Finally got him for surgery about 4:30 and took him from pre-op about 30 minutes ago. They told me that it would take about 30 minutes to get him ready and then about an hour for the surgery and another 30 minutes after, so it's going to be a long evening.

Dr. Agnew explained the procedure and they are going to clean the area out, and then take part of the muscle that runs along the thigh loose from the pelvis and move a flap of it over the veins and artery. That way they are covered and the wound vac can be used. This is a device that is attached and, I think with air sucks the wound closed. He said it cuts healing time by 1/3 to 1/2.

When I was answering questions for the anesthesist he asked if I was a nurse! I told him we've just been here a long time and I listen to the drs and nurses discuss things. After all, it pertains to the most important person in my life. Besides, I'm nosy! He and the nurses also commented that I was very calm. I told them there wasn't anything to be upset about, just to go with it. It doesn't mean I'm not concerned or worried...I'm a wife, that's my job!

Anyway, when I know anything more I'll update again. Keep the prayers going this evening.

HE WALKED!!! Bill had an eventful night and so far an eventful morning!

When I got here this morning, Bill has his boxing glove mittens on. Apparently during the night his nurse Corey looked in on him and...HE WAS STANDING BESIDE THE BED! Apparently he needed to use the bathroom so he got up! Because his bed is a special one that keeps air circulating and moving, it is not hooked into the system for alarms that all of the other beds are. So, they had to leave his door open all night and put the mitts on so that he couldn't use his hands to pull himself up. He also pulled off his oxygen and probe!

When physical therapy came in he sat well and, twice, walked from the middle of the room to a wall. The only reason he did it twice was because I was talking to the speech pathologist and missed it! The occupational therapist was here at the same time and she saw how strong his arms really are. He hadn't wanted to work with her, but she's got his number now. She's going to get some wrist supports and some hand exercisers to build some strength.

Speech may come back later this morning. He's really tired now and sleeping. His procedure is not going to be until this afternoon so I don't know how he'll feel afterward and if he will be able to get up. She brought me a "biting" tool for him to use to  practice moving his tongue around in his mouth, kinda like a teething ring. But, he has to learn how to bite again and move his tongue to move food around.

As I said, his procedure is going to be this afternoon sometime. I'm not sure when, or how long it will take. Ann also wants to take him back outside today, this morning if possible. It's hot and muggy today and is supposed to rain this afternoon.

So, it's only 10:20 and we've had a monumental day! I'll let you know when the procedure is finished.

Bill now has sunshine privileges! This means he can go outside so we sat by one of the ponds with a favorite nurse for about 30 minutes this morning. I don't know if he enjoyed it, but I did. There was a lovely breeze and it hadn't gotten too hot yet.

He's had a much better day. He was clear-eyed this morning when I got here and responding well to everything and everyone. He's had some pain today, especially when they repacked the wound. Hopefully they will still get it taken care of tomorrow.

Dr. Yip and I discussed putting in a permanent feeding tube in the stomach. Of course if he gets so that he can swallow and chew I would assume that it could be removed. If will also be done this week and will be coordinated around the other surgery. We also discussed moving him to the rehab hospital. Of course that will depend on how these surgeries go, but it will probably be within the next week. I don't know if Bill has comprehended that he's going to another facility, but we'll deal with that when the time gets closer.

All of the therapies have been in today. He cooperated with all but speech and he was just worn out. She came very late this afternoon. She's going to try to come earlier tomorrow. Of course, a lot of the therapy will be determined by the surgery. He sat well and moved his legs well for physical therapy and shuffled 3 steps to his chair. He did some work with occupational therapy and one of our other favorite nurses came to visit and she worked his hands and arms a little more.

Some of our favorite nurses who weren't aware of what had happened have stopped in to see him today. And others are planning on coming by. His nurse today is the one he had the day he came down from ICU and he hadn't seen him for more than a week. He was amazed that he had progressed as much as he has. Another favorite nurse from ICU is floating this week and working on this floor today and has promised to stop in when she can.

We were told today that there are 12 patients on this floor that the transplant team is watching. Not all are transplants, some are LVADs and some are waiting for transplant. But that's a huge number. They usually only have 4 or 5 at 1 time. I know there is another LVAD patient in ICU waiting on a bed down here and an LVAD being implanted at this very moment.

All for now, Bill needs to be suctioned. I'm getting pretty good at sucking the stuff up.

Bill's day didn't get any better and he was very tense when I left tonight. He grimaced several times as if in pain, but when we asked he always said no.  He didn't want to cooperate with the nurses and his medications. He ended up sleeping most of the day and wasn't interested in anything. I'm starting to wonder if he isn't getting a little depressed and since he can't express himself it's frustrating him that much more.

