Sunday, April 5

Unfortunately John had to drop back to the 1B priority level at midnight last night, and no hearts became available to him before this. It is a bit discouraging, as any of you who know him understand that he isn't so great at just waiting around and doing nothing. Although this is pretty typical, for a patient to be at 1A, get stabilized and drop back to 1B, it mentally sets you up for the next crisis it takes to get back to 1A. Also, the chances of actually getting a heart at 1B are very, very low, so it feels like we are just kind of wasting time. At least at 1A we felt a better chance of the transplant coming at any time.

On the good side, he is healthy enough to be a 1B. His heart rhythms are good, his lung pressures are very good, and overall he is doing okay. His kidneys are doing a bit better than they were because they have decreased the amount of diuretic. They may have to adjust the amount of those up just a bit, since he is still pretty puffy in the belly and legs. The doctor today said he needs to increase his protein intake, so they are trying to give him some protein shakes. He's awfully "full" feeling, however, so it isn't all that appealing to him. But the doctor said that additional protein will actually help with the swelling in his legs, so we will see.

They did pull the Swan catheter from his neck today, so he has a lot less tubes and wires at the moment which is nice. They are planning to move him back to the telemetry floor, so he will be able to take a real shower with only one IV line that needs to be covered with a plastic bag, so that will be good. No idea still for the long term, and still modifying his medications from day to day. We are still hopeful for a heart soon, and it can still happen, so we are holding on to that thought.