Friday afternoon

Here is what we have found out today.  They had to put the breathing tube back in yesterday and her oxygen stats did not come up right away, however, after a while, they did.
This morning in rounds, one of the doctors said that it was decided that another heart-cath should be done today to determine whether her having to go back on the ventilator is a lung or heart-function issue.  They could tell yesterday that her lungs were very wet but did not know if this was due to her aspirating or whether some pneumonia had begun to set in.  So the question before the doctors was is she having difficulty maintaining on her own due to issues with the lung or because of very poor heart-function.  A couple of the docs believed it was heart-function, one doctor believed it was lung related and one was undecided.  So they decided to have a heart-cath done today for the purpose of measuring the pressures in the right side of her heart.
The cath-doctor did the heart-cath around noon today and he reported to us that he believed that it was a lung issue rather than heart-function.  He was guessing as to the cause, whether she aspirated, whether or not it was an infection or pneumonia.  When asked, he said that to him, if a heart became available, he felt that it would have to be turned down because her lungs are not healthy enough right now and that they have got to her lungs stronger.
A while later, another doctor stopped by and said that he believed it was cardiac-related.  He said that he and Dr. Bleiweis (surgeon) both believed it was cardiac related and not necessarily all lung-related.
So, we requested to meet with Dr. Bleiweis, who knows her the best, and he believes that it is due to her heart failing.  He said that with her very poor heart-function, her heart being in such bad shape, any little thing such as aspirating or pneumonia or an infection of some kind can "tip her over the scales" to where she can't maintain on her own.  He also said that they are having to take a "shotgun" approach to cover everything, meaning they are treating for any possible infections, and doing everything they can do to draw the fluid out of her.  They have her on a lot of diauretics to keep her from overloading and causing more problems.  When asked if he would take a heart if one became available in the next few days, given the way she is currently, he said without hesitating, "absolutely." 
Now that she is back on the ventilator and they have her on drugs for her heart, she is now currently listed as a 1a status on the transplant list rather than 1b. 
He said for now, they will keep her on the ventilator for as long as possible because she has shown that she can not maintain on her own for too long b/c of the weak heart. 
So, our prayer is that a heart will become available soon, really soon.

Friday afternoon 6/10/11

Please Check back later for update. We are waiting to talk to the surgeon who is in surgery about the results of the heart cath she had done this morning.

Tuesday Afternoon 6/7/2011

She is doing so much better this afternoon. We think she aspirated while throwing up but giving her heart issues they were covering all their bases (which is a very good thing). She is still on the high flow nasal canular but the oxygen is now down to 50%.

In all the commotion this morning I failed to let everyone know she is officially on the transplant list. However we need prayer that when they rerun the antibodies blood work that it comes back all clear. The first test had some concerning results that may limit her already limited chances for a heart because of her blood type even more. We are praying that it results are false and are do to the way the blood test was processed.

We would like to thank all of you for your support and prayers.

Tuesday 6/7/2011

Having a rough start to the morning. She woke about 6 vomiting and then in the blink of an eye her oxygen levels dropped to the mid to low 80's. She is back on the high flow nasal canular, have started an epi drip, given her an extra dose of lasix and going to transfuse her with 2 units of blood.  They did  a chest x-ray and an abdomen x-ray. The Chest x-ray looks about the same as it has been so thankfully no fluid build up in the lungs. However when fluid it starts to build up the GI tract is one of the first organs to take a hit and they think this is what is going on therefore the extra dose of lasix will hopefully help. The abdomen x-ray was to make sure her feeding tube is still in the intestine and thankfully it is where it should be.

She seems to be resting better now with her oxygen levels staying in the low 90's  with 80% oxygen in through the canular. Praying things improve as the day goes on.

Saturday (06/04/11)

Not a whole lot of change from the last several days, which is a good thing according to the doctors.  She sat-up in the chair for almost two hours this morning and she looked really good and even smiled several times.  She had a spa day--hair washed, bath and she took a long nap.
The surgeon said this morning that she seems to be doing okay on her own and the goal is try and keep from having to re-intubate again.  He said that her last chest x-ray looked good and she is getting a lot of nutrition through her feeding tube and overall the "numbers"  (again, its all about the 'numbers') look pretty good.
So, we remain in a kind of holding pattern and will be until we get a call that we have a donor heart.  So please pray that will happen sooner than later because the sooner it happens, the sooner she can recover and heal and the sooner she can get out of the hospital.

Thursday 6/2/11

We want to thank the people responsible for the anonymous gifts from Greensboro, North Carolina. It was a very touching and thoughtful gift. It is greatly appreciated.

She had a pretty good day today.  We took three very short walks today. We didn't go as far as yesterday as we over did it yesterday. We have started her on Ensure Enlive which is a high calorie, high protein apple drink to go along with her being tube fed around the clock. We also found out that she will officially be put on the heart transplant list Monday. So Monday our waiting officially begins. Thank you all for your support and prayers during this time they are all greatly appreciated. 

Wednesday Afternoon 6/1/11

Three short walks today.. We went a little farther on the last one and she got to have a chair ride back to the room. Now she is really tired. Over all a very good day.