ratz
Wielder of the Rubber Mallet
December 31st - January 6th.
Each day has been following the same routine: less than 200 steps a day, three meals, a couple of naps each day, and the battle against the one powerful heart medication that wipes out his energy levels each day. Numerous packages have arrived from Bullhead City to provide Pete and MB with what they need to manage their affairs.
January 7th
The meeting with the Cardiologist went great. Dr. Grad is now in firm control of the case. The medication has been adjusted to a more traditional and less taxing one (enabled by Pete being so much closer to high-end medical facilities).
Data collection is now the order of the day for home care. Tests are being ordered. Dr. Grad's outlook is 2-3 months for the heart muscle to regain as much strength as possible, restore comfort to Pete's day-to-day living, and create a longer-term plan when that's accomplished. But he needs to see fresh heart imagery for himself to allow for the best understanding possible. The short version is that it was an appointment filled with cautious optimism. The Defibrillator vest remains required and is the primary source of discomfort and frustration.
Jan 8th-10th
Lots of football and routine. Eat, rest, walk, rest east repeat. Still very short distances, but the walker is primarily along for the ride encase strength vanishes without warning, which has not happened to date.
January 11th
Dr's Office called. EchoGram is on the 12th, thanks to someone's cancellation.
January 12th
Ecogram has been completed, and the Realtor is on the case with the Bullhead City house. Dr. Grad should have the result to review today. Fasting Blood work labs tomorrow and send the data to the doctor tonight. If there are changes to the treatment plan likely to hear before the weekend.
January 13th
Early morning Fasting Blood work at the local lab and then a day of waiting
January 14th
Pete's Cardiologist got the Eco and the Lab results and rapidly caught up with the severity of his condition. By this time, Pete has burned through all the strength and health he built up in Arizona. Essentially, we used all of that strength to get him here and buy time gating him to local care. Around 3:00 pm, the Cardiologist's office called and had us head 20 minutes south to the Austin Heart Hospital.
There are no beds for transfers in the area, so Pete's Cardiologist selected an affiliate hospital with a Surgical Cardio Interventionist, Dr. Thomas, to take on the case. Dr. Grad either knows him by practice or reputation, not sure which. The severity of Pete's condition allowed him to be admitted through the ER process instead of general admissions or transfers.
During the ER Assessment, they determined that the blood clots were back in the DLV, and Pete's heart has regressed enough that it is pumping two weakly to power the kidneys. After that assessment, they took him in for a procedure to install a balloon pump through a leg artery. For reference, while in Pheonix, he was not strong enough for this type of pump to work, so three steps forward, one backward he goes. As of 8:00 pm, Pete was transferred to the ICU's last bed and is receiving individual monitored care around the clock. The care staff is next level compared to what we have had thus far. The nature of this pump is that he will have to remain lying down for the next 2-3 days. For the first time since this journey started, Pete has a rose color to his skin instead of the ashen hue of shock.
January 15th
9:40 am The Surgical Interventionist and team met with Pete to explain their thoughts and the emerging plan. Pete will remain on the Ballon pump through Monday. If he makes the expected gains on Monday, they will attempt to move to a similar device that enters through the arm. The arm devices are less reliable minute to minute (they can be fouled by moment) but can be managed by Hospital staff. This device change will allow Pete to exit the laying down position while building his strength. Once he is stable on the arm pump, they set a course to build up his physical condition. The objective at that point would be to get Pete in a position to withstand the demands of a major surgical event.
The tentative plan is for that major surgical event to be installing an LVAD device. Viability, Form, Style, and type of LVAD device will be topics for later steps in the journey once the strength reserves are confirmed trending in the correct direction.
As a measure of just where he is right now relative to everything he has endured, his hands and feet are warm for the first time since before Thanksgiving. They are currently cooling his room because he's too hot in a hospital gown, and before today, he's been non-stop cold under a blanket in sweat pants and a sweatshirt.
Then next 2 days will be tests and monitoring; if a major course change occurs we will send an updated; otherwise the next update will be after Monday reveals itself.
January 16th
Changes and plans are forming faster than expected.
Pete's current physical status is restricted to laying on his back at all times. He is having trouble sleeping through the night but enjoying some powerful dreams from the drugs without the recreational benefits. We may need to consider restricting his access to conspiracy spy novels or get him a three-book deal and paper and pen.
They attempted to put the ballon pump on every other Heartbeat last night, and that didn't work out, so they put it back to every beat for the time being. Testing continues on the Kidneys, with water levels and weight dropping. His hobbit feet have been replaced by human feet this morning. The Heartbeat from the lower chamber has been irregular, so they are tweaking the medicines as they try to balance: Kidney heart, Heath Beat Regularity, and Reducing the Clotting. The medicine tweaking is a higher risk process than it sounds but not as bad as the mind can conjure up.
Monday, they will attempt to move the ballon pump from his leg to his armpit so they can get him off his back so he can start building strength. All tests and efforts for the week will be around preparing him to receive an LVAD device. Those efforts will include Heart Tests, Blood Work, Kidney testing, Colin screening, Social Workers, and with all of it, the associated medicine tweaking. The defibrillator vest will be no more. If he needs that sort of support in addition to the pump, he will receive an implantable sensor/event-driven pacemaker before being released from the hospital.
Mon-Wed is looking to be a series of intervention days. If things follow the projection, it will return to strength building by the end of the week.
Listening to the doctors' statements about the duration and sequence of events, they would be attempting the LVAD surgery sometime between January 25th and February 4th. All treatment between now and then is focused on making that happen.
