• A Long Drive to Nashville

    Monday was a flying trip back to Houston. Poor Tank had been going with us back and forth, so he was sad when packing, but now gets excited when I load the Yukon, thinking he’s going with us; this morning was no different. He is a rescue and had terrible separation anxiety when we got…

  • Busy Weekend Home

    Ok, I know it’s been a minute since my last regular update. Last update, we were inpatient in Houston, and now we are in Nashville, admitted at Vanderbilt. I’ve been too busy to make updates. When I pulled my Mac out last night in the hotel, I wasn’t feeling it and fell asleep with Amanda…

  • From the Beginning to Change of Heart 2.0

    If you read our medical journal regularly, this post may seem redundant. If you need an update on what is going on, I’m going to do my best to catch you up from the beginning of Amanda’s heart journey as quickly as I can. I’ll get back to my regular journal posts and catch everyone…

  • One in the Hand Better Than Two in the Bush

    Looking back, with me starting to write yesterday’s post in the morning while we were processing things and finishing in the evening after we made a decision might have been confusing! We are 100 percent going to Nashville for Amanda to be admitted solid till transplant. I think it was a sign in itself that…

  • Tennessee Calling

    Last night, as I walked the hall to get some ice and water, the charge nurse said she just found out Amanda was back. She mentioned that when they called about a high heart rate, she looked at the board and saw Amanda was the culprit, telling them Oh yeah, she’s ok, we don’t worry…

  • Admitted

    Monday was an easy day. We needed to run a few errands, so we decided to see a movie while out. I really like the early-day showings; only three other people were in the theater with us. We saw the new Final Destination movie and had prepped by binge-watching all the previous films on Sunday.…

  • Vanderbilt Decisions

    Thursday, we had the remainder of the appointments for the transplant evaluation. The first two were teleconference appointments, but they couldn’t be done out of state; we had to be in the state of Tennessee for them. We were already there for the other visits, I’m not sure why these had to be via teleconference.…

  • Vandderbilt Plot Twist

    Our short two-day, three-night stay in Nashville is packed with busy days at the hospital for consults from everyone, from nutrition to the surgeon, and everything in between. Wednesday, heading to the first appointment, we didn’t know the area. It is a large campus that is part of the university. A bigger footprint than a…

  • Nashville Bound, with a Hospital Detour First

    As we got ready to leave, Monday Tank was confused. I think he wondered if we were going home or if Amanda was leaving us. As I packed the Yukon up, making a few trips, he got excited thinking he was going with us. Poor guy, I felt bad leaving him. This is the first…

  • Busy Couple of Weeks and a Busy One to Come

    The lapse in posts means we are stable, or at least there haven’t been any hospitalizations. Either way, things have been pretty steady for us. Amanda has been retaining fluid, but not nearly as bad as before, yet it is still slowly creeping up. The day after Amanda’s infusion, week before last, we had a…