❤️12/11 6:30 pm

 Ethan got another echo today to see how his heart and lung function are doing.  They decided not to decrease any of the heart support medication but to keep it the same. His lung pressures just aren’t coming down as much as they had hoped so they are going to add another medication to help decrease pulmonary arterial hypertension (high lung pressures). This is something I am assured will decrease as Ethan acclimated to his new heart.

The medication they are using, I knew it as soon as they said the name, sildenafil. I couldn’t help my stunted 7 th grade humor and snicker. Of course he would need that. Classic. He is going to die! I immediately asked about (ah-hem) any other side effects that could “pop up”. Ethan will not be amused with my humor on this one.

I just hope it works. They are telling me he has to be on the breathing tube until at least Tuesday when they do his biopsy, maybe longer. 

The Psych team came in and did a consultation. He is definitely experiencing delirium. They are giving him an additional medication and increasing the dose on a current medication to help combat that.

Already it seems to be working. He was trying to tell me something and I couldn’t understand it. The difference was, he was looking at me. I didn’t understand it and that pissed him off. 

They also gave tips on things to do to combat that. One thing is to make sure the blinds are open and lights on during the day and lights off and quiet at night. They also want me to tel him the date. I have been holding off on this because it will make him panic.  They said if he panics that means his brain is connecting information correctly and that is valuable information for them to know. I mean I suppose. I just don’t want to traumatize him.

I love almost all the people that work here. They are great. I also like when we get paired with our favorites. The good thing is, even if we don’t have a particular nurse  we can still wave and chat in the hall.