Busy day.....
spent a couple of hours with Larry, then came to the house to meet with a buyer....   lol... no, not the house.  Might later, but not just now... actually we sold our second car....  this was not a decision based on Larrys health.  We had discussed this several month ago...  were gonna sell it when we got back from FL.....   well the opportunity arose, so yep... SOLD....     larry wont be driving for a time, and it just sat most of the time... 7yo car with 32,000 miles...  and new tires..

Ok got the car deal done, cleaned out... etc....  then back to the hospital to visit and get Larry to sign the paper thingy....   smile my nephew and his fiance got a great used car...
now my JEEP, that is not for sale.... and we Enjoyed visiting with Lee and Rachel...

Then I did my second ever sterile driveline dressing....  i made a great video yesterday, and then today  nurse C was my supervisor....   right size gloves made it easier...  each nurse I have observed helped me realize that there are different techniques...  the most important thing is STERILE... i have got to imprint that in my brain....

Dinner with my sweet man, then home to my pups...

each day is one more day...  fluid is better, but still on lasix IV, wound vac still draining fluid...  i really think it will be later in the week before he will be home....  but better than leaving and going back...  Larry agrees, although he really is ready to leave hospital life behind... this is his new record total consecutive days....

Ok.... i have spent several hours scanning in receipts and downloading pdf claim forms, finally got it all done, sent in total of 8 emails, so they wouldnt be too large, and cc'd Larry, when he sends me an email..... why didnt I just scan them in the printer.....  LOL, too much percocet.... i told him several times that I cannot get into the private wifi connection at home that the printer is on....  i am on a different one at home......  and they gave to be the same one to "talk"
too much drugs....  wonder what else he didnt hear me say......

After lunch, I made a Sams Club run....  took the essentials home (CHEESE) And decided to take a rest.... yep, ended up taking an hour nap.....  back to the hospital in time for  driveline dressing change.

Nurse A was super... she offered to let me, but I decided this was a good video opportunity, so I did her step by step........  she was wonderful with her techniques... as she said, each nurse has their own slight differences, but I learned some why's this time....  not just how to's....  it will be a vreat reference for me.

Larry was feeling a lot better since they have gotten so much fluid off... but he is spaghetti'd again....  wound vacuum pump, feet compression pumps, IV if lasix, heart monitor is wireless, but then the real pump, his LVAD.....

About 5 we heard the voices of leprechauns outside the door.... David, Katie, Anna, and Hayes had come to visit...  they last saw him 2 days after we had air ambulanced up.....  so he was in not so good shape....  i could tell from their faces they were glad to see him looking better....  an educational visit as well....  they even got to listen to their blood pressure with the doppler machine.... and enjoyed looking out of the 8th floor windows.... also Baptist Hospital is on a hilltop,   So that makes it seem even taller....

Then I was treated to dinner...

Continuing on lasix.... alot of fluid off, but need more off... the chest incision is weeping because of the high fluid in his body, and Dr Ransom said that that is a possible opening for infection....  so added an antibiotic....   gotta get him dryer....

 but finally the staff is learning that he knows what he us talking about with his insulin and blood sugar numbers...  just before lunch it was 106....   a few days ago it was over 300, because they were not giving baseline, just trying to play catch up after the fact.

Although he does want to go home, he knows that he needs to be ready...  and not quite yet.... Dr Ransom said probably on Monday....

Have been contemplating going gray....  or returning to gray, or saving my monies...  but today I renewed my vow to be a BAG lady (blonde after gray)....   i have been looking at the two inches of white hair and finally decided I need to stay blonde in irder to keep up with Larry when he gets out..

Thanks to Kristen for doing my hair on short notice, but I feel sassier...

Just got back from a walk with my sweetie... he walked to the nurses station and back, think it was 222 feet....   was on battery and I was pushing the IV pole for him....  he is using a walker for stability, but consudering how swollen his feet are, I thought he did super....

Wont be tomorrow...
Way too much fluid, causing chest incision to open slightly...  back to IV drip..
But it is still ok....  normal stay after this is 2-3 weeks...

I used to like cats, some cats I still like, but one cat I will shoot if I get a chance....

why are there lease laws for dog owners, but cat owners get to let their cats harass the neighbors....  there is a big fluffy white cat that loves to taunt my dogs.

 BUT LAST NIGHT at 4am, is not a good time....  the dogs and I were all nestled snug in their beds, when arose such a clatter, I sprang from my bed to see what was the matter.......    of course my dogs were barking, and I let them out of their kennels....  well they were barking and screeching so loudly that I had no idea what was in my house....  it was an ENORMOUS gray cat with the longest hair I have ever seen....  ugly cat....

well we got it shooed out through the laundry door, or so I thought.....  i went back to bed...  dogs were quiet, so i thought all was well.    Nope, apparently it had hidden on top of the cabinet over washer and dryer...  at 5:30 QTπ found it, LitaBit had come back to bed, but Q has stalker patience...  she had been waiting on it to come down......  finally got it cornered in the living room....  held it in the corner with my broom, while opening the sliding door....  that cat left.... broke the beautiful glibe I had given Larry one year, and knocked over the paper shredder in the utility room (it was full), so things are now clean......   still hate that cat.

Brought back another memory.  15 years ago Larry had a critical attack of Pancreatitis...  he was in the same hospital for 23 days, almost died at that time.... we had set our wedding for the 25th of May....   he lived, we got married, but he doesnt remember it.  He had to go back in 6 weeks later for gallbladder surgery to to have the pseudocyst on his Pancreas drained..... i woke up 2 days before he was due to come home from that surgery to 8 inches of water all over the lower floor of the condo...  the washing machine hose had burst in the middle of the night.....   at about 5 am...  that time I just dat down and cried...

