Post Transplant Day 6 – May 4, 2024: Sitting Around

Not much happened today – my big excitement was taking a shower and doing laundry at the family resource center. Each day Zayne is able to do more and have more medical devices removed. Unfortunately, yesterday’s new drain is still very painful so moving around is difficult. She was ready to go for a short walk, but the nurse was not comfortable with her mess of tangled lines and the extra respiratory device that would need to be hooked up to a portable cylinder. She should be able to go for a short walk tomorrow since she has switched to a regular canular, had her arterial line removed, and will have her neck central line removed in an hour (yes, late at night). Meds are being switched from IV to oral.

Zayne ate a little more and kept everything down. Hopefully, she will eat more each day. She spent a lot of the day just sitting – not wanting to use an iPad or watch TV. I did get an iPad in front of her for a bit, but put it on a stand so she would have to keep her head up and raise her arms to touch the screen (I’m doing my own therapy).

I missed rounds in the morning because they didn’t wake me (both Zayne and I slept better in this quieter section of the CICU). It seems that I need to advocate every day:

• I did get to speak to the transplant cardiologist and CICU doc and was able to get them to turn on the ability to order food (I had asked multiple nurses but they weren’t able to figure it out or just didn’t bother).
• I asked what time respiratory therapy was scheduled, but the nurse told me it was cancelled. I told the nurse it was a mistake and had her contact the doc. It was an error and Zayne has started daily respiratory therapy.
• I requested meds be changed from liquid to pills. I have no idea why she was receiving liquids when she can swallow more pills than I can. Tonight she had pills and taking meds became easier.
• I noticed that Zayne’s neck central line dressing had come off. I was shocked because I had taken the central line classes last week and they told me to never let this happen. If I noticed that the dressing may be getting too loose, I was instructed to take Zayne to the ER. It is a big deal to change the dressing – sterile gloves are to be used (not just the nitrile gloves) and everyone in the room is supposed to wear masks. A central line infection is serious since the line goes to her heart which then pumps blood to the rest of her body.
• I think there was something else, but it all starts to blur together.

Weekends are usually quiet at the hospital but plans include:
– Physical therapy (includes a short walk)
– Occupational therapy
– Respiratory therapy

She is still producing from the new drain and the medial drain, so I don’t know when they will come out. The pacemaker wires are no longer needed – the new heart is working! The wires will need to come out. I was hoping the wires and the medial drain would come out at the same time. I’ll have to ask during tomorrow’s rounds.