Time sure flies fast, or sometimes it seems.  Today is March 18, 2021....  sounds like a fictional date, but it is today.  Lots has happened, but most of it is tiny, insignificant daily happenings.

Larry and I are both in good health....  well as good as he can be. His kid use have rebounded well,  We survived the Covid Pandemic, at least to date. We are both 6 weeks out from our second vaccine shots so we feel blessed.

Passed the 4 year anniversary of Larry’s LVAD implantation....  he had his 5 hour annual clinic and equipment check, of course I am still car bound for these.  I periodically send our nurse coordinators photos of his driveline when I do his sterile dressing changes, and one told me us was pristine....  I feel proud to be his caretaker...  

Just wanted to take a moment to say yes, we are thriving in Florida.....

 Wow....  yesterday gad his telemedicine visit with his kidney specialist.....  Dr Sanders is one of the ones who saved his life at Tampa General Hospital in April...

Anyway good news, he is doing great...  he is back to the levels he was before his heart pump...  while his kidneys will never fully recover, and he is not eligible for transplant, he is better than anticipated... Still at Stage 3 chronic kidney disease....

But again we are thankful for our days each and every one.....

Larry is doing really good... After his kidney failure recovery, he surprised us all and his kidneys are rebounding...  still weak after muscle loss, but is making great progress...  we are trying to maintain all of his new diet restrictions....  no potatoes, no tomatoes, are the hardest for him.

Sorry I just forget to post, not many still follow this blog, but a few do.

So how about some photos...

Just ordered a LVAD charm from a really nice lady on the LVAD Friends facebook page.  Wanted one that said Husband is LVAD strong....  and wow, she made it in like 3 hours....  after visiting with her, I learned that her husband just got his LVAD in March, and the day he had his surgery is the day they began NO VISITOR policy... he is young, 36 years old, so please keep them in your prayers, and here is her Etsy page.

Liz Wyser.    Www.coppermillstamping.etsy.com

Sometimes I wonder....  actually A lot of tines I wonder....

But here are my updates....  Larry was doing really good until last week, he started getting fuzzy brained and tired...  so with my OCD record keeping I realized that his potassium had been almost low, not dangerous, at his last blood draw, yet he was still taking potassium blockers with each meal, aw well as staying on a very strict low potassium diet.

So I began to get concerned.. and I had him stop taking that med as well as the sodium bicarb....  yep, I was right on...  had another blood draw on wednesday and his potassium was low, Kidney dr office called snd said stop those 2 meds and his torsemide (for 3 days) and take potassium for 3 days.
BUN is at 18
Creatinine is 2.31
Potassium 2.7

So, happy to report he again seems to be on the mend....

Thats all...  just staying home, staying safe as we can.

Wont know more about kidneys until next telemed conference, Dr Sanders wants to see what his kidneys will settle in at.....

Not really any news, Larry is continuing to make progress, he is getting some strength back, but slowly.  He does walk around the house fine, but uses his cane when outside...  he does go out everyday for fresh air and swing time...  and has done a little bit while out there...

next week is another blood test to see where those numbers are, but his home numbers are good... of course we are watching his diet very carefully, what he eats as well as drinks.....
Example no more sodas....   he loved his powdered lemonade mix....  no more... too high in phosphorus.   He is drinking water or old fashioned brewed ice tea...  no more of his loved vanilla i e cream....  in fact cow milk is gone....  lots of changes....

We are so pleased with our move to paradise....  we chose just the right time to relocate to this peaceful beautiful area of the earth....  in between health issues and before the shutdown....  cannot be at a better place to enjoy every moment with my million dollar man....  Lol, he hasnt gotten those figure yet, but it will be up there....  this last visit was 17 days....

Thursday, April 30th, 1pm

Ok.....  update after talking to Dr Charles Sanders who was at UAMS for a while....

they have not received yesterdays labs, but he wants to do labs again in 2 weeks, then again in 4 weeks.  He is not going to schedule the AV fistula right now..

he said usually the GFR is about 20 before they do them...  and he wants to see where his creatinine is going to level out....

They will do that surgery in TGH with the transplant team and vascular surgeon...  when done...

Larry liked him from the hospital,
I think he said his daughter or son went to Lyon...  played soccer...

So for now, it is just rest up and continue on....

Phosphorus is in everything....

Cheerios may be heart healthy, but they are not kidney healthy.

Hemodialysis fistula graft.

Tuesday April 28th, 7pm

On Sunday I was disappointed when Larry texted me that his INR (blot clotting factor) was only 1.7...  The doctors had told him they wanted it to be at 2.0 before they would release him...  His kidneys were rebounding so that was not an urgent problem anymore, but they did want him to be safe... The lovenox shots he might normally use when his INR got low can not be used with kidney problems....  Remember he has a LVAD heart pump....

Anyway I decided to go down and do some work in under house area..  and did about an hour worth, when I moved a concrete block and there was a baby black snake... I didnt scream, have gotten used to the one we do have, but needed a rest break....  so while I was snake breaking, Larry called and said he was going to get to come home after all....

Just what I needed.... so quick shower then headed to Tampa...  I was so happy to see him, to touch him, to just be....

He was very weak and very tired, but got him into the house, fed him lunch and we both napped..  dinner, fresh baked turkey breast and homemade egg noodles, lime sherbet,then bedtime... He slept... he slept well....

rested all day yesterday, Had mashed carrots and chicken and he slept last night...

Both yesterday and today we sat out on the deck, and then this afternoon he went down and we sat in the swinging chairs for an hour... tonights supper was meatloaf with homemade bread and green beans...  then almond milk peach yogurt....

Today his INR was 2.2... hooray...

Tomorrow is get out for blood work, then Thursday a telemedicine chat with his kidney doctor, at which time they will hopefully schedule his fistula graft for future hemodialysis...

More on that when we know... but it takes several months before that graft can be used, so they are hopeful his kidneys will behave until this access has healed...  His kidney problem is not new, it is a result of pancreatitis 18 years ago...  and we have been aware of this for 6 years or so...  hemodialysis is a given, just not sure when it will have to begin, but I will be training to do it at home... yes I will be sticking him, but the graft will make that easier than having to find a vein...

So I will be adding links now to possibly help a future LVADer that might be facing this in the future.

The foods are becaue someone might be helped.... his diet concerns are :
No phosphorus
Low potassium
Limited Vitamin K
Heart smart
Insulin dependent diabetic...

Yep, really...  now I know why I took nutrition in college....