April 10, 2017
I got a call this morning from Katie, from the IR team. There is an opening in the schedule this Friday! She gave me all the necessary information to get Den ready for the Kyphoplasty procedure. Den would need to be NPO (nothing to eat or drink) after midnight on Thursday. He should stop taking his blood thinner today. This would bring his INR (blood clotting level) down to a near normal level by the time of check in. Den’s procedure is scheduled to start at 7:30AM, so we would need to check in by 6:30AM. This way they could check his INR and do any needed adjustments. The morning of the procedure, Den could take his morning meds with a small sip of water, but nothing else. I thanked Katie for all the help in getting Den in so soon. She said that she would see us Friday in Pre-op.
My next call was from Jill, at Dr. Hennecke’s office. She wanted to know if we could come in a little earlier for Den’s check up tomorrow. I told her it was not a problem and we would see her tomorrow.
April 11, 2017
Den had his check up with Dr. Hennecke this morning. She was surprised that Den was having the Kyphoplasty procedure on Friday. We told her that with the model of Den’s LVAD that they could drop his INR to near normal levels for a short time with little or no adverse effects. She suggested that Den may want to get a bone density test to make sure his bones would not continue to fracture. Den said that he would think about it. Otherwise, Den was in good health…considering his history.
April 12, 2014
Sonia, from the U of C scheduling called to double check all of the orders for Den’s procedure on Friday. She reminded me that Den would need to check in at the patient registration desk in CCD before 6:30AM, no food or drink after midnight tomorrow and we went over what meds Den should not take the morning of the procedure. I thanked her for her help and then called Den to let him know that Friday was definitely a go!
Den's LVAD 