Spicy Dragons & Dinosaurs

Short and imperfect explanation of heart transplant patient status.

They have told us about four categories - 1a, 1b, 2, and 7. One might ask what happened to 3-6 but there are always so many other questions to ask.

A 7 is for people who will eventually need a heart but are not in danger of ill health or death. 7 can also be used for someone who is listed as a 1 or 2, but is inactive. If we decided to go to CanCun for the weekend, David could go inactive for that amount of time and be a 7 for a few days.

2 is what David has been since he's been on the list. It is for people who have a need for a heart but are living at home, probably working or going about their day and are on meds. 2's get hearts but it is not necessary for them to have a heart NOW.

1's need the heart now. 1b is for people who are probably home but on heavy medication and whose condition is life threatening. 1a is reserved for people in the hospital waiting for a heart.

David is a 1a right now and will drop to a 1b when he comes home. He still wants to go to work and he is bored enough to do it, but he will not be able to drive on the medication running through that PICC line.

As for talking while the nurse was putting in the PICC line -- I have the print out in front of me and it was really okay for me to be quiet while the nurse was running a tiny tube into my husband's heart. LOL.

Julia had a good day at school yesterday and was cooperative and productive with her two therapists last night. She will talk about David's condition to anyone who asks so her class knows all about it, including that David needs to be "unplugged" to go potty. This apparently is very funny!