A New Berlin Heart Today

Got a new Berlin Heart today. I was definitely nervous - and so was Bailey - but it all went very, very smoothly. Dr. T came in this morning, sat down next to Marissa, and said, "Now, listen, Short Stuff. I'm going to Methodist this afternoon. So, when you get the new machine, I need you to cycle it. The ID is 1 and the password is 1111. Do you think you can handle that?" Marissa simply looks at him and says, "No." So he took off, and then Bailey and I started getting nervous that he wouldn't be here when the new machine was hooked up. (I don't know. Just his presence brings a calmness to the room.) So when he popped in again later - the new machine wasn't here yet - Bailey started negotiating for him to be here when we got the new machine. He ended up getting her to give him 51% of her earnings (from her Dad for medication). It was 12.5%. That tells you how nervous Bailey was about the whole thing. So I told Bailey she should've negotiated to wipe out all the days he's been adding up to keep her asleep after transplant for "bad behavior". So we called him back in, and he (rightly so) said, "You've already agreed to the 51%. No deal, baby. You're staying under 3 1/2 weeks!" She then marked on his hand with a marker. You would think she would learn after three months, but, once again, he overtakes the marker and marks all over her face. Then he wanted to "help her out" so he got a towel and got it sopping (I mean sopping!) wet and wrapped it around her head. Then he ran. Anyway, he was here when they made the switch. Three profusionists (equipment specialists) rolled the new one in already running. They parked it next to the old machine, unplugged the hose from the old and plugged it into the new and that was pretty much it! (Bailey later said it only missed 2 or 3 beats. She said it felt really weird.) My heart was beating like mad though. The old one was alarming and hissing because the hose had been removed, and the new one was alarming with "left drive line not filling sufficiently". I didn't know what alarm was really a true alarm. I was standing there like a complete idiot with huge eyes, sweating profusely, and everyone else was - like the professionals that they are - just did what they needed to do. The old one is still out in the hallway running. They're going to leave it out there overnight just in case this new one shows any sign of malfunction. Hopefully THAT won't happen. Dr. T has made it very clear that even if something would happen and the pump would suddenly stop or malfunction in some manner, Bailey's heart is working sufficiently to keep her alive for a period of time - weeks or months(?). Of course, if it did stop, risk of clotting would increase immensely . . . well, you get the idea. We woke up this morning to isolation again. Bailey's white count is down again. I'm seeing a pattern that it happens a few days after they start giving her Cellcept, an immunosuppressant. The cardiologists didn't think there's a connection, but I think they're still looking at it. Bailey calls. I've got to get her some cereal. Why not? She just had a hotdog! (She is gaining weight - she's gained 8 pounds since her surgery. She's now up to 63 pounds!) Catch you tomorrow. Angie