Monday (Day 5 out-of-jail)

Well, the last post to the blog was the good news that Rachel had busted out of jail after 144 in "Shands Prison."  Discharge day was crazy busy and it started that morning with Rachel going to the gym for physical therapy and then downstairs for a Dexi-scan (bone density test).  When we got back to the room, some members of the UF soccer and softball teams were visiting and they stopped in to say hello to us.  Of course what made this great was that Rachel and Dad were both wearing their FSU shirts!  Shortly after they left, the transplant coordinator came by to give Mom and Dad their "discharge class" in learning how to care for Rachel and how to administer her medications; the class was nearly two hours long.  Not long afterwards, Keith went downstairs to pick-up the prescriptions from the hospital pharmacy and literally came back carrying a box b/c of the amount of meds!  Finally, after learning of all her meds and when and how often to give them, and all of the paperwork that goes along with being discharged, it was time to say good-byes to a special group of people--the PICU nurses, therapists and doctors.  What an emotional time for all!  When you've been around such wonderful people for so many months there is just no way to say good-bye without getting emotional.  Several of the nurses that took care of Rachel during her stay stopped by and posed for pics with Rachel and hugged our necks.  We had to wait a little while for the surgeon to get there before we could leave as he was in Jacksonville doing a procedure but he did make it before we left and we got a couple of great pics with him and Rachel (will post pics later).  Finally, we were heading out of the exit door!! 
We managed to get to the apartment around 6:15 p.m. or so and it definitely felt odd but we managed on our own.  The last few days, Rachel has been nauseated when its time to take her meds (she was discharged on 17 different meds) and still has very loose stools.  Also, she wants to sleep a lot.  However, during her first post-transplant clinic visit today, the doctors begun to adjust some of her meds and adjust her feeds to see if that will help with the nausea and loose stools.
Overall at clinic this morning, the doctor said that heart-function wise, she is doing great and that her new heart is fantastic!  Once they get her meds and feeds straightened out, she should be feeling even better.  She will continue with physical and speech therapy at the hospital Monday through Friday and will have a clinic visit every Monday morning at 9:30 a.m. and her third biopsy probably sometime next week. 
A very special thank-you, again, to all the wonderful nurses, therapists and doctors in the PICU.  What a great bunch of caring people.  We could not have asked for better care than what we got there.  Thank you, thank you, thank you!