Woohoo......we moved out of the CICU and back to our fave room, 3080!!

Hooray!!! We moved to the 3rd floor, and not only that, they put us back in the room we were in when this all began....3080.  We love this room, it's at the end of the hall so we can be as loud as we want.  It's kind of scary that we kind of feel like we're home now. I'm just relieved I don't have to sleep in the CICU again, 6 nights is plenty!!!  Abby is doing okay, not great.  Her meds are making her feel a little sick, it's just a lot to get used to.  It takes her about an hour, twice a day to take all of the pills, then she feels sick for about an hour after, so that's a big chunck of her day.  She's recovering from the surgery really will though.  Her lungs look awesome now, her kidney's are functioning really well, and the heart is doing great.  they gave her a new diuretic, so she spent half the night last nigh peeing, but she dropped 6 of the excess 10 pounds in fluid she's been carrying around so that's good.  I loved looking at her EKG this morning, it was just normal!  It is still just surreal to think that she has a different heart in there, beating just like her own.  I can't help but to wonder about the donor family and how they're doing.  When I think about them, I feel so many different emotions, it's just almost confusing.  I just wish I knew more, hopefully someday we will and we will be able to thank them appropriately. 

For the blog today, Britt thought it would be cool to show a day in the life of Abby now, so here's what happened today, July 18th, exactly 2 months after this all began and almost one week after her life with her new heart began. 

1:00 am-bathroom break
2:00 am-bathroom break and turn off the milrinone IV.  This had to happen before she could be moved to the 3rd floor.
4:00 am-bathroom break
4:30 am-Chest xray
5:00 am-IV team-checking on her sore IV in her arm
7:00 am-IV team-take out 2 IV's, put in one new one
7:30am-visit from cardiologist
8:00 am-first round of meds-12 pills
8:30 am-EKG
8:45 am-nurse takes out art line
9:00 am-sleep :)
10:00am-breaksfast and 2nd round of meds
10:30am visit with the transplant surgeon
10:45 am-Go for a walk
11:00 am-nap
11:30 am-visit with the transplant team
12:00 pm-bath and more meds
1:00 pm-echocardiogram
2:00 pm-visit with cardiology team
3:00 pm-lunch
4:00 pm- move to 3rd floor
4:30 pm-new nurse update
5:00pm -Ali showed up for a visit-definite highlight of the day :)
5:30pm-update the resident on call for the night
6:00pm-Pizza party for dinner
7:00pm-walk to patio for some fresh air
8:00pm-meds and vitals
8:15 pm-visit from Jeff and Mel and the kids
9:30 pm-meds for pain
10:00 pm-I'm hoping sleep, but who knows around here????

Not a very fun day, but Abby is just being very stoic through all of this!  She's so glad that Britt has been here to help her and to make her happy too.  I'm hoping for a better night's sleep myself, it seems like forever since I've slept for longer than about an hour at a time, I'm a little tired.  Tomorrow morning Abby will be having another cath test done, hopefully they'll take out the other two chest tubes, and then maybe we can relax a little.  It is easier to have visitors now, but remember please don't come if you're sick or have been around sick people.  This is a critical time in Abby's recovery and we need her healthy.  A lot of people have asked what we need or what Abby wants, but I can't think of anything.  She does loves Jamba Juices right now, and sometimes chocolate,  sour cream and onion chips or Olive Garden fettucinne, or Subway, or Marcaroni and Cheese from Noodles.  She gets sick of the food up here, so I try to go get her something that sounds good sometimes.  We're still working on her calorie count, the meds just make her not want to eat.  Overall she is doing excellent, but we'll still be here probably for a couple of weeks.  I'm extremely thrilled with her progress and so is her team of doctors.  I gave them all Team Doman shirst today, they loved it!  I excpect to see them all wearing them around the hospital.  Living in the hospital is hard, but today I feel like we're one step closer to being able to go home, and it's hard to complain about anything, because when I do start complaining, all I have to do is remember that Abby has her new heart.