On Friday, we had a Zoom meeting to discuss what to expect with a transplant. Being our second round, we didn’t learn much new. A lot was about being out patient for the call, which didn’t apply to us anyway. After that, we were still in cheat mode, going for breakfast at a place close by. It was walking distance, but not for Amanda. Parking is atrocious here, so I just got the wheelchair and pushed Amanda there. We chose a brunch spot called The Happy Biscuit; all the staff had shirts that said ‘Resting Brunch Face.’ The front door wasn’t accessible with a ramp, but the exit-only door on the opposite end was, so we went through it. To get in line, I had to ask one of the staff members to remove a chair barricade and tape. I was perturbed, Amanda could tell, and said, Don’t be a jerk! She knew I was already done with it all. It’s not like she was the only person to ever come into that store in a wheelchair. By the looks, you’d have thought the patrons had never seen anyone in a wheelchair, either. I am stared at pretty often, I’ve always assumed because of my height. The wheelchair stares are different, though. Let’s just say I wasn’t a happy biscuit and probably had the other resting face during our brunch!
There are a bunch of boutiques in the area we were in, so we ducked into one. Usually, Amanda would have eaten that kind of shopping up, but she wasn’t interested in getting something she couldn’t use right now with the impending “surrender” as she’d been calling it. So, instead, we went shopping for a robe and some jammies. We hit a few spots before heading to the movies. Going to the movies seems to be an easy thing for us lately. Amanda can keep her feet up and lie back in the recliners, and early day movies always have a light crowd, with four other people in the theater with us.
We have a friend who lives about 25 minutes south of Vanderbilt. A new neighbor of hers has a basement apartment that the previous owners used as an Airbnb. She got hold of them and asked if they would consider renting it short-term, and they said yes. She sent me their contact info and a few pictures from the Zillow listing. It would work great, as long as I could stand up in it without hitting my head on the ceiling! It seemed to be the perfect place, especially with a friend nearby. I contacted the owner, and she said they hadn’t discussed the logistics yet and asked if she could get back to me. She also mentioned it was supposed to be for her mother and father, but her mother was having second thoughts about retirement. I couldn’t give her a timeline, as she’d asked, since there is too much uncertainty surrounding our situation. The apartment is a two-bedroom, one-bath unit with a small kitchen, larger than our apartment, and its own laundry. It also had a separate parking area and entrance. It sounds just about perfect. And with our friend close by, having two teenage daughters, we may have dog sitters built in too! I still haven’t heard back about any particulars from the owners yet. I’m really hoping it works out for us to live there. That it’s a low price enough that we could afford it soon, and that they will allow Tank to stay. Additionally, their parents won’t need it right away.
After our movie, I needed to grab a screwdriver to swap some headlights out in the Yukon. I’d gotten some new ones, but they weren’t bright enough, and I swapped them for another set. They came to the apartment just before we left, and I was too busy getting everything else done to mess with it. I figured I’d have plenty of time on my hands in the hospital to take care of it. After that, we went back to the apartment to get ready for dinner. We were going to a nice steak house right next door. Dinner was good, but nothing special, and about par for a steakhouse, but not a fine dining steakhouse, as they touted themselves to be. We’re a critical clientele for restaurants, though! After that, it was a hop on the pullout sofa evening to watch a movie that we both fell asleep halfway through.
We slept without an alarm set, and both of us were still tired. Since we had a washer and dryer, I wanted to get all the laundry I had clean, so that was the first order of business when I woke. I still haven’t found a wash-and-fold place yet. The laundry place I dropped jeans off at didn’t do it, nor knew of anywhere that did it. After we checked out, we went to a place close by to grab coffee. We’d eaten there with friends last time we were here and enjoyed it. Amanda eyed some coffee on the menu she wanted to try; she wanted to come back for lunch, too. Maybe it’s Nashville, maybe it’s summer, but the scantily clad women with boots on run rampant around here! White boots, to be specific, Amanda said, they were Amazon boots. I know of no real country girls who wear white boots. Let’s just say that fake cowboy boots weren’t the only thing fake around here! The area we were in is close to Music Row and Downtown, so it’s close enough to get that tourist crowd, just the kind of crowd I really dislike. And way too many of them, too. We sat outside, and I was ready to go quickly after sitting down with all the tourists passing by. I don’t like crowds much, so it was just too busy for me.
Amanda wanted to visit one more store and look for more pajamas for the hospital. So we went to one a little south of the hospital, where the theater was that we watched the movie at. After she found a couple of sets, we headed back to the Med Center area to have lunch, but first, we stopped at the chiro, one last adjustment for Amanda before she was going to be in a hospital bed for months. Every time we drive by the apartments in the area around the hospital, I yell the name for Amanda to look up prices; most are over double what we were paying in Houston! We will definitely need to get farther out for decent rent prices, but I’m still holding out for the basement apartment. After lunch, we grabbed a refresher for Amanda’s “surrender!”
