Whata long day! Started out with registration at about 6:30, followed by labs and then EKG and chest x-ray. We then had about a 2 hour break before we saw anyone from the transplant side. Saw 2 nurses and then spent an hour with Dr. Yip.

As always there is good news and bad news. The good news is that he was pleased with Bill's overall health and the medications he's on. He did add 1 new medicine and tweaked another one but made no other changes. Depending on the results of the psych evals tomorrow and Monday, he will decided if Bill will be listed for transplant, recommended for the heart pump which is the device that Dick Cheney has implanted, or just managed for heart failure. If he thinks that Bill would be a good candidate for transplant we would come back here in a month or so for some more extensive testing. Also, if he is listed, and he moves more toward the top of the list, we would have to spend several months here in Florida.

Now, for the bad news. Because Bill is O+ blood type, which is the most common, the waiting list for those hearts can be several years. Since he had been on the list for 2 years in Memphis, we already know it can be a long wait.

He did want Bill to try walking more to see if that helps his fatigue. Starting at 10 minutes twice a day. He said it wasn't the speed walked, or the distance walked, but the time walking. So, he's going to try that. This is also to try to build stamina because he wants to do a pulmonary treadmill test if we come back.

All in all we learned quite a bit that we hadn't been told before. The 3 drs we would see if he does get included in the program are pretty well known in the medical world. Dr. Yip is the head of the department, another one has written the textbook that all transplant drs. use and the other one came from the Cleveland Clinic which is one of the premier transplant centers in the nation. So he would be in excellent hands.

So, it was a really busy day and we are really tired. We've had an early dinner (I love crockpots!)and as soon as it gets dark we may hit the hay. We have to be back at 8 in the morning but that is the only appointment and then we may hit the beach and do some shopping.

I'll update everyone tomorrow!