Almost Home

Sorry for taking so long to post an update. It has been a very busy few days. I have lots to report! I will start with the thing that everyone is most interested in and that is how Mike is doing.

Transplant Update

The end of last week was full of some uncertainties. Dad was having some type of reaction where his face would turn red and he would get very hot. We never really figured out what was causing it, although Dad's best guess is anxiety. That issue has resolved itself and hasn't happened since Thursday.

On Thursday Dad had a biopsy of his heart. This is done to check for rejection. You get a score from 0 to 3. O means no activity is detected and 3 is fairly serious rejection. A 2 or a 3 will automatically mean a 1 week week stay in the hospital to treat the rejection. Dad will get a biopsy at decreasing frequencies throughout this first year. After the first year the biopsies are done. This go around he scored a 1. We were told that this is a good score and in some ways is more desirable than a 0. It means that his body has the ability to fight some infection but is not attacking the heart. This test result was very good news.

Mike was also experiencing a low hemoglobin count. On Wednesday it was 7.4. The doctors debated on how to treat this but in the end decided to give him a transfusion. He got the transfusion later on Thursday and by Friday his counts were already up.

Finally, the issue that seems to have extended his hospital stay a few days was his very low blood pressure. On Thursday it was, at times, undetectable. Readings like 75/45 were pretty regular. The doctors really wanted to monitor this and did adjust some of his medications to help bring it up. As of yesterday his blood pressure had gone up significantly and as of right now, this issue has also resolved itself.

High blood sugar is a natural side affect of a transplant. It takes the pancreas some time to adjust to all of the medications you have to take after a transplant. Dad was on an insulin drip and then was down to a few insulin shots throughout the day. The doctors feel confident that Dad will not develop diabetes as a result of his transplant. In fact, Dad is not even taking insulin shots with every meal and they are simply monitoring his blood sugar. More good news.

On the medical front, that is about all of the updates I have. As you can see, it is all good news. As of right now, Dad is scheduled to go home tomorrow.

Classes

On Friday Mom, Kelly, Janice and myself attended a training class with the transplant coordinator. It was to basically teach is how to care for Dad when he goes home. It was very interesting. We learned that Dad will have a fairly normal life after he has been home for 30 days. We all have to use common sense and a few extra precautions to be around him, but nothing unreasonable.

On Saturday Kelly and Mom attended a class on Dad's medications. Right now he takes about 22 pills a day, so it is a lot to keep up with. The good news is we have lots of charts and pictures to keep it all straight!

Cooking

Once again, Janice came to town to do some cooking for Dad. It is a good sign that he has his appetite back! Yesterday he got spaghetti and Mexican casserole with beans and rice. It was his first home cooked meal since he got his new heart.

House

When we all found out that Dad would be coming home Monday, everyone put it in high gear to get things ready for his home coming. Randy and Janice spent a lot of last week here so Randy could do work on the inside of the container. It looks fabulous. Steve and Danny helped out too. On Saturday the boys cleaned up all of their work stuff and then Marlene, Melissa and Monette moved in to begin the cleaning. They disinfected everything from the walls and ceiling to the bathroom, kitchen and windows. The place was sparkling when they left. It is now all cleaned up and ready for Dad to come home tomorrow.

Thank You

I know that was a lot of updates. A lot happened in the last 4 days. As you can see, none of this would have been possible without the awesome support of family and friends. The family has really pulled together to help cook, clean, work and care for Dad. This has been a life saver. Friends have supported us is so many tremendous ways. My City of Bryan work family and Mom and Kelly's Texas Children's' Hospital work family has been so understanding and has supported us in ways we couldn't have imagined. Everyone who has been a part of this experience has changed our lives forever. I speak for the entire Nall family when I say thank you, thank you, thank you.