We Have A Spartan

February 9-12, 2017

As usual, Den went to the infusion center for his IV therapy every day and to Cardiac Rehab 3 times a week. Otherwise, no problems came up and life went on as usual.

February 13, 2017

Today, Den has his blood draw and dressing change before his IV therapy starts.

The lab results almost always come back before his session is completed and today is no exception. His INR is 1.7. I sent an email to the LVAD Team about possibly increasing his Warafrin. Colleen sent me a response. She agreed. We would need to increase his dose to 9mg tonight and then back to the usual after that. She also said that they would possibly recheck his INR when we came in later in the week.

February 14, 2017

Today is Valentine’s Day…a very busy day in the floral industry. After Den’s IV therapy, he dropped me off at work and I needed a pair of roller skates to keep up with the day. The shop stayed open late to fill any last minute orders for customers, so it was a very long day!

February 15 ,2017

I am tired today. The last week has taken a lot out of me. Luckily, I have today off of work to take Den to his appointments. We started the day at the infusion center for Den’s IV therapy, as usual. Once he was done, we headed into the city for his check up with the LVAD Team and then we would see the EP doctor to see about scheduling him for the needed pacemaker change because his battery was almost exhausted.

The check up with the LVAD Team was more or less normal. We asked some new questions this time. Things like…

• What was the end date for Den’s IV therapy?
• Did we need to follow up with the Infectious Disease doctor?
• When would the PICC line be removed?
• What can we do about the bruising from the Lovenox injections?

The team told us that the projected end date for Den’s IV therapy was 2-28-17, but they said that it could change depending on his lab results. The PICC line would not be removed until it was clear that he would not need IV therapy anymore. We would need to follow up with ID, but not right away…closer to the end date of Den’s IV therapy sessions. And the there was nothing we could do about the bruising from the shots, it was normal and would go away over time.

The team gave us some good news….Den was released to take showers! This was a big step in his LVAD recovery. This meant that I no longer needed to help him with sponge baths! They added a medication to Den’s daily list, but it was one he had been on before so no big deal.

When the Team was done with us, they sent in the EP team. We met Deb, the clinical nurse, and Dr. Nayak. Den’s battery was down to 2.62v. We needed to schedule for Den to come in for the pacemaker to be change out before the battery was totally exhausted. They did say that Den was in A-Fib and his fluid levels looked good. The good news about the pacemaker change was that is was done as an outpatient. So no overnight stay would be required.

On our way home, we picked up Em from the library. After we got home and settled, I went through the mail. Em had a letter from the high school she had applied to attend. It was her acceptance letter! She was officially going to be a Spartan! She was so happy that she squealed. We decided to have pizza delivered to celebrate!