1 Year Check Up

March 29, 2017

Today is Den’s 1 year check up for the Momentum 3 LVAD Study. It is hard to believe this has come so quickly. We started the day with our clinic visit with the LVAD Team.

When they downloaded the data from Den’s device it showed a lot of PI events. This is where his PI number drops for a short time, but we never got an alarm. The team suspected that these were due to some dehydration. So we made the decision to reduce his Bumex to 1mg daily. The drive line exit point was also checked and they were all very happy about how it looked. We were given the go ahead to go from daily dressings changes to changing the dressing every 3 days! Talk about cutting the home time maintenance down! We asked about the procedure that Dr. Lee had suggested. They said that they had received a note from him. They agreed that Kyphoplasty was a very good option. It was not a high risk procedure. We did find out that with the Heartmate 3 LVAD that is was OK to drop Den’s INR to near normal levels for a short time without risking pump thrombosis (blood clots forming in the pump). The teams said that they would reach out to Dr. Lee and that Pain Clinic to go ahead with the procedure.

Den had an echo cardiogram next and his 6-minute walk. I took him for his x-ray and blood work before heading home. (Den’s INR came back at 2.1)

We felt there was hope finally to get Den pain free even though the ride home was painful due to all the potholes.

March 30, 2017

Den slept in for the first time in almost 3 months today. It seems that we finally have his pain in some kind of control.

March 31, 2017

After we took Em to school this morning, Den and I stopped at the bagel shop in town. We had decided to take bagels and cream cheese to the staff at the infusion center to say thank you for all the excellent care they had given Den. We told them how much we appreciated all their help over the last 3 months.

I called the EP office again to see about scheduling Den’s pacemaker change. The nurse that I needed to talk to would be out of the office until next week. So I would have to wait to find out about scheduling until then.

Den, Em and I went to the Athletic’s Fish Fry. This is the big fundraiser for the year for the entire athletics for Em’s school. We worked from 6-8PM. Den and I worked the desert table and Em worked running food to hungry diners. We had a great time and got our own food before the night was over. The fish was magnificent!

April 1, 2017

Den stayed in bed today until 11AM. He seemed to sleep well, but he has a hard time getting up and moving around in bed without a lot of pain. I keep reminding him that if we can get the Kyphoplasty done soon he could be pain free. That seems to cheer him up for a little while…until the next spasm of pain hits, at least.