We arrived at the hospital and found our way to admitting. It was a quick process, but like any hospital, the waiting was for transport. As we sat waiting for someone to come get us, Amanda said, “Are we really doing this?” I responded well, we did drive a thousand miles for it. She quipped back, “Well, we can still run!” I think the reality of surrendering was setting in. It was so different than any other admission. This one’s discharge was really up in the air; we could be out of her in a month or six, we just don’t know.
When we arrived in the room, the transport guy said y’all have a room with a great view. Many of the nurses and techs mentioned the same. The window faces the courtyard in the middle of the Vanderbilt Medical Center. I suppose many of the rooms overlook other buildings. I’m glad we lucked out and got a great view, rather than looking at a building; at least we can see grass and trees. It seems we can get a pass to go to the courtyard, too.
It was pretty impressive when we looked at the TV in the room, which had Amanda’s name on it and an interface that played a video about the admission and what to expect. Old news to us, but would be great for some first timers. A virtual nurse appeared on the TV and asked if she could pop in and turn the camera on. A camera that was pointed at the ceiling spun around and pointed at us, and a picture of the nurse popped up. She completed a few intake questions and mentioned that they would follow up virtually in the mornings and evenings.
They have a morning and evening rounding team of a doctor and a PA. We didn’t see the evening team, and it took forever to get orders in for anything. A PA finally came by to do an intake and ordered a few things. They didn’t start Bumex or Dopamine drips, but did a small bolus of Bumex. It didn’t do much, nor did the early morning dose. We slept alright. Amanda said her bed was good, and they have a decent pull-out chair for me to sleep in. Not being my first rodeo, I was ahead of the game and brought my blow-up waffle topper I’d gotten back at St. Luke’s.
They’d wanted to get a CT back in Texas, but never did, so that was top on the list, and they took her back for a quick one to see what the access looked like for the surgery. We waited till later in the morning to see the team. They finally came after the CT. I recognized the PA, he’d given me directions in the elevator the night before when I was going to the car to get a few things. Pain meds were a concern for them, and Amanda had been hurting. The cardiologist was concerned about her being on the heavier pain med before surgery and the expectation of pain management after surgery. I mentioned she’d been on pain medication prior to previous surgeries and was able to come off the meds. He mentioned that he had seen the Texas notes on the diuretic regimen and said there was no need to mess with something that was working. The plan is to get her dry; she’s already 25 pounds over her base weight, then move to listing. They also wanted to review the CT results. It was mentioned a couple of times to get her dry and discharged, but I don’t think they had reviewed the approval committee’s decision about staying inpatient.
We had a good day, nurse, we both liked her. She finally got the orders for the dopamine and Bumex, but had an issue with one of the lines. She couldn’t flush it, no matter how hard she pushed the saline syringe plunger. She left and came back to replace the top and try again. After trying and trying, she couldn’t get it. I was called up to give it a try, but it wouldn’t budge with my twisting, still nothing even after I got a towel for a better grip. The nurse eventually called the PICC team to take a look. He was able to twist it right off, saying he could use a little more pressure since he wasn’t worried about breaking it because he’d be the one to fix it! He flushed it with no problem either. You could tell that was his specialty, and could tell his experience from the beginnings of grey in his beard.
Dr. Nair texted Amanda in the afternoon to check in and make sure we made it to Vanderbilt alright. He’s pretty invested in us, and we appreciated him touching base. I went out for a refresher run. They don’t have Starbucks, per se, in the hospital, but from what I saw on the menu, it was identical. I went to the cafeteria to grab what Amanda wanted, but it was closed on weekends. The nearest StarBs was about a 3/4 mile walk there and back, so I got a little exercise in. After that, I got a little more exercise when I went to the car to grab a few things and then to an Amazon locker at a nearby gas station to pick up a delivery.
The nurse and PA have both been trying to get the menu right for Amanda and set to plant based, but out of 4 meals, she’s gotten none that have been right. The PA even came by and confirmed that he’d put the order in, but something isn’t adding up. I got dinner last night at the cafeteria, tacos. They weren’t the best, but they weren’t too bad either; at least they were cheap. The food around here is expensive, especially compared to Houston. The nurse was kind enough to give us a cafeteria voucher for the incorrect hospital tray. I went to use it for dinner, but everything we’d have eaten was closed. I’m hoping the availability of things is better during the weekdays. So, we ordered some pho and fried rice from Uber Eats. It will be a learning curve here. We’ve already made a number of poor choices in Houston and compiled a decent list of places we liked for delivery, but everything is new to us here.
The double drips have already been doing their job well. It’s more of a pain for Amanda to keep getting up, though. She has EKG leads attached to a monitor on the wall. It is the same as the CVICU at St Luke’s, so I was used to it. There is a portable unit that comes off. So, she has to unhook it and hang it on the IV pole every time she goes to the bathroom. She’s been busy going back and forth. Maybe too busy because the nurse came in and said they wanted to stop the dopamine already. I just hope they don’t take too long to remove the fluid; we need her listed!
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