Well, we found out yesterday that it would be beneficial for Rachel to have a "port" and a "GJ tube" put in so that she can be discharged, by next week.
The "port" is for access that allows the nurses to draw blood for lab work for when she discharged. She will have a number of clinics visits/tests over the first year post-transplant and instead of having to stick her with a needle each time, all the nurses need to do is draw blood from the port. It is more or less like the PICC-line that she has in her arm now that allows them to draw blood but the difference is that the port is under the skin just below the collarbone. Plus, the risk of infection is much lower with a port than it is by leaving the PICC-line in.
The "GJ" tube is basically a temporary feeding tube inserted into the abdomen area. Since she has not been cleared as of yet to be able to eat and drink, the GJ tube will allow her to continue to receive feeds while at home. Also, since she can't take her medications by mouth, the GJ tube will also serve as a way to get her her meds. We are also waiting for ENT to come up for a possible scope where they will look at her vocal cords to determine whether or not they might be able to do a procedure where they can "fatten" the left vocal cord. This would allow the left vocal cord to pair up with the right vocal cord thereby creating a seal when she talks and swallows. This would be a temporary fix we have been told, hopefully.
The doctors have said that she needs another dose of one of her anti-rejection meds tomorrow and she will go down for another biopsy at the beginning of next week. Depending on the results of the biopsy, they may feel comfortable in discharging us from the hospital, although we would stay in town for a while.
The doctors have said that from a cardiac standpoint, she is doing great. All of the "numbers" (remember, its all about the numbers) look good, she looks great and feels great. The main area of concern is still the vocal cord issue (thus the GJ tube) and her mobility (thus the visits to the gym) but other than that, they are very, very pleased.
Finally, thanks to some of the wonderful nurses up here, she had a great birthday (as good as one can have while being in the hospital). She got gifts from several nurses and balloons, banners and plenty of birthday wishes. We have a video of her walking and a birthday pic we will post later.
Thanks again to everyone for the continued prayer and support during this time. We certainly appreciate all of the monetary gifts, cards, phone calls and visits. You all have blessed us beyond what words can describe.
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