4/23/16 update

 An ultrasound was done yesterday on both arms due to the pain and huge bruise on the left arm.  The idea was to eliminate the possibility of clots. OOPS, he does have several small blood clots as well as a large hematoma (internal bruise).  Bad news, a bump in the road.  Not what we wanted or expected.  He was put onto a IV drip of Heparin Friday night.  We will be on a blood thinning regimen for three months. Good news. bad news.  Can't be Coumadin since he has weekly biopsies. John will be giving himself twice daily injections of the blood thinner Lovenox.  John has done it before when he needed to be off of Coumadin for procedures.  The duration will be either two months of shots and one month of Coumadin or three months of shots.  We think they lean toward three months of shots.  John says UGH.  Now that there are clots in both arms, he can't have his blood pressure checked in his arm, so they use his calf now.  The clots were probably caused by the trouble earlier in getting the PICC line placed.  

There is still too much water retention, swollen ankles and neck.  So the dose of Torsemide, the diuretic, is going to be increased to 60 from 40.  The dose at home while with the LVAD was 120.  40 was a nice dosage compared to 120 and 60 will be better than 120.

The prednisone dose is being lowered.  It is a drug that tends to make him cranky, so lower is better.  The prednisone also causes the blood sugar to be elevated and lowering the dose of prednisone will lower the blood sugar which means that we may not need long term glucose testing.  The goal is to have us off of the prednisone in a few months.  He hasn't had any insulin for at least three days.

We are so busy with doctors, nurses and therapists (Physical, respiratory  and occupational) drop by multiple times daily.  Plus we spend a lot of time out of the room walking.  We appreciate communicating with everyone but even texting is awkward.  Comments onto the blog are the best way to communicate.