We are 147 days into our hospital stay. It’s been 32 days since transplant and 16 days since the RVAD came out. Kate’s making progress. It’s slow progress but we’ll take it. We were down to 3 IV pumps at one point. We had to back-track a bit due to Kate’s fluid balance still being …
Category Archives: Latest News
Yay for progress!
Making progress! Yesterday we moved from our room in the super intense front of the unit to the room right next to our old room! Yay! Kate has been weaning her pain meds and respiratory support like a champ. Kate is sitting up unsupported for longer periods of time and even stood for a tiny …
It’s a New Year
Wow. We got off the RVAD 5 days ago. Friday, January 1st, Kate was extubated from her breathing tube. Her sedation and pain meds are being weened. It’s been a tough few days. We are on 136 days in the hospital and day 21 post transplant. Kate has had 3 open heart surgeries in the past …
Surgery Successful!
It was a successful surgery on Tuesday to remove the RVAD. There was typical hospital drama with a complete lack of communication from the OR team during surgery. I’ll skip the rant here as I’m tired. Kate spent the day working on resting and trying to reduce swelling from the extra fluids they gave her …
Yay for Progress
Wow! What a strange Christmas holiday! Thursday, Christmas Eve, Kate got her breathing tube and several other tubes removed! We also started the weaning process on lots of stuff. There have been a couple pauses for things but in general Kate has been a rock star dealing with everything. It’s not easy seeing your little …
Yay for Christmas Miracles!
It’s Christmas day and we’ve had a couple good days! Yesterday, Kate got four tubes removed: her catheter, two nasal tubes, and her breathing tube! Kate is much more awake than previous days, too. These are pretty major step forward! The day was plenty challenging, with a lot of meds being changed and everything coming …
Baby steps
Well it wasn’t as quiet as we hoped this weekend but Kate is still making small progress.Kate’s still sedated. She has moments of wakefulness now and then. Often she is agitated when awake…understandable with all the lines and tubes. That said, she has very cute moments too…she’s obviously loopy but she will occasionally make some …
A look at the technical side
Kate is still improving today. Small steps. We’re not going to be making any big changes until Monday at the earliest. Today’s echo showed things still need time to recover and chill. There were a number of positive steps forward though. Today Kate started a tiny bit of tummy feeds. They are trying to get …
Progress…but slow
Very short update today. More check marks in the win column today. None in the loss column. We’re struggling with communication issues at the hospital but hoping we made progress today. Hopeful for some tests tomorrow. It’s tough seeing Kate crying through her sedation. Ugg. Even with the above, she has a new heart. There …
Successful Surgery – Taking Forward Steps
Kate had her surgery to replace the ECMO (ExtraCorporeal Membrane Oxygenation) device with the RVAD (Right Ventricular Assist Device). ECMO was providing a full heart-lung bypass capability while RVAD is only assisting the right-side of her heart. Surgery went well. Kate’s lungs are working great. The left-side of her new heart is performing great. Her …
Continue reading “Successful Surgery – Taking Forward Steps”