I don't have the answer to your question but is there any way you can get rehab to improve your performance for the walk test? I have read on the net several times, that if there any problems passing the tests, like too little or too much weight for example, they will give you a chance to improve and try again.
I hope someone else can answer your question!

Roe, Is the reason because you can't walk for 6 minutes or that you can't cover enough distance in the 6 minutes?

Have you tried to build your tolerance level by doing a treadmill for a few minutes each day an increasing by a couple of minutes each time.

I have 2 of those coming up the 1st and 2nd week of august so I just may find out if my treadmill theory works.

Wish you lots of luck and it may be very difficult but it is not impossible.

Hugs,
Anna

Roe, I am not a candidate for a lung transplant so I have never had to endure or qualify. But I do wish you will, I hope that you find the means to pass the 6 minute walk if that is your last hurtle. Please take care, and I truly wish you well. Bill

OK Roe, this may sound strange to you and others, but your low numbers may actually help you qualify for the transplant. This is from my pulmy doctor when I was being tested. I got a real low number and was not happy, and he said the board wants people that need the lung, and anyone that can whiz thru a 6 minute walk, on a little oxygen, may not be sick enough for transplant. So talk with your doctor, and let him decide. It will be his evaluations that is presented to the board, and that is what they look at. I did walk the 6 mi just, my sats dropped into the 70's, then I stopped.
At least that is the way it is here. Good Luck
BJ

Bj-there is something to what you say, but the way I understand it, the numbers got to be low enough to qualify for the transplant, but high enough for the patient to be able to do certain exercises after the transplant. I very with vvery weak muscle strength will be disqualified.

Hi ,I dont know what it is at that hospital , But I did all the test also at UOFM hospital. I remember the 6 minute walk, I was told to walk as fast as I could . I had to stop about half way for a minute to let my o2 numbers come back up a little then finished my walk.I was listed for translant on june 27, I read that a person has to be able to walk I think 450 feet to stay listed . (I will have to read that again.).to make sure. good luck to you . sue

Here's a write up from the COPD Journal: http://journal.copdfoundation.org/jcopdf/id/1031/Saving-Time-for-Patients-with-Moderate-to-Severe-COPD-Endurance-Test-Speed-Set-Using-Usual-and-Fast-Walk-Speeds
Tis a mite technical. but a lot speaks to the reasoning behind the test...

Hugs,
Dennis

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9087875 Read this about the 6 minute walk test and transplantation.

http://www.pennmedicine.org/transplant/patient-care/transplant-programs/lung-transplant/transplant-process/evaluation.html

http://www.unos.org/docs/Lung_Patient.pdf

PS, mine, with the low number was done with out oxygen, after my pulmonary rehab. Im thought I was going tom pass put, and finaly stopped myself. But my pulmy doctor was not upset, and only said the low numbers would help me. All before and after that was done with oxygen.....
Been there, done that,
Hugs
BJ

Hi Again, this is what I was told , you have to be sick enough, but not to sick. to get listed for transplant . and they want you to be able to handle the surgery and have a good outcome. if we are to weak it is harder that is why they want us to go to pulm rehab and if we cant walk very well it would take longer to recover (I had to have my o2 on for the 6 minute walk also.) I walk like a turtle.lol slow. they know we can't run a race or we wouldnt need to be there. sue

Just had a double lung transplant May 1st, and recovering very well. I was actually jogging (interval training) today at pulmonary rehab - can't believe it myself.....

Wasbsue is correct - transplant is a strenuous operation; you need to be sick enough to require it and healthy enough to survive it. But it really comes down to timing. The transplant team is trying to assess you to ensure the surgery is timed best for your long term survival. I don't believe you can "fail" a six minute walk. When my levels got too low, they allowed me to complete the walk with O2. Good luck to you. Transplant will change your life.

As this is my last resort for now, thanks for sharing and hope you keep in touch with how things are going....see my pulmo in oct so I hope to run things past him..

cheers...Peter

morning guyss - thanks so much for your quick reply
i am going to be 70 this oct and i've had copd since the 90's - i had lvrs done in 2000 and it was great but now i am on 6 lpm 24/7 of oxygen and am ready for a transplant

the 6 minute goal in cleveland is 650 ft in 6 minutes
with 6 l of oxygen i did 360 - so only half way my problem is everytime i get close (hospital or home)and i loose all my energy and stamina - and i do go to rehad 3 days a week don't know what else to do
any suggestions?

I'm going through qualification now for a lung transplant. I have emphysema but also pulmonary hypertension. To go walk for six minutes I can do, my 02 I know for a fact will drop into the 60's if not the 50's. I was doing that everyday for almost a year. They said exercise is good for me, my new pulm says NO MORE, and when you come for your appointments here at the VA use a wheel chair on the long hallways. Bob

I just had a bilateral lung transplant on April 28th this year and I'm doing fine. It's awesome to be able to take a brisk walk and actually carry in your own groceries. I'm going to maintenance rehab now and there are several people there who are working to get stronger so they can pass the 6 minute walk to qualify for transplant. I also took pulmonary rehab before my transplant and it made a big difference for me in how far I could walk.
My only regret regaring transplant is that I didn't pursue it 10 years earlier.
It has given me my life back.

Hi,
Sorry if I confused anyone, or gave mis information about the 6 minute walk. Mine , that I failed, was done without oxygen for some stupid reason, and my pulmy was not happy that rehab did it that way.
All other walks are with oxygen. But yes, you have to be strong enough for exercise, but sick enough for the transplant. But because you fail, you can keep trying I am sure.
I did not know you were unable to exercise also. It really depends on the patient, doctor, and hospital.
The doctor does not decide if you get a transplant or not.He only decides if you meet all the qualifications to go before the board.
The medical board will decide. They take all the medical information, history plus all the test you did, combined with the physiological tests, and you and the doctor go before the medical board especially for transplants.
They will decide, based on all the material, if you qualify. If you do, you get on the list if you do not you will be told why.
It might be something you can improve on, if you can.
One of our members got all the way to the board, had fantastic results on everything, but had severe osteoporisis, so was rejected because of brittle bones.
Read the research from, UNOS. I know some patients die waiting to be transplanted, and some make it right away. Dr. Sanchez said they want you strong enough to survive the surgery, and do walking and minor rehab after transplant. Then when you are ready, you will go full time to rehab.
To those who have made it and have their new lungs, I think it is wonderful, and I wish you the best. If I had not been such a high risk, I probably would have mine now, but it probably is best I said no.
I remember the first patient in the transplant program at S%W hosp. He was (is) a young man with a rare disease that is worse than most lung problems, because it had no cure,or treatment that helped.
He was on 15 lpm, and still it was not enough. He was slumped in a wheelchair, because he was to weak to walk.
He was blue all over. After transplant, he walked into our meeting, full of life, healthy color, and said he was back working already, 5 months after the operation, and he was going out dancing.
It was such a wonderful thing to see this young man, and near him talk.So this man of course, did not have to do a 6 minute walk to qualify, he was to weak to walk, but there was the goal of him being able to do exercises and walk after transplant. So , it all depends.

As for me, even without the high risk, I am to old to put my body thru such trauma, on the of chance I might survive the year.
My doctor said he could not promise I would live longer with the transplant, than without.
I wish I had known about such things 20-30 years ago, and my chances would be better if younger.
But they did not have lung transplants until the 90's, and then they were just experimental. And of course with my cigarettes, I considered my self healthy..... had not been dx'd yet !!

BJ
BJ