Incarceration

I am currently in my third day of semi-involuntary incarceration at Sacred Heart Medical Center.

I had a scheduled right heart cath on Friday morning. It's a procedure to measure pressure levels in various parts of my heart. I've had at least one about a year ago and I think this is part of the process to find out if I'm a viable candidate for a heart transplant.

Dr. Mooney was not happy with the numbers that came back so she decided to put me on a new drug called Milrinone. It's supposed to make my heart pump harder, more vigorously.

The reason I'm in the hospital is because this drug must be administered by I.V. That means they have to have me here to figure out the dosage, insert a PICC line, (Peripherally Inserted Central Catheter) which is a more permanent I.V. line and train me on the use of the pump. So they say I'm here until at least Wednesday.

The bummer of all this news is my swimming days are over. The pump is not waterproof and the pik line is prone to infection if not kept clean and dry. I love swimming. It's one of the best things about Summer. Plus, I'm a Pisces!

So I feel absolutely fine but I'm stuck here in Room 630 with not much to do. I've been using the time to learn how to operate a new digital sign we have at church, thoroughly read the newspaper, do a little drawing and take endless walks around the halls of the sixth floor.