Tuesday Afternoon

John had a decent breakfast this morning.  Then PT came by and we walked, one short loop and one long one.  Then it was time for a sponge bath.  As of last week baths are not in his future.  The site where the drive line comes out of his abdomen cannot get wet.  When he gets out of Intensive Care, we will be taught how to shower without getting the drive line wet.  Once he gets his transplant and it heals, that will no longer be an issue.

For lunch he had a real nice vegetable soup and a piece of hamburger patty. 

Jen and Mick came for training again today.  We three are all certified now to care for the LVAD.  After the training, Jen put John on battery power so we could walk.  After two long loops, he went back to bed and Mick took him off battery power and put him on wall power.  All time from now until transplant, he either needs to be plugged into the wall, like when he is in bed.  When he is up and about, he will be on battery power.  He needs to be plugged into two batteries, in case one should fail.  The batteries last about 14-17 hours each, so should last most of his awake hours in the day.  When he is on batteries, he must carry two more charged batteries and a back up pump controller in case they need to be changed.  He is working with Occupational Therapy now, doing some strengthening exercises.

He is doing so well that I am thinking about leaving early today.  We know the nurse that will care for him tonight, the same as the last two nights, so feel comfortable about that.  He needs a new electric shaver, so I'll go get one of those.  The lawn didn't get mowed last weekend, like it should have been, so I think I'll mow it.  I need to do some laundry, so this might be a good day to get all this stuff done.  I usually wait till the night nurse is here and John is pretty well  settled, around 8-9 before leaving.  This will get me home at a decent hour.

Unless I have more information later today, I'll pass it on.  Otherwise I'll post tomorrow.

Colleen