Journal entry by Cassie Wolfe —
November 2019
doctor
We were surprised how easy it was to get an appointment and second opinion with a lung specialist. The appointment was scheduled within two weeks and we had to have all records from Greenville sent up ahead. Since we had both been patients at the Clinic when we were living in Northfield it made things easier. We already Clinic numbers and were in the system. The Clinic could also access all of John's records from Greenville.
The appointment was at the Strongsville facility near the airport. We were to see Dr. Manny Riberio for an hour and that was it. Dr. Riberio has been a great support to us. In fact, he is still John's primary pulmonologist. We were both very nervous, but from the first visit we developed a close relationship with this young doctor. He was prepared for our visit and was able to put a name to John's specific condition---Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis. He went through all John's Greenville tests and in detail described what was happening. He also reviewed John's history and why there were so many possible causes. He pointed most specifically to John's 30 year career in Pest Control.
He gave us more hope that there were treatments that could slow the process while we weighed the pros and cons of lung transplant. Following that visit John went for more tests for the rest of the day. DR. R scheduled John's first set of " breathing tests from hell," for the next day. John as come to dread these tests. John also was told to get into a pulmonary rehab program when we returned to Greenville.
We spent our last day in Ohio with a trip to Amish Country! We were set to return in 3 months--early March 2020.
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