But he survived that, he survived this....  i survived that, and I survived this...  dogs are sitting calmly in my lap, snuggling....  why did that dang cat pick my house..... cant cats smell a dog.....

Our Tori was giving us a cool lesson this morning...

 this was just after the driveline dressing change, so I was beyond stressed and trying to be cool.....   i wasnt...  she was going over the machinery...  which I do not like....  she was showing me how to change a controller....  BUT she kept stressing you should never have to, and only with one of us talking you through it in the phone....   anyway, we got through that lesson...

And I should say, we have to carry that along WHEREVER we go....  along with extra batteries... ALWAYS.....

Anyway.  Next lesson. On her model, There was a clear line with it that actually pumps water in it.. she was crimping it off trying to let ne hear what a low pump alarm sounds like....  when dang... the end came off and water was pooling all over the hospital table...  she was so cute...  like damn that isnt ever gonna happen to you...

We had to laugh....  her face was priceless....  i already love our new LVAD family...   the day desk clerk decorated a pilliw for Larry, she does one for each VAD patient... they all truly consider their patients to be family... love it...  even a bad cold can be really serious for a VAD..

I finished unloading the rest of the stuff from the RV today...  i heard that the sunrise is spectacular from Larrys room... his entire wall is windows...   the few days I was up here early this week, it was cloudy....   maybe I can get him to take a photo.....

I did my first sterile driveline dressing change this morning...
only problem was in putting the gloves on my square hands...
I thought I did really well for my first time....  the nurse was very helpful in
Her instructions and suggestions.....
She even has brought me two larger sizes to practice with...

Then we had a class with our new best friend... Tori...
She us our assigned LVAD nurse, but there are 4 total...
Yesterday 3 of the 4 were in our room visiting... havent met Jimmy yet
Opal and Christina we have.

Larry is still scheduled to go home on Friday....

We are still not really open to visitors....

 i appreciate thoughts, but after he gets home would be much better....  
the rooms are not really exquipped for visitors....  no extra chairs....   and it has always been my thought that you can catch things from hospitals as well as deliver germs....   also the acoustics are horrible and he thinks that some of the caregivers are yelling at him...

He is doing better in all respects EXCEPT fluid retention....  his lungs are clear, but his legs are enormous, and are secreting drops of fluid on the outside, like raindrops...   these are in the area where his scars are from the bypass surgery in 2001...  but Dr Ransom did see that.  

He had an echcardiogram this morning with Dr Ransom present....  he liked what he saw..  and sped his RPM's up on his pump...  both Dr Ransom and Dr Hutchins think he will be ready to go home on Friday.....

At that time, I am thinking he might be ready for visitors....  right now I cant even get him to have phone conversations.....  

Just watched the helicopter take off to allow another helicopter to land....

This is Larry's view for a few days...  end room facing northeast.....

Still has the pic line, but currently no IV...  his heart moniter is on telemetry so no wires there.
His arms are currently free of spaghetti lines......  i have plugged him into batteries snd back off today,  did a good job...   he will have to learn how as well.....

Going to a room today on the LVAD floor, dont have the room number yet, but the only patients on this wing are pump patients....  he is finishing up his last bag of IV fluid, mahnesium...  stopped the heparin drip and is on coumadin by mouth completely......  oxygen is as needed, not continous.

This is where we will begin our training.....


Room #844

Corner room.... view of both the helipad and downtown....

I LOVE modern technology...
this morning I took Larry his cell phone in case he needs to ask me to bring somethinh, and i took his Ipad...   he us more likely to browse the net on LVAD info than to read the manual.... (I have already read it).....

Anyway I went back about 4, and the first thing he asked, was who was that guy at the door and what dud he want.....  RING.com doorbell, notified him.... he watched..... lol

It was just a guy about yardwork, giving me his card.... i had talked to him AND the neighbor before I cam inside....  so I was expecting him to bring his card....   nice to be watched by my husband.... even if he was in hospital.... guess he could have called 911 if needed....
funny, but I had forgotten all about it.

Just woke up from a nap.....   smile feel happy.

I just did something I thought I would never ever do....  and am excited about it... well two things actually.....
Ordered a shower chair, to help him with that situation....   juggling the controller will be new

But what i was talking about.....  home meal delivery.....  me, yes.  When visiting Bryan, they used Blue Apron, i ate many meals with them, and they were great...  Katie had also used one, and it was good too,  there was always more food than they could eat..

i looked at three programs and decided that for us, Home Chef has meals that better suit us...  i am always open to new tastes, Larry not so much, but with his Warfarin meds there are restrictions on vitamin K foods, as well as heart healthy, and diabetes....  my Home Ec degree hasnt been wasted...

So Anyway........  drum rolllll, i did it...  three meals a week arriving each Wed...   i love to cook... shopping not as much..
But will see how this works out....  by the way....  there are choices, it isnt just what they want to send you...  and get this    THERE is an APP to manage it..... lol....

And even though I posted he might get to come home on Friday... he might not either....  but I am happy that he will be getting to come home.....

No snow here.... yesterday was cold and rainy, today is cold and sunny....

Just got back from the morning at the hospital....  he is doing so good...
Dr Ransom wasnt on call, but stopped by...  Larry had already walked a full lap...
He said he is well enough to go to the LVAD floor tomorrow....  AND he felt like he was on track to come HOME on Friday.......  this was way earlier than I anticipated, but happily so......

Now for the training......  then for the first week, home health will come daily...
but, I got this....