bstratt
Cleared for Takeoff
While certainly not as eloquent as Ed, I thought I'd give a brief description of my first flight for LifeLine.
Patient was a Vietnam Vet (Airborne Infantry) who had total renal failure caused by an infection in 1982. First kidney transplant lasted less than 6 months but the second lasted until a year or so ago. Due to the level of calcification in his arteries he was told he could not have a third transplant. The Mayo Clinic in Rochester was his last chance although they had told him the chances were not good. He and his wife live in Nashville and she had recently lost her job.
Their flight from Nashville to Rochester consisted of two legs. Another LifeLine pilot picked them up in Nashville and dropped them off in Peoria shortly after noon. I had left DuPage around 10:30 and had arrived in Peoria around 11:45 and so was waiting for them. We transferred their luggage over and after a quick "refresher" break were wheels up around 12:30. Flight was very smooth although extremely hazy so I was glad I was IFR. We started bumping into the tops of some cumulous clouds at 8,000 and so I was thinking about going up to 10,000 when my patient remarked that he could certainly feel the lower levels of oxygen at this level. I stayed at 8,000. We arrived in Rochester after a pleasant 2 hour flight filled with a lot of conversation and I dropped them at Rochester Aviation where they arranged for a taxi to their hotel. They were extremely thankfull for the trip and LifeLine and promised to spread the word about LifeLine and Angel Flight in their local community.
I refiled for the return to DPA, wheels up at 3:00pm and shut the plane down at the hangar at 5:15.
The flying was great (5.6 hrs) and I came home with a nice warm feeling.
Patient was a Vietnam Vet (Airborne Infantry) who had total renal failure caused by an infection in 1982. First kidney transplant lasted less than 6 months but the second lasted until a year or so ago. Due to the level of calcification in his arteries he was told he could not have a third transplant. The Mayo Clinic in Rochester was his last chance although they had told him the chances were not good. He and his wife live in Nashville and she had recently lost her job.
Their flight from Nashville to Rochester consisted of two legs. Another LifeLine pilot picked them up in Nashville and dropped them off in Peoria shortly after noon. I had left DuPage around 10:30 and had arrived in Peoria around 11:45 and so was waiting for them. We transferred their luggage over and after a quick "refresher" break were wheels up around 12:30. Flight was very smooth although extremely hazy so I was glad I was IFR. We started bumping into the tops of some cumulous clouds at 8,000 and so I was thinking about going up to 10,000 when my patient remarked that he could certainly feel the lower levels of oxygen at this level. I stayed at 8,000. We arrived in Rochester after a pleasant 2 hour flight filled with a lot of conversation and I dropped them at Rochester Aviation where they arranged for a taxi to their hotel. They were extremely thankfull for the trip and LifeLine and promised to spread the word about LifeLine and Angel Flight in their local community.
I refiled for the return to DPA, wheels up at 3:00pm and shut the plane down at the hangar at 5:15.
The flying was great (5.6 hrs) and I came home with a nice warm feeling.