Hey LS, I'm not sure what their meaning of evaluation is in this instance. For me after the initial six months of sobriety I was hauled back into the hospital to do testing. Pulmonary, Cardio, and all sorts of imaging amongst other things. A very long day to be exact was the length of time to do everything. In short they are looking for anything that will complicate the transplant when the time comes. Any issues found will need to be corrected to proceed in the process of Transplantation. They want you just healthy enough to survive the surgery.
Everybody has to do it and it's a pain in the rump. Not so big a pain as the one like picking out your casket though
. Once this hurdle is crossed a lot of the pressure comes off his shoulders. They'll feel better knowing what they are looking at when doing the surgery and he'll no where he stands in the transplant process once it's done. Only thing that is truthfully difficult for me is the stress test. I've done the testing 5 times now (once a year) and believe me it sounds worse than it actually is.
Nobody wants to stare down the barrel of them digging up potential problems. We all know "if they look hard enough they'll find something". They may and they may not find anything but in the end. We hope for the best and move on if it's the worst. There is nothing more tragic than someone who gives up over fear. Truth be known your pop has faced down bigger threats in his life, real ones and not some concocted notion he might be doomed or what they'll find. People don't normally live to see all he has seen and not develop a hard skin. We forget the youthful days that made that skin calloused. He needs to remember age is a number now days. He's still the kid who took those bruises years ago, It's just like riding a bicycle. Once you get it going it just comes natural. We have to want to live just like we want to ride that bike.
Ziff