Cataracts

July 7, 2016

Den got the first Supartz shot in his right knee this morning. I love morning appointments! If we get a late day appointment, you can be sure to spend a lot of time waiting. Doctors always seem to be behind in the afternoon due to patients showing up late for a scheduled appointment. Den and Em both know that I plan to be 30 minutes early for any appointment so we can get in and out at our scheduled time. (It usually works in our favor.)

When we got home, the nurse from the Ambulatory Surgery Center called. They had no problem with Den and his LVAD for cataract surgery! YAAHOO! We finally caught a break! The nurse told me that they needed a copy of Den’s medication list and his clearance letter from the LVAD team from us. They had already contacted Den’s GP to get his general medical records. She also gave me all of the pre-op instructions. Den would need to wash with a special soap (that we could get at the pharmacy) 2 days prior to his surgery. He was not to use any lotion or deodorant the day before or day of surgery. She told us that she would call tomorrow with the time we needed to check in at the hospital.

Den was ecstatic when I told him the news about the hospital being willing to take him as a patient. We were both a little concerned about last minute issues (we had been through that before), but we decided to just “go with the flow”).

July 8, 2016

The registration specialist called to go over all of Den’s insurance and double check his medications today. She told me that all the needed paperwork had been received and had been loaded into the computer. (Den and I still had our finger crossed that there would not be any last minute issues.)

Marrietta, from the EP office, called in the afternoon. They had received the monthly update from Den’s Carelink for his pacemaker. This device allows the doctor’s office to get a monthly transmission from Den’s pacemaker, so we don’t have to go into the office as often. The office can see what has been going on with Den since the last transmission. Things that they check are:

• A-Fib episodes
• V-Tach episodes
• Therapy (shocks) given
• Fluid retention level
• And a whole lot more information that I can’t think of right now.

Se said that Den’s fluid level was a little high and to check with the LVAD team about increasing his Lasix dose for a few days. She also let me know that there had been a few A-Fib episodes, but they didn’t last long enough for the pacemaker to give any kind of therapy (shocks).

The nurse from the Surgia-Center called to go over what meds Den would take before his procedure in a few days. They asked us to hold all but one medication the day of surgery. Den could take the rest after he was released. (I emailed the LVAD team to make sure this was OK. They answered back right away…it was fine.)