We are done!!! Today's procedure was quite stressful for Bill and they had to use a different anesthesia than they had planned. But, the echo showed no problems, no clots. All of his valves are working properly, his heart just does not pump hard enough. We think from something the dr. said, what was seen on the original echo that they thought was a clot may have been one of the hooks for his device leads. He said there are lots of wires in there that he had to negotiate.

We're finally back in the room. Bill's throat is pretty sore and he hasn't been able to have anything other than ice chips and water. Only ice cream this afternoon and later tonight he can have warm soft food. Nothing hard to swallow.

He was having a problem with his O2 level. As long as he was on oxygen his level was staying 95-97%. But, once they removed it he would drop to 85-90. This could explain why he has been having such a hard time with exertion. Just another reason to have something done sooner than later.

The plan for the rest of the day is for Bill to sit in the recliner and watch TV and for me to start packing things up to leave in the morning. He has already told me that he's not going to be much help in packing the car. I told him that I packed and unpacked it by myself to get here and I can get it packed again. I don't know how what time we are leaving in the morning or how far we are going to go. I need to check the different routes and see where to break the trip. Probably Atlanta or Birmingham.

Bill just had a call from Julie, our coordinator. She wanted to make sure we had a place to stay and really wanted us to go ahead and schedule the surgery if we were going to go with the pump. She had forgetten that he had to go home to have his oral surgery next week. His blood is still a little thick right now but for now since he has to go off of his blood thinners for the surgery they are going to let Dr. Burnett monitor it. She also said that they will give Dr. B any info he needs. We do need to see if he is willing to monitor Bill after the implant. I don't think he will have a problem with that.

OK, all for today. Time to get packing! May not update anything until Saturday when he goes to Memphis.