His nurse the last 3 days has been wonderful with him. She talked to him about everything that was going on and asked permission before doing things. It's too bad she's now off until Friday! But, everyone on staff here is wonderful. They are all very dedicated. One of the housekeepers brought me a pocket notebook and pen today with a note that says "You are such a wonderful wife and friend. Keep up the good work. I hope he gets better soon. Love your housekeeper Smiley". Such a small thing, but very touching. Even when she hasn't been our housekeeper, she would stop in or stop me in the hall and ask how we were doing.

All for today. Hopefully we'll both get a good nights sleep and have better days tomorrow.

Good Morning!

Bill seems to feel a little better this morning, although he's wanting to sleep, or at least keep his eyes closed and ignoring us. The surgery for his leg will be Tuesday. The incision won't be closed, a special sponge will be sewn in IF they can find where it is leaking. There is some bacterium now so he's going to bestarted on antibiotics to catch any infection before it can get started.

The biopsy was fine, no signs of rejection. As far as the heart is going, everything looks good. We just have to work on everything else now.

He's been bad this morning, ripping off his oxygen and not opening his mouth to have his temp taken. He's not going to be happy when she has to repack the wound.

We're going to try the speaking valve today after respiratory comes in to make sure he's breathing ok. She didn't want to wake him when she was in earlier this morning.

All for now, it's time for morning meds and lots of goodies. I'll update again after we see how the rest of the day goes.

Bill doesn't feel fine today. He's in some pain and just generally looks like he doesn't feel well. His Foley catheter came out this morning which normally would make him feel a lot better. He indicates that he's in some pain and he's been getting Tylenol since last night. His secretions from the trach are also thicker than they have been, but his O2 sats are staying up.

I talked to Dr. Landolfo this morning and he looked at the incision at the groin. He thinks it's going to take a "small" surgery to close it. They will have to move some muscle over the area to close it. Right now it is still packed and it really hurt when they were messing around with it. I don't know when this surgery will be, probably the first part of the week. I doubt that it will be done this week-end.

Dr. Yip didn't say anything about the biopsy results, but one of his anti-rejection meds has been cut in half, so I would think that there are no signs of rejection and they are starting the tweaking process. These meds will be adjusted up or down for the rest of his life.

All for now. We were going to try the speaking valve again today to see how he does swallowing, but since he feels so bad I don't know if he will want to work with it. It doesn't seem like it's been a month since the transplant, but it will be tomorrow. They say time flies when you're having fun, and while this hasn't been fun, it has gone very fast.

"I FEEL FINE"!  Those were wonderful words to hear today! He did quite well with his speaking valve today. He swallowed a piece of ice, although I think he aspirated more of it than not, but he kept the valve on for 1 1/2 hours and did quite well swallowing and trying to talk. Dr. Patel came in during this time, and he was just amazed. After Bill said this, he started to cry, which got to all of us. Dr. Patel even got down on his knees in front of him to talk to him about how great he's doing. We're going to keep practicing through the weekend to see how he does. His O2 saturation stayed up most of the time he had the valve on, which is also a good sign.

We still don't have the results of the biopsy yet, but, like last time, if there had been something wrong that could be detected immediately, we would have know yesterday. He had an echo done today and it was good. Dr. Patel did order some fluids thinking that his blood volume was a little low, but not low enough to need to be given blood.

He stood for about 30 seconds with the help of a walker and 2 therapists today and instead of sitting in the cardiac chair, he sat in the regular recliner. They have a portable lift, like the permanent crane system in ICU, to move him back to bed and that was done easily when he was ready for a nap.

He got the rest of his staples out today and the chest incision looks really good. Just put a few steri-strips on to make sure it healed. The incision in his groin had been puzzling the nurses this week. It was draining a clear fluid that you could see run out. Dr. Patel had the surgical team look at it and Rob, the technician, took the staples out. You could see the fluid pouring from the site. He then pushed down on it with a q-tip and the entire incision opened and gushed like a gyser. He explained that sometimes the lymph nodes in that area build up with fluid and even though it looks like the incision is healing, it is only the skin that is healed. He looked down into the wound and could see veins so they can't use the wound vacuum that sucks the area closed. (Phillis, you know about this all too well). So, it is packed with gauze and bandaged and they are just going to keep repacking it until it starts to close. It sounds really gross, but it isn't and there is so much fluid that there is no chance that the gauze will stick and cause more problems. When it does dry, they will use wet packing.

He's been very alert today and is now starting to flirt with the nurses more. He's in love with Elizabeth his PCT and I think she's a little in love with him too. He showed me 4 fingers a little while ago but I don't know what he meant by that.

All for today. As late in the afternoon as it is, I don't think we're going to see occupational therapy today. And I probably won't be here much longer tonight. I still haven't slept well this week, even took a sleeping pill last night. Maybe since I won't come quite as early tomorrow I'll sleep better. The doors aren't open as early on the week-ends and I will get a better parking place. So, probably won't update again until tomorrow. Hope everyone enjoys their week-end!