Unconditional Love

A few weeks ago while at the doctors, Joe was asked if he would like to start the process to get listed for a heart. Neither one of us was emotional prepared that day. We have been waiting a year to hear these words. Joe thought they were never going to consider him because of his health issues. Quite frankly I truly didn’t think they would either.

Here we sat in front of the doctor, probably with our jaws to the ground, filled with so much emotion we didn’t know how to react. She asks Joe again and the word YES flowed from his tongue with great excitement. We were overjoyed to know that this was finally going to happen. He was healthy enough to start the process. He was READY and now WILLING to LIVE!

It’s been quite the journey this last year and here we are at a new chapter of this crazy train ride. How bad can it be? We’ve been through testing, we been through procedures and we’ve lived in a hospital for almost a year, piece of cake huh? Not so much, but here we are on the ride to a new life and we are ready to handle whatever it takes to get listed.

Most of you probably read this and say, she says “WE” a lot and think to yourselves it’s Joe, he’s going through this not you. And yes, he is going through the physical, medical and all the daily struggles of staying alive. The “WE” I say is because I’m going through the mental part of the journey as his caregiver and that’s just as important as Joe’s fight.

As his caregiver in this phase to transplant, I have to book all his appointments, keep track of INR, Blood Pressure, weight gain or loss, order his pills, order his dressings, report any changes to his team, keep him fed, active and emotionally uplifted. He’s my responsibility because he’s my husband and I want him around for however many years I can get and I will do my part in this transplant process.

Phase one, the team had to call the insurance company and discuss all costs for transplant and make sure they covered everything. This would take a few days or weeks, more waiting. I prayed every night and we finally got the call, we were approved. This is going to happen, we are so ready. Bring on the testing.

Phase two, blood work. They took fifteen to eighteen tubes of blood, Joe lost count but there were a lot of tubes. The blood they needed was to test for several different things. We have a patient portal so of course as each result of the blood test came in the notifications where like church bells ringing. Test after test coming in over the next few days, all were good. Prayers answered.

Phase three, scheduling appointments on top of appointments. Joe must have CT Scan of his abdomen, chest and pelvis, carotid Doppler of his neck artery, consult with a social worker, family consult with social worker, pacemaker check, infectious disease consult, bone density test, psychologist appointment, palliative care appointment, pulmonary function test and this is just to name a few. All these have to be completed and with good results to go on to the next phase.

There is so much to go through just to get approved and get in the TRANSPLANT LIST. After he completes everything the doctors need and he is finally listed it may take years to actually get a new heart, but WE are so ready for this journey to begin and end with a new journey of life for us both.