Home again!

It's Thursday, Nov. 20 and we're home from the hospital again. Sorry for not updating since Sunday, I haven't been home until today.

Dan's heart procedure on Monday went very well. They did the cardiac ablation and then implanted a very high-tech pacemaker. It's called an ICD (implantable cardioverter-defibrillator) and it has 2 leads into the heart and 1 lead on the outside of the right ventricle. It will keep Dan's heart from going too fast or too slow. He's doing very well, he seems to have more strength and is breathing easier. The pacemaker is permanent, along with taking coumaden (a blood thinner).

The liver doctors decided on Tuesday to do the ERCP procedure (removal of the bile duct stent). This procedure also went well, it is done endoscopically so not real invasive. They removed the stent along with a biliary stone and put in another stent which will also have to be removed in a few months. Dan was fine and able to eat a regular dinner that night, he just had a scratchy throat.

Wednesday was a rest day, meaning no procedures, but PT and OT were back to get Dan up and around. He was able to walk a lap around the nurses' station, he hasn't done this in weeks. Yay, pacemaker!

Today was very busy, with doctors' last rounds with Dan, PT and OT getting in a few more exercise times including the rehab gym, removing the PICC line and catheter, discharge instructions, prescriptions for more meds, we ended up leaving around 4:30pm.

Dan now has outpatient OT and PT twice a week, labs twice a week, pacemaker check-ups a few times in the next month, cardiologist follow-up, liver doctor follow-ups, dietician follow-up, you name it. And now we start trying to follow the low sodium diet at home, along with fluid restrictions, he only gets to drink one 16 oz. bottle of water in a 24-hour period. This is sure different from the instructions after transplant, to drink 6-8 bottles of water a day. They tell us it is a different way to get the excess fluid out of his tissues and into the plumbing, he gets a huge amount of diuretics and drinks very little fluid. Go figure. He also has new instructions and restrictions with his pacemaker, like no more MRI's, no airport security systems, cell phone and ipod on the right side, etc. and my personal favorite...no arc welding.

Thanks for your prayers and support. Continue to pray for Dan to regain his strength, and for me and Dan's folks to stay healthy, and for all of us to continue living together in harmony and love...it won't be long now until we hele on home.

Aloha,
Debbie and Dan