It's Happening

This is going to be a shorter post than it ought to be, but my movement is limited in was that make it difficult to type. I'm still in Seattle, it has been 16 days since my initial trip to the ER in Portland. Three days ago, I had a run of irregular heart rhythm and low blood-pressure that turned into a moment of crisis in my hospital room. In the end, they had to put in a balloon pump to assist my heart function, with an LVAD still planned for Friday (today). As a consequence of having the balloon pump, my status on the waitlist for transplant jumped significantly, and yesterday morning I was told that they had found a matching heart. I have a heart.

It's 4:30 AM Friday morning and in two hours I'll be taken down to be prepped for surgery. In about three hours, it should be underway. It's hard to describe how I feel right now; joyful, hopeful, terrified...

In some ways the hardest part of this is just beginning, because now it's up to me to take this opportunity and make something of it.

See you all on the other side.

And now Seattle

I'm in Seattle. I was brought up here from Portland by ambulance last night. I don't know how long I'll be staying at the UW Medical Center, a couple of days to a week, maybe. I should probably start at the beginning.

Serious face in Portland

A week ago (1/9/2019), a friend took me to the ER in Portland. I was have a real hard time with my heart racing and shortness of breath. Turns out, I was carrying a bunch of fluid in my lungs (Pulmonary Edema). So, I was admitted to the hospital with the goal of reducing the excess fluid in my system with diuretics and restricting how much I drink. They also ran a bunch of tests to make sure there wasn't anything else going on, but there was nothing interesting to report.

The next morning, I placed a call to the transplant coordinator in Seattle to let them now what was up. The team at UW, being responsible for me as a potential transplant recipient, wanted to be involved in my care. They were in touch with my doctors in Portland, and asked that I be transferred up as soon as a bed was available.

Serious face in Seattle

By "available bed" they really meant an empty room with no one local waiting for it. It wouldn't make sense to take me out of a safe situation if someone in Seattle needed the care. So, it wasn't until the following Tuesday night that I was loaded into an ambulance and taken up I-5.

So, I'm feeling much better at this point, but there is still fluid left to deal with. I was on some real heavy doses of diuretics in Portland, and everyone involved decided my kidneys needed a break. They are trying out new medicines and tweaking with doses of others to improve my heart function and how I feel in general. I think, whether or not they are successful, what can be accomplished with me through medicinal management is just about run out. They may send me home feeling better, but that might not last more than a few weeks. I just have a feeling that there is going to need to be a more aggressive intervention. If not a transplant soon, than an LVAD.

Weight: 210 lbs, Symptoms: Shortness of breath, light-headedness, constant

fatigue, some nausea, anxiety, depression