#SheldonsJourney...6 Weeks Later

Well, this past week sure has been a doozie with regard to Sheldon
& our families heart transplant journey.

 

For a recap of when this journey began, read here. A few hours after that post, we received word that he'd been accepted & was officially listed as a 1B status later that week.

 

 

That was 6 weeks ago.

 

It's been an exciting but terrifying 6 weeks to say the least. 

There are three different status' in which a person can be listed.

 1A:  You are confined to the hospital until you receive a donor heart. 

1B:  You can leave the hospital but not without a continuous IV drug or another device

2:  The most healthy people fall in this category.  May wait 1+ year for a heart.

 

As I said, Sheldon is a 1B.
  He has a permanent picc line in his upper left arm where he has a continuous IV push of the miracle drug I mentioned here. 

 

 

 

Due to the picc line, he has to show up for bi-weekly appointments at Saint Luke's

here on the Plaza in Kansas City.

 

Well, last weeks appointment didn't go so well.  They ended up admitting him & kept him most of the week. Last week was trying. But hey, it's just another curve in the road on this already wild journey. 

 

 

 Monday afternoon they did a read on his pacemaker that was put in about 2.5 years ago. And for the record, he's already on his SECOND pacemaker. Upon reading the results, two of the three leads that go from the pacemaker into the heart were not inserted correctly.

 

 

Well damn.

 

So, they opened him up & fixed the problem. 

But now the poor guy can't lift up his right arm for another six weeks. 

 

 

So what do I do, I go in to pose with him for a picture and slap my hand right down on his incision site.  I about died. After he winced in pain, he had a good laugh at my expense.

 

 

 

 

So another week of this journey has wrapped. 

 

Next up? Meeting our goal of keeping him out of the hospital & home for Christmas.

 

Thanks for your continued support & love as this journey continues!! 

Your thoughts & prayers mean the WORLD to not only me, but our entire family,
so thank you thank you thank you. 

 

XOXO,

Anne

#SheldonsJourney

Today is the day that our ENTIRE world will change.  I know, strong statement to lead off a post this early on a Tuesday morning. 

But the scary thing is that it's true. 
Let me explain.

This past week has been a whirlwind to say the least.

Last Monday was Sheldon's first appointment with the St. Luke's Cardiac Transplant Team.  We all woke up Monday morning feeling anxious, excited & just plain scared shitless, all wrapped up into one emotion. All of us (Jon, Jon's Sister Beth, Myself and of course Kathy, my mother in law) took off work to be there.  For moral support, but also to hear firsthand how this whole heart transplant thing will work. 

This appointment was supposed to be the first of what you would think would be a longgggg, drawn out process.

WRONG.

During the appointment we were told that Sheldon couldn't wait another week to begin his "transplant workup."  It's an inpatient hospital stay in which every specialist you can think of has to sign off on Sheldon having this surgery.  From the transplant workup they are able to determine if you qualify to be put on the list for a heart and more importantly at what level.

They admitted him to the hospital last Tuesday morning and was finally discharged yesterday.  It's been grueling on the guy, but he hasn't complained ONCE.  Now that's a champ right there!

He even celebrated his 59th birthday on Sunday, in the hospital. 

Even though we were in the hospital, this birthday was extremely special to all of us.

It was the first birthday in a LONG time in which we felt that we may actually get ALOT more of these with him.

And that my friends, is pretty damn cool.

Typically the "transplant workup" only lasts 3 days or so, however because Sheldon's heart is so weak, he had to spend a few of those days in the ICU following his heart catheter on Wednesday.

They pumped him full of this miracle drug...

Which is supposed to make your heart beat faster therefore pushing your blood out to all of your organs.

His heart is so weak that it's unable to do that on it's own any longer. 

Thank GOD for modern medicine, eh?

They inserted a permanent picc line in his upper arm in which he'll have to continue pumping this medicine to his heart (from home) while we wait. 

Right now, while you're reading this, the Transplant Team at St. Luke's holds Sheldon's life in their hands.  They meet every Tuesday morning to decide if someone qualifies to be put on their very small list of less than 20 individuals.  I can't imagine what Sheldon is feeling as he wakes up this morning because my palms are sweating just typing this post.

We're all scared to death of this process.  We're scared to think of another person's heart being put into his chest cavity.  What if he dies on the table?  What if his body rejects the new heart?  What if....what if...

But what scares the hell out of us more is the thought that he WON'T get another person's heart put into his chest cavity. 

That's what keeps all of us going.

More importantly, that new heart will keep Sheldon going for many birthdays to come.

Any prayers you throw our way today are appreciated more than you know.

I can't wait to hopefully share some VERY GOOD news with you in the days to come.

Thank you ALL for your support of our family & more importantly, Sheldon!!