The Day Before The Day Before Surgery

Today was an eventful day. Brendan, Mom, Dad and I attended VAD class. The class was very informative and we learned from the VAD Dr. that he will be losing the Hickman line and the Milronone pump. He was very happy about this. This will eliminate another bag and pump he would have had to carry around.  The pump itself is small like the size of a plum. It is implanted in a pocket formed in the chest cavity and attached to the heart. The weirdest thing is after surgery he will have no pulse. The pump does the work so there is no pulse sound to be heard. The pump is connected to a controller located on the outside which is powered by two batteries.

Heartmate II LVAD 

Dad had a chest x-ray today as his cough is not improving. They were concerned with infection and did some blood tests and a chest x-ray. The chest x-ray came back clear but they were waiting for the results of the second blood test because his white cell count was elevated. :(  We are still on schedule for Wednesday. They are just crossing their t's and dotting their i's and making sure everything is ok.

Poor Gabby had an awfully stressful day today but she didn't want to go home without saying goodbye! She is truly amazing. I only hope they know what an amazing person they have working with them. We were very lucky today to have a lot of visitors to help pass the time. Auntie Madaline and Uncle Ruedi came to visit and took me out to dinner while Mom and Dad visited with Auntie Janet  and Uncle Jimmy. My Dad's friend Vi stopped by with some fun gifts too.  The really cute bat balloon you see in the background of this picture and this great pad and pen :) She said the Pad is for when Dad can't talk after surgery he can just write to tell people what they are doing that isn't making him happy :)

Auntie Janet and Uncle Jimmy came with a bag of fun stuff including these Halloween potholders that can double as Masks

They also brought a bunch of things to keep him entertained while waiting. We had fun looking through all of the stuff. :)

Tomorrow is another waiting day. Thanks again to everyone who has been so supportive throughout our journey.

Laurie