Today was a very "stressful" day, only it turned out to be that for both of us. We got to the hospital for the first appointment and got pre-registered. This one was as out-patient surgery since they were injecting drugs during the echo to simulate stress on the heart. However, when we were called back the nurse told us that on the regular echo Bill had Friday a blood clot was found in his left atrium. He didn't feel comfortable doing the test and had conferred with Dr. Yip and he agreed that it would be too dangerous to do the procedure.

They did do the leg stress test to check his pulses and pressures in his legs and feet and he did fine with it. He was really dreading doing the regular treadmill and our other coordinator, Lorraine, was there monitoring it. He lasted 5 minutes, which is longer than before, and did fine with that. Although all of these tests have really taken their toll on him today.

A new test is scheduled for tomorrow. It's an echo that is done through the esophagus. He will be sedated for this one but it will tell them if the clot is something new from being off of his blood thinner for the heart cath last week, or if it is an older clot that was not found before. Depending on what one it is will depend on any further tests or procedures.

We also consulted with Dr. Yip and he said that as far as Bill's overall health, he's in optimum shape for the transplant and he sees no reason that we couldn't be listed. But, he reminded us that the wait could still be several years because of his blood type and because his overall health is good. Bill told him he is tired of being tired all of the time and wants to get "fixed" so I think he has decided to get the pump implant and forego the transplant. We would need to stay about 3 months, depending on his recovery from the surgery. Since this surgery can be scheduled, it will give us time to make more arrangements.

Of course, worrying about this new development has made it harder on both of us today. At least tomorrow we don't have to report until 9 so we can sleep in a little bit and maybe be a little more rested.

So, if anyone wants to give us some input on this, just leave a comment to this message. I don't know if you have to be a follower or not. Or, shoot me an email. We'll take all the suggestions we can get. Either way is a big step.

I'll probably take my laptop to the hospital tomorrow so I can update while I'm there. They told us he will be laying there for "several hours".