This morning Zayne woke up alert and feeling good . However, the lack of sleep and inability to eat or drink took their toll.
By the time the heart catheterization lab wheeled Zayne’s bed out of her ICU room, she was not feeling well, very hungry, thirsty, scared, and not that talkative (except when she started to cry when the team showed up to wheel her away). She was placed on Versed to make her sleepy and forget (I used to call it ‘drunk baby’), so she stopped screaming as she left her room.
Every catherization has its dangers, but Zayne had never had a cath when in rejection (she had never had rejection). It really came home what might happen when I was told there would be a team ready to set her up on ECMO (similar to a heart-lung bypass machine) or place her on a ventilator if things went south. Her ICU room felt very empty when she was rolled out.
Good News: The procedure went as planned
Not So Good News: There is significant rejection
Waiting News: Need to wait for biopsy results on Wednesday morning to determine a course of action.
In case the biopsy has not so good news, Zayne had 2 PIC lines placed on each arm (in addition to an IV that is working, and an attempted IV that just hurt).
If the biopsy shows antibody rejection in her heart muscle, she will probably need plasmapheresis. Plasmapheresis filters the blood and removes the harmful (along with the good) antibodies – basically take blood out of one PIC line, filter out the antibodies, and put back into her body into the other PIC line. I hope this doesn’t need to happen, because….. I don’t want to think about it, yet.
At 10 pm, the first 6-hr infusion using ATG (anti-thymocyte [rabbit] immune globulin) was done. We affectionately call this one “The Rabbit”, but it was miserable for Zayne. She was given meds to help ease the side effects, but it was still a very uncomfortable experience. She can look forward to many more of these experiences.
Zayne’s blood oxygen is dipping into the low 80s while she is asleep. The nurse just put her on Oxygen, but I have never seen her keep a cannula on her face when under the chin and against the neck is more comfortable.
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Pre-Rejection Photo Gallery
Skinny dipping at night in Grancie and Pop-pop’s pool 
The girl is cooking 
Covid playground 
Pet bee kept overnight for its last night alive 
Online school 
The moon was really cool 
Scottie interrupting work 
Sledding from the top of the hill 
Zayne and Scottie 
Watching the ponies in Wellington 
Harry Potter dragon 
Practicing spells 
Not in school in January 
Lunch at Taboo in Palm Beach
Hindsight is 2020. Your foresight is good too. Hugs.