On track to be out of ICU on Monday

Looks like we have a good chance of being out of ICU on Monday. Two factors are at stake: she first has to get off of Milrinone, the last actual IV drug that she's on, and secondly, a room has to become available up on the 5th floor cardiology unit. We think the second part is being taken care of. Our understanding is that they are cleaning the room right now. Apparently it's a triple wash-down. They should bring in my Grandmother, she could have gotten it done in one.

So Allie is looking and feeling great. No real pain, no grabbing at her chest, no wincing or grimacing. She had a biopsy (catheterization) done yesterday to determine the rejection level of her heart. There was no rejection. In fact, as I look over at the monitor, her heart rate is down about 20 points. And now she's eating breakfast and laughing at Veggie Tales because the Tomato is singing an opera song. She says she's laughing so much because she hasn't laughed in a while. It's good to see her smiling again. Couple of bathroom jokes and she'll be up in no time.

So here is what she can do and what her days look like:

• She is on a low fat diet and an anti-microbial diet while in the hospital. Basically what this means in turkey bacon and no un-cooked vegetables or certain fruits. She can have bananas and melon, but not strawberries or apples. Any fruit with a thin membrane is out for awhile. Not forever, just a few weeks until she's on lower doses of the immun-suppressants.
• Allie regurlarly gets out of bed and sits in a chair. She is sitting in a chair right now and eating turkey bacon and Captain Crunch and some toast. Come to think of it, this is the first meal that we didn't have to coax us to eat more. So maybe her appetite is coming back.
• Allie goes for walks around the ICU. Fran and she did one yesterday and we'll shoot for two today. She wears a mask and we walk along side her in case she gets too tired.
• When Allie goes upstairs, she can leave her room but has to wear a mask. The immuno-supressants make this necessary.
• Allie is back in her regular clothes. Pajamas, actually. She's been in pajamas ever since she got here. I'm sure it will be nice to put on some jeans---that day is coming soon.
• Her IV pole--aka Schroeder of Peanuts fame--is down to three bags of stuff (from 11 a week ago). No oxygen or Nitric Oxide tanks in the room.

Two weeks. That's what we have left here. Maybe not even that much. Every day less makes a big difference. We're starting to think about how we make our exit. Actually, it's Allie's exit, not ours. She says she doesn't want a limo (though Grace is lobbying hard). She wants something simple with not too much fanfare. She's a shy kid who loves to laugh at Veggie Tales and Spongebob---which now that I think about it---that's exactly how she came into this place.

It's good to see that some things haven't changed.