September 6, 2016
Today, Den has his follow up appointment for the RAMP that was done last week. We met with Holly at 1PM. And we had a few more questions for her than just the results of the RAMP. They took the usual vitals. MAP of 87, a little high, but not really worrisome. Temp and weight. Holly did notice that Den’s lung sounds on his left side were diminished and there was also some crackling sounds. She told Den to use his spirometer every day, twice a day, to help clear any pneumonia or congestion that may be lingering in his lungs. Den was also holding a lot of fluid in his legs, and possibly why his lungs sounded so wet. So we upped his Lasix to a total of 100mg daily. She also asked us to have a set of labs drawn today and to make an appointment in 4 weeks to make sure that Den’s lungs were improving. Finally, we got to our questions.
First, we needed to get clearance for Den to have the cataract surgery in his right eye. This was a no brainer…just needed a note from the team to move ahead with everything. Holly sent the clearance notice directly to Dr. Reidy. (Awesome!)
Next, we needed to address Den’s neck pain. He had been diagnosed with herniated disks in his neck a few years ago. And his old pain management doctor could no longer help him (the LVAD again). She gave us a referral to the Pain Clinic at U of C. She even helped us set up and appointment.
The last two questions I rolled into one…Medication refills and where to get a regular supply of dressing kits. Up until now all of our dressing kits were coming from the LVAD team. Holly gave us enough dressing kits to get us to the next appointment and said that we should hear from the company that the hospital uses in a few days to set up regular deliveries of supplies. She also took the list of refills that we needed and sent them directly to the pharmacy.
All in all, a very good appointment. Lots of things discussed and plans put in place.
Den's LVAD 