A Few Weeks of Calm; Then the Storm

In July, our heart transplant team at the Mayo Clinic agreed that this was a good time for us to travel from our home in Arizona, to our "home" in the Pacific Northwest.   Most of our family lives in the Puget Sound area of Washington State.  Our home away from home is a 25 year old motorhome, parked on some good friends' property where we have lived for 5 or 6 months of the year for the past several years. This required Lee to be moved to inactive (Status 7) on the Transplant List.  Lee's health was stable enough for the car trip, and we wanted to see family and take care of some tasks while Lee was still able.

This trip north would be to sell our beloved Safari.  The maintenance was getting to be way too much for Lee and traveling was much too difficult for the foreseeable future.  We needed to sort through all the tools, belongings, and  memorabilia still stored in the motorhome and our small storage trailer.  It was six weeks of exhausting work for Lee.  Getting the 36 foot beast cleaned (inside and out) was my job, but Lee needed to examine the rig for any mechanical, electrical, or plumbing issues before we listed her for sale.  Thankfully we found no major issues, but lots of tweaking to be done. In the end, The Good Lord sold her to an amazing young man with a dream (that's for another story.)  We were delighted to sell her to someone with energy to spare and pray that the motorhome provides him years of service, as it did for us and her previous owner.

Besides tending to the monumental task of selling the motorhome, we were busy enjoying our children, grandchildren, grandchild-to-be, sisters, brothers, nieces, nephews and a wonderful assortment of grand nieces and nephews.  All of this wonderful activity took it's toll on Lee's health.  He had been suffering from insomnia and not eating as healthfully as he does in Arizona in our quieter lifestyle. I began to worry about how much more easily he tired.  He coughed a bit more, his color was off.  As soon as the motorhome sold (which it did so quickly, praise God!) we cut our time short, said our emotional goodbyes to friends and family, and headed south to Arizona.  We had our Ford Explorer loaded to the gills and were pulling a U-Haul trailer stuffed to capacity with the rest of our treasures.

As we traveled, Lee began to get more and more uncomfortable.  He had no appetite and when he did eat, he felt very bloated and had pressure in his belly.  We were attributing all of this to sitting for long periods in the car and tried to help with more frequent stops, mild foods and some ginger ale. Our last stop was in St. George, UT.  Lee was restlessly sleeping/resting throughout the day, but always in the sitting position.  I asked him to go lie down in the bedroom, in a comfortable bed, so he could get better rest.  It was then that he was able to articulate, "when I lay down, I feel like I'm drowning."  WELL!  The alarm just went off in my head and I realized that this was a heart failure symptom.  He needed to take more diuretic (Lasix) to take the fluid off his heart, and we needed to get home and to the Mayo Clinic ASAP!

The next morning we made a beeline for home.  Lee had gotten to the point of being terribly uncomfortable and it was pretty scary.  The thought of going to a hospital somewhere far from home was overwhelming for both of us.  We decided the best course of action would be for Lee to take more Lasix (which would mean frequent stopping, if you know what I mean) and we would pray our way home.  Drive and pray.  Pray and drive.  My plan was to go to a hospital in Las Vegas if Lee did not improve in that 90 minute drive.  By the time we hit Las Vegas, Lee was visibly more comfortable, so I prayed the Lord would get us to Kingman, AZ next.  When we reached Kingman, Lee was even better ... not GOOD, but definitely better.  This is how we traveled all the way home that last day.  The Lord calmed my fears as the miles were put behind us.

We arrived home on a Thursday night.  The next morning, Friday, September 13th, we called the Mayo Clinic and were told to come in right away.  After checking Lee out, they admitted him to the Mayo Hospital with heart failure and near kidney failure.  The plan was to put him on an IV medication, Milrinone.  This medication helps the heart to contract a little harder (Lee's heart doesn't contract well at all now), thereby forcing blood through his system, helping flush his kidneys and get him back to his baseline.  It can only be given intravenously.  

While in the hospital, Lee was placed as a Status 1B (see previous post, THE LIST.)  After three days in the hospital, the Milrinone (along with large doses of the diuretic) worked and nine... NINE pounds of fluid was drained from Lee.  He felt MUCH better.  The pressure was relieved and Lee was back to a Status 2 on the Heart Transplant List.

The doctors at the Mayo released Lee from the hospital but let us know that if Lee's system was to become overloaded with fluid again, it would be time to have a semi-permanent PICC line placed in his arm.  The Milrinone would then be administered intravenously all the time.  It would also mean that Lee would be listed as a Status 1B.


Proverbs 3:5-6  "Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.  In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make straight your paths."