal therapy happened to work I could skip the transplant. \u00a0On October 10, 2016 I had an initial meeting with the lung transplant team and Dr. Lynch to learn more about the process. \u00a0Frankly it was grim, primarily because it was uncertain if I could get approved and if I was approved my life expectancy following transplant was not very long. \u00a0However, if no other options exist, five years is better than no years so I decided to go ahead with the preliminary testing required for lung transplant. \u00a0At least I had a direction&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>So&#8230;. lung function still declining, albeit more slowly. \u00a0Need to look at what other options are out there to ensure I live past 2017! \u00a0As I see it, there are four other paths that others with systemic scleroderma follow with &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/davidwkurtz.com\/wordpress\/2017\/01\/05\/the-nuclear-option\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v19.10 - 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