Monthly Archives: November 2025

later I am leaving Mayo Hospital with a new heart and new hope for the future.

Clap Outs are given to celebrate the discharge of most heart transplant patients.

For the next two months or so, we will be staying at Gabriel House. This is the best place to stay while continuing my follow up visits with Mayo Clinic. These will take place at least three to four days a week with multiple visits each day and will go on until all the medications are fine tuned and there are no signs of rejection.

Dialing in the initial medications the first evening at Gabriel House.

Updates to follow as the journey continues.

And now for a quiz:

Which person in this photo has NOT had a heart transplant?

Happy Thanksgiving to Everyone! Much to be thankful for! Thank you for all your love and support.

I am most happy to report that SIGNIFIGANT progress has been made. All four chest draining tubes are out. The feeding tube is out and she is able to eat on her own. Most IV drugs have been discontinued. She has done so well with physical therapy that, instead of going into a rehab hospital, she will most likely be discharged and move into Gabriel House with me this Monday.

And, the best news of all: They did her first biopsy yesterday and found no evidence of rejection.

a week ago we were headed down to pre-op for the transplant.

I was waiting until she was out of ICU to do an update so I could provide her new room number. I thought she would be out two days ago but, erring on the side of caution, they delayed the move until today. Her new room number is 1148. Our mailing addresses are here.

Her heart is doing fantastic so far and her overall progress is fair to good. The delirium and disorientation come and go but are trending better. She still gets Very tired Very quickly. She has been having physical and occupational therapy every day, but progress is slow. We may have to go to a rehab facility for a week or so after she’s discharged from the hospital. I expect hospital discharge will be in 7 to 10 days.

After that, it’s a couple of months at Gabriel House.

I was thinking it would be good to have visitors to help her get back in touch with the world but I’m hearing about allot of colds, etc. going around so I’m asking no visitors for now. I’ll try and set up Facetime or Whatsapp video calls instead. Whoever is interested in doing that just text me or leave a message here on the blog.

Hopefully, Jean will be doing the next update.

Once again, a very heartfelt thanks to all!

Miracles do happen! Although she’s still very confused she’s doing exponentially better.

Well, I was hoping Jean would be able to write the next post but it doesn’t look that will happen anytime soon.

Before I tell you what’s going on, I want you to know that this is not uncommon (thanks Judy) and will hopefully resolve within the next few days. In fact, there has already been some small improvement.

Here’s what happened:

About 3 am Sunday morning they tried to give her a pill and she couldn’t/wouldn’t swallow it. Further physical assessment revealed she was unable to talk or follow commands like, hand squeezes, move hands, fingers, legs, toes. Not able to hold up her arms or legs up. If she opened her eyes, there was no eye contact. CT scan showed no indication of stoke. EEC showed no indication of stroke or seizure. With pain stimulation (pinching) she moves her arms and legs. Although they can’t rule out stroke entirely without an MRI (which can’t be done now because she has temporary pacer wires) they’re pretty sure she has Metabolic Encephalopathy. Probably caused by all the drugs and resulting chemical imbalances in her system.

The good news is, she is now occasionally reacting appropriately to some people; eye contact, a smile or nod, even the occasional word. She seems to react better to people she knows so if you can come by for a short visit, please do. Of course, don’t come if you even think you’re sick or if you haven’t had your flu and covid vaccines. Also, you will have to wear a mask.

The other good news is, her new heart is doing exceptionally well.

Also, I hope you’ll forgive me for not answering texts and emails promptly or even not at all. I really appreciate them, more than you know (thanks Luke). It’s just all quite overwhelming for me at times. I find making the blog post cathartic.

I’ll try to update this post daily until she gets past this stage.

Jean got another offer last night around 11:30. We decided to wait until it was actually happening before we told anyone. I will update this post in reverse chronological order. You probably won’t be notified when it’s updated so just check back in now and then. The surgery will be at least 10 hours. I expect to be updated every few hours and will put the updates here when I get them. Thank you all for your continued support. It means the world to us.

1:45 pm The breathing tube has been removed and she’s breathing on her. Most importantly, she seems to be very much herself. Though it is very painful to talk, she is responding appropriately to questions. Everything is still looking very good. Looks like they’re going to let her rest the remainder of the day. This is the last update I’ll do on this post. The next one will be from her. Thanks again for all your prayers and support.

11:20 am: I’m in the ICU with her. So far, everything is going better than expected. She got a male heart and, according to the surgeon, it is very strong. Once she starts breathing on her own, they will pull the breathing tube and have her sit up in a chair. Hopefully, that will happen in the next few hours.

1:30 am: Just spoke with the surgeon. Everything went well. Should be able to see her in the ICU in about 45 minutes.

12:40 am Mayo Clinic: “We are starting the closing process.”

11/8 12:32 am Mayo Clinic: “Her old pacemaker is out. We will let you know when we begin the closing process.”

11:29 pm Mayo Clinic: “She is off the heart bypass machine. Her new heart is doing the work for her now. We are going to remove her old pacemaker device now.”

9:01 pm Mayo Clinic: “The new heart is here and Dr. S is placing it now.”

7:58 pm Mayo Clinic: “She is on the heart bypass machine. We will let you know when the new heart gets here and Dr. S begins placing it in.”

6:30 pm: Procedure started.

4:30 pm: In the Operating Room.

11/7 3:30 pm: she went to pre-op.

Much as I would like to be writing this ‘from the other side’, meaning post transplant, that is unfortunately not the case. Here I sit joined by other transplant patients who have been waiting even longer. The Dr’s offer encouraging words and expect it to be ‘any day now’. We did have a very encouraging event last week when a patient, who was waiting for 6 months for a simultaneous heart and liver transplant, finally got the call. After being sick for so long he was sitting in a chair the day after surgery and is now walking the long hallway we have here, unaided. He’s an inspiration to all.

We have a close group here and are routinely visited by some of the recent post transplant patients who must remain close by for 3 months. We had a fun afternoon when 3 of them showed up with snacks and we played cards. It’s been great to get to know them and follow their progress and to be able to ask them any questions we want about what our paths will look like post transplant.

Here’s a fun picture of 3 recent post transplants and 3 pre transplant. My new family. (We have to make sure not to make them laugh as their chests are still sore!!!)

Thanks so much for all the beautiful cards and visits and words of encouragement. It means the world to us both. I will probably request no visitors after I have surgery as my immune system will be non-existent and no treats as I will probably be diabetic. Miss you all!!!!