Each day has been following the same routine: less than 200 steps a day, three meals, a couple of naps each day, and the battle against the one powerful heart medication that wipes out his energy levels each day. Numerous packages have arrived from Bullhead City to provide Pete and MB with what they need to manage their affairs.
January 7th
The meeting with the Cardiologist went great. Dr. Grad is now in firm control of the case. The medication has been adjusted to a more traditional and less taxing one (enabled by Pete being so much closer to high-end medical facilities).
Data collection is now the order of the day for home care. Tests are being ordered. Dr. Grad's outlook is 2-3 months for the heart muscle to regain as much strength as possible, restore comfort to Pete's day-to-day living, and create a longer-term plan when that's accomplished. But he needs to see fresh heart imagery for himself to allow for the best understanding possible. The short version is that it was an appointment filled with cautious optimism. The Defibrillator vest remains required and is the primary source of discomfort and frustration.
Jan 8th-10th
Lots of football and routine. Eat, rest, walk, rest east repeat. Still very short distances, but the walker is primarily along for the ride encase strength vanishes without warning, which has not happened to date.
January 11th
Dr's Office called. EchoGram is on the 12th, thanks to someone's cancellation.
January 12th
Ecogram has been completed, and the Realtor is on the case with the Bullhead City house. Dr. Grad should have the result to review today. Fasting Blood work labs tomorrow and send the data to the doctor tonight. If there are changes to the treatment plan likely to hear before the weekend.
January 13th
Early morning Fasting Blood work at the local lab and then a day of waiting
January 14th
Pete's Cardiologist got the Eco and the Lab results and rapidly caught up with the severity of his condition. By this time, Pete has burned through all the strength and health he built up in Arizona. Essentially, we used all of that strength to get him here and buy time gating him to local care. Around 3:00 pm, the Cardiologist's office called and had us head 20 minutes south to the Austin Heart Hospital.
There are no beds for transfers in the area, so Pete's Cardiologist selected an affiliate hospital with a Surgical Cardio Interventionist, Dr. Thomas, to take on the case. Dr. Grad either knows him by practice or reputation, not sure which. The severity of Pete's condition allowed him to be admitted through the ER process instead of general admissions or transfers.
During the ER Assessment, they determined that the blood clots were back in the DLV, and Pete's heart has regressed enough that it is pumping two weakly to power the kidneys. After that assessment, they took him in for a procedure to install a balloon pump through a leg artery. For reference, while in Pheonix, he was not strong enough for this type of pump to work, so three steps forward, one backward he goes. As of 8:00 pm, Pete was transferred to the ICU's last bed and is receiving individual monitored care around the clock. The care staff is next level compared to what we have had thus far. The nature of this pump is that he will have to remain lying down for the next 2-3 days. For the first time since this journey started, Pete has a rose color to his skin instead of the ashen hue of shock.
January 15th
9:40 am The Surgical Interventionist and team met with Pete to explain their thoughts and the emerging plan. Pete will remain on the Ballon pump through Monday. If he makes the expected gains on Monday, they will attempt to move to a similar device that enters through the arm. The arm devices are less reliable minute to minute (they can be fouled by moment) but can be managed by Hospital staff. This device change will allow Pete to exit the laying down position while building his strength. Once he is stable on the arm pump, they set a course to build up his physical condition. The objective at that point would be to get Pete in a position to withstand the demands of a major surgical event.
The tentative plan is for that major surgical event to be installing an LVAD device. Viability, Form, Style, and type of LVAD device will be topics for later steps in the journey once the strength reserves are confirmed trending in the correct direction.
As a measure of just where he is right now relative to everything he has endured, his hands and feet are warm for the first time since before Thanksgiving. They are currently cooling his room because he's too hot in a hospital gown, and before today, he's been non-stop cold under a blanket in sweat pants and a sweatshirt.
Then next 2 days will be tests and monitoring; if a major course change occurs we will send an updated; otherwise the next update will be after Monday reveals itself.
January 16th
Changes and plans are forming faster than expected.
Pete's current physical status is restricted to laying on his back at all times. He is having trouble sleeping through the night but enjoying some powerful dreams from the drugs without the recreational benefits. We may need to consider restricting his access to conspiracy spy novels or get him a three-book deal and paper and pen.
They attempted to put the ballon pump on every other Heartbeat last night, and that didn't work out, so they put it back to every beat for the time being. Testing continues on the Kidneys, with water levels and weight dropping. His hobbit feet have been replaced by human feet this morning. The Heartbeat from the lower chamber has been irregular, so they are tweaking the medicines as they try to balance: Kidney heart, Heath Beat Regularity, and Reducing the Clotting. The medicine tweaking is a higher risk process than it sounds but not as bad as the mind can conjure up.
Monday, they will attempt to move the ballon pump from his leg to his armpit so they can get him off his back so he can start building strength. All tests and efforts for the week will be around preparing him to receive an LVAD device. Those efforts will include Heart Tests, Blood Work, Kidney testing, Colin screening, Social Workers, and with all of it, the associated medicine tweaking. The defibrillator vest will be no more. If he needs that sort of support in addition to the pump, he will receive an implantable sensor/event-driven pacemaker before being released from the hospital.
Mon-Wed is looking to be a series of intervention days. If things follow the projection, it will return to strength building by the end of the week.
Listening to the doctors' statements about the duration and sequence of events, they would be attempting the LVAD surgery sometime between January 25th and February 4th. All treatment between now and then is focused on making that happen.
