After one full day at home, we were back at the hospital bright and early for a blood draw and transplant clinic. Unfortunately, the blood draw was not a finger stick that Zayne is used to getting, but a venous blood draw. Zayne doesn’t remember giving venous blood in the lab, so she was nervous and scared.
Heart transplant clinic involves the usual height, weight, questions, ECG, Echocardiogram, and exam. On Sunday, and at the hospital, Zayne just doesn’t seem as peppy, and doesn’t want to go for a walk or spend much time outside. We tried to walk up the stairs, and took lots of breaks, but had to get out at the next floor to take the elevator. Basically, her heart numbers are not improving (they were a little worse since Friday), but the doctor couldn’t visually see a decline in the echo – it looked the same to her. So, maybe that is OK news?
Right lung is back to having fluid, but no where near what it was at the beginning of her hospitalization. On Thursday, there will be some additional blood tests to check on her heart function and donor specific antibodies. If the fluid is still there, she will probably be put back on Lasix (a diuretic) to help remove the fluid.
Listening to the doctor, and learning that she will need another vein poke on Thursday (and then once a week for the next 6 weeks), and another Covid test at her heart catherization (no more than 4 weeks from now), Zayne kind of shut down. She is dreading going to the hospital for procedures that are painful, and this is causing her stress and anxiety.