It seems like it has been weeks since the transplant, but it was only yesterday. Sunday, April 28th 2024 was a really big day. The surgery started on Saturday, April 29, but most of the surgery took place on Sunday. In addition to having a transplant, there was a setback in the afternoon that involved blood loss and being placed on extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) which is type of heart-lung bypass machine. ECMO does the work of the heart and lungs so the organs can rest. The machine takes blood from the heart, oxygenates, and then places back in the aorta.
It seems that after one day, Zayne’s new heart can push enough blood on its own, so she is scheduled for an OR appt at 7:30 am (in hospital speak, this probably means 9:30 am). After ECMO the vent should be gone within 2 or 3 days.
There isn’t much change to Zayne and if she was awake, she would tell me that I’m not allowed to post any more pictures of her. Instead, here is a picture of my private ER nurse – my sister Stacy, who is an instrumental part of this journey.
