Colorado - UCH

Tyler and I had our first full appointment with the University of Colorado Hospital staff. We met with the medical doctor, nurse, circ support, and the heart transplant coordinator. Tyler had a 40 minute echo-cardiogram and the LVAD rpms were adjusted a little higher, to 9600, which should give him a little more energy. As if he needed more! Very hard to get him to rest, but as he says .."I have things to do".
The UCH staff was very friendly and jovial. The interaction between them seemed very collegiate. The "appointment" only took four hours. We were very tired afterward and experienced a little of that "information overload" feeling again.

Tyler's blood work came back very good. All the levels are where they want him to be and his anemic level is getting better. After looking over the current medications, we were able to remove the Dipyridamole. UCH sent in the form to our utility company so that if the power goes out we are on the priority list. UCH is also contacting the Wheat Ridge paramedics to inform them of our situation and the LVAD.

We still have to go through a transplant evaluation before he is listed active again on the heart transplant list in the Denver region. That evaluation is now set for February 4th. We found out that there are currently 10 people active on the heart transplant list in the Denver region.

One of Tyler's "things to do" is going through the medical bills, which is becoming the most confusing aspect of this whole event. One bill came with just a line that said "Balance Forward" and no explanation of the charge. When Tyler called about the charge, the comment he got was: "Well, it is complicated." Well, if you want to get paid, uncomplicated it! It will take some more months to sort out what is actually owed and how much insurance is actually going to pay, so in the meantime the bills wll just have to be filed.

I had my oncology scans and am still cancer free. They did find a kidney stone and I'