BIOPSY TIME!

Patrick left his room at 9:15am with a nurse for his heart biopsy. They will be using a catheter in his neck to send a needle to his heart to gather a small piece of tissue. Examining the tissue is the best way to determine if there are any signs of rejection. We should get the results today or tomorrow.

His body seems to be recovering from the traumatic surgery, but he is still struggling with bloating and swelling in his torso and extremities, along with nausea, pain, and a terrible bedsore. No one said this process would be fun or easy, but it's hard to see him like this.

The kids and I have tickets back to Alaska on Wednesday. I am not looking forward to leaving him.

Transplant Time! Trip Memories 3/31-4/6

I created a second "visit video" from the #5 Transplant Trip. This feels like the best way to preserve my photos and not clog my phone 😆

Enjoy Samuel's commentary at 0:24 😐

https://youtu.be/MdRj9giUBso

4/8/23 9:16am UPDATE

[First part written last night]

4/7/23 11:13pm UPDATE

Patrick has been getting up and moving for a few days now. Yesterday he shuffled around the Cardiac ICU (CCU) for a full lap which is about 680-700 feet. He of course made himself known, asking every nursing station for chocolate.

Today he took longer strides and while he did the same distance, I'm sure he accomplished it in much less time. He also saw the original transplant surgeon who had nothing but good things to say. Patrick is exceeding their expectations on many ways.

Yesterday he had a PICC line inserted, which stands for Peripherally Inserted Central Catheter. It is inserted into a vein in his upper arm and threaded into a vein just above the heart called the Superior Vena Cava.

(I swear, that name brings to mind elementary school anatomy lessons. I can almost picture the hand drawn diagram colored in with crayons...)

This meant the original line placed in his neck could be removed, leaving behind a rather gnarly hole that Patrick knew I would want to photograph (he knows me so well).

He still has an IV in his left wrist but only because the PICC line doesn't always want to cooperate when they do a blood draw. But because it was a more involved procedure they don't want to switch it and attempt it again if it *sometimes* works.

I'm shrugging my shoulders. That's all I've got on the PICC line.

The balloon pump hole is healing and hasn't caused any more trouble. I didn't take photos for obvious reasons.

And while the nausea hasn't resolved, it has at least lessened and he is eating more. There is no need to place a feeding tube.

The shave never happened. He isn't allowed to do that yet, but hopefully soon. He's starting to look like a ruffian.

**

4/8/23 9:16am UPDATE

I was too tired last night to finish and had to set my phone down.

I'm with Patrick now and he looks good. He says he feels good. I have a photo of him eating during a blood draw, and smiling. That's a good sign!

Hopefully today or tomorrow he will be moved to a regular cardiac recovery room.