Battling Biopsy Wait

Official 2nd biopsy for my dad happened on Monday and boy was it a long day! We got to the hospital around 1030 AM and stayed until 5 PM. It wasn't even the biopsy that took that amount of time, rather, it was the amount of patients that were ahead of my dad. We also can't forget that the staff need to eat lunch.

I have no problem with them eating, however, it would have been nice for these doctors or any of the medical staff for that matter, to give us a better estimate on time. They say it could be a six hour day but the sad part of that is, we certainly weren't actually doing anything for majority of it. As much as that sounds simple,  both of us were exhausted by the end of it.

I'm happy to say though, he's at a 1 A status, which is the highest he can have for the biopsy. 1 A means he's not rejecting the heart and while we can breathe a little easier this holiday week, rejection can happen at anytime. That's why he's checked for the first 6 weeks, every week. After that, it becomes every other week. Then, every month. Eventually it will become every three months.

Forget about bringing a book to read, my dad bought thank you chocolate for what seemed like the entire hospital! I think for me, that was the most exhausting part of the day. I had so many pounds of chocolate to carry, I should have had a shopping cart! I was the mini-chocolate santa clause for the hospital staff.

But it's people like those nurses and doctors and any medical staff that helped my dad, that really make grateful this holiday season. Every penny they make, they certainly earn it. My fathers surgeon Dr. Camacho and my surgeon Dr. Bacha, make me eternally thankful for people who sacrifice so much for their patients. For every nurse and doctor who put in more time then they should, I really don't know how these miracle workers can ever be repaid.

While my dad and I were waiting for his biopsy, we met so many other patients of the same status, that is, having biopsies on their transplants as well. As I sat in this tiny waiting room that looked rather like a mishmash of furniture from all over the hospital, we were surrounded with other living proof people who have survived hardship and overcome it.

A woman who was had an LVAT put in for over a year, finally was given a heart a few few short days after my dad. Another gentleman and his newlywed wife sat with a similar story to my dad's of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. They didn't even get to enjoy their first year together and this upcoming year, they can finally celebrate and be a true testimony of the vows through sickness and in health.

Another man who I think I will ultimately remember the most, seemed almost like a scrooge. He didn't speak much, but his personal nurse did. Didn't really get much of his personal story other than he's quite rich. Aside from his personal nurse, he has a personal physical therapist, and three physicians at his beck and call. Extremely private and seemingly snobbish, I felt as though he wasn't as grateful for the miracle he had been given sitting with his nose held high. However, after he came back from his biopsy, he agreed with the conversation everyone was saying, which was every person in that room had a lot to be thankful for. He wished everyone a happy thanksgiving and I could finally start to believe that he did have a transplanted heart. And a heart in general.

While we remember being thankful this holiday season though, I'm also hoping for those who still haven't received their hearts yet. The last couple I met while my dad was in his biopsy, is why I'm even more grateful this season for the gift my family has been given. This couple is still waiting for a heart and the man has been put into ventricular fibrillation a few times now. He seems to be constantly shocked by his defibrillator. He's finally being admitted to the hospital which will bump him up on the list, but goodness,  for his sake, I really hope he has the transplant soon. I could see the grayish coloring in his skin that my dad once had. Watching my dad for months keep slipping faster and faster into an inevitable near death state, this other man is on the same path. I can only hope that this man and his wife will keep on fighting and believing that life will get better.

I can't help but keep on being thankful for all that my dad and my family as a whole, has been through and overcome.

Life certainly has never felt so sweet.

Happy Thanksgiving and keep on being thankful for even the little things in life.

The Indiana Jones of our family, finding the holy grail of life, a New HEART!

♡

Jess