May 1, 2016
Last night we had a family sleep at the hospital. Em really liked spending time with her dad, even though it was in a not so friendly place. We always make the best of the situation and Em was an angel! She was so patient and understanding. She never complained about having to step out of the room when asked. She is a trooper!
Today is the 25th day that Den has been in the hospital. It seems that we are running a marathon sometimes.
Respiratory came in around midnight to give Den both breathing treatments. His vitals are stable and he slept well until 5AM. The nurse left us alone until 8AM when Den got his morning meds…2 mouth rinses, Lisopril, Lasix, Potassium, Magnesium, Lexapro, and Aspirin…all oral pills!
When Em woke up we ordered breakfast. Den got yogurt and chocolate milk. His mouth is still very painful and irritated, so just yogurt for now.
Den got up and out of his bed at 9AM. The staff has worked with me to safely move him from his bed to his chair without calling for assistance. Den and I work well as a team and know when we are in over our heads. Just before noon, Den asked to use the commode….he had is first solid bowel movement in 5 days! (By the way, all the samples they sent for C. Diff. testing came back negative.) After he got back to his chair, his oxygen levels were low, so they started Den on some supplemental oxygen with a nasal canual.
Den had yogurt for lunch again…his mouth was showing signs of improvement and the burning/irritation was lessening.
After lunch, the doctors came in to check on Den. They reduced the diuretic to twice a day and placed an order for a peripheral IV site to be put in and the central line to be removed. They also told Den to keep eating…it is very important to keep his strength up so his body could heal properly. (Hmmmm…didn’t I just tell him that the other day?)
Den’s oxygen levels improved to the point that they turned off the supplemental oxygen. They also put in the new IV access site in Den’s right arm and removed the central line from his neck. Respiratory was in a few times during the day to give Den is breathing treatments and make sure he was doing his exercises.
Em and I ate dinner with Den. He had some peaches and yogurt with some milk. Den got his usual meds in the evening and the nurse continued to teach me how to change his drive line dressing.
Em and I went home around 9PM. She had school tomorrow and Marg was at the house waiting for us. She had a nice weekend with her family and I updated her on Den’s progress with we arrived.
Den's LVAD 