August 24, 2016
Today Den and I are meeting with Helen at the Cardiac Rehab Center. The very first thing she told us was that Den’s records had not been sent over from U of C yet. I told her that I would call and ask the LVAD team to send them over as soon as possible. Next, we were turned over to Jackie, she would be the nurse that would keep an eye on Den while he was there. She also did his physical check in for the program. She took his weight (236#) and waist (49″) measurements. She did tell us that she noticed reduced lung sounds on Den’s left side. She also took his MAP in both arms, the reading was the same (76). We went over Den’s medication list and what time Den wanted to come for his workouts. Den wanted to come for the 915AM group. This way, I could drop him off before work and pick him up when he was done (I could keep my time away from work to a minimum). And when he got some strength back and his other eye done, he could drive to and from the appointment. Jackie suggested that Den get his knee checked out before starting and she needed clearance from Dr. Reidy for Den to begin. One of the benefits of the program was that Den would have access to lots of education. There would be weekly sessions that he could attend if he wanted. He would also have access to a dietitian to help with getting back to healthy eating again.
August 25, 2016
Den slept well last night..with no aids (other than his usual melatonin). He was up early and ready to go. I took Em to Marian for Bio, picked up Den, then took Em over to St. Joe’s. Then Den and I headed over to get his weekly blood draw done. We worked around the house the rest of the day.
Den's LVAD 