January 30th, 2009

We just saw the doctor and he gave us a little more information on what is going on. They aren't going to start taking him off the IV drug until Sunday or Monday, at that point they will start slowly taking him off the drug a little bit each day, no more then 1mg a day, taking about 4 days to get him off it totally. By doing it this way they can closely monitor how he is reacting to getting off the meds. Then they will wait 24 hours before trying the new meds, to give his system a rest. Then they will try the new drug and watch him closely before making a final decision. So we will be here for AT LEAST another week.

January 29th, 2009

Not much happening today, just a waiting day in most respects! He is hanging in there with this new IV drug and I suspect tomorrow is when they will start to make some other changes in his routine. We just hung out today, basic conversation, he played his game, I read my book, and we take turns making fun of the comings and goings around here:)

January 28th, 2009

Some good news today, the doctor really likes how Dave is responding to the new IV drug, so he wants to try the other meds one more time before making a decision. He will probably wait until Friday to try that again. So here are the two possible scenarios at this point.

A) If Dave responds well to the drugs they will insert a pace maker and a defibrillator into his heart to keep him from "sudden death", then they will send him home to basically wait it out until we can't wait it out any longer, his heart gets worse, or he just doesn't recover in a timely basis. With this plan he will not be on the transplant list.

B) If he doesn't respond to the drugs again, they won't waste any time and will put him right on the list as the highest priority for a new heart.

So right now it is a waiting game, we will know more after they start him on the other meds this weekend probably. He had a really good day today, color in his cheeks, eating well, peeing out that fluid, etc. He said he felt really good today as well, not as sluggish. So lets see how this plays out.....

Address and Contact Information

Lots have been asking for an address for Dave, we finally have one available!

Stanford University Medical Center
Attn: David Kennedy
300 Pasteur Dr
Stanford, Ca 94305

Phone # is 650-498-3167

We would really like it if you could contact us by the hospital phone as the cell phone bill is starting to add up!

Last Night's Visit

So, the Doctor came in late last night to tell us that the test results showed that Dave's heart is only acting at about 8-10%. As well as that he has not been able to take the one "needed" drug to make his heart function outside the hospital. Doctor Fowler said this was disappointing to him because he helped create that drug. :) So right now he is "shocking" his heart with this new IV drug and then we will see how he reacts, but Doctor Fowler said the idea of treating this with medicine is quickly fading and he is pretty positive that a transplant will occur. We should know the outcome of this in the next day or so. If they put him on the list like they are anticipating we will not be able to leave the hospital, he can't function without these meds. The doctor is hopeful that we will get a heart as soon as two weeks.

January 27th 2009-- more info

So the coolest thing happened today, the social worker came in and told us she would really like Dave to talk to some other heart transplant people, so he could ask questions and etc. Well low and behold she found someone who not only had idiopathic cardiomyopathy but also was an officer in the Navy. Her exact words were "God works in mysterious ways." He came and talked to Dave for about 30 min today and answered a lot of Dave's questions about the transplant and how it is afterwards. What a great thing!!

Another cool thing that happened this morning, Dr. Fowler is so intrigued by the way that Dave's heart sounds that he asked if we would mind if some Med students came in and took a listen, he said "It will be a bit like Greys Anatomy in her for awhile". About 5 students came in and listened and were just as intrigued as Dr. Fowler. Dave looked at me after they left and said, "what can I say I am an enigma."

Tuesday January 27th 2009

Ok, so here is where I will begin our daily blogs, or more about Dave's journey through this time.

Yesterday they did an MRI, which showed that the heart was a "bit more sluggish" then it ought to be according to the doctor. Then today they did a cardiac cath and a heart biopsy, which once he came back he told me that "it was pretty cool to watch." NO THANK YOU! Mom waited in his room for him to come back. At this point Dr. Fowler told him that everything was as he assumed it would be. Not sure what that means exactly and I hope that he comes in soon to explain that. :) We will have to wait a bit for the results of the biopsy. They are going to start him on Dubutamine later today or tomorrow, and that can only be given through a central line or a PIC line, since he doesn't have a central line already they will start a PIC line in his arm so that they can start him on that particular heart medicine.

We had a nice long talk today with the transplant social worker and went through all of the logistics of that and what to be prepared for during that process, right now it looks like that is the way we will be going, but we will know more after the tests are done.

I will post again today if there are any big changes.