Bit by Bit

Bit by bit, Carlos is improving.  Today, they are giving him some pRBCs (blood transfusion) as he has gotten a little too anemic.  I guess the LVAD tears up red blood cells so he will always be a little anemic.  His numbers are looking good so they are trying to wean him off the nitrous oxide (keeps the pulmonary blood vessels dilated to ease the work load of his right heart.  Since the right heart is a little weaker than they had hoped, he didn't tolerate the first weaning attempt yesterday.  They are going a little slower today and so far so good.  They are going to start him on a slow tube feed drip for nutrition (his bowels aren't moving a lot yet so they don't want to be too aggressive).  The fever is back down although higher fevers tend to occur at night.  They are thinking it's just related to the gout, which continues to be an issue.   I guess he grimaced when they moved that foot.  We will find out today when they can start him on something for it.  I don't want that foot to interfere with his rehab.  His ventilator settings are at the lowest settings already.  The hope is that they will start waking him up after surgery tomorrow and get him off the ventilator by Wednesday.

I'm doing better today than I was yesterday....feeeling a little more positive and upbeat but very very tired.  The kids are doing ok.  Daja begged me last night to come see him and I refused.  I want him off the ventilator before they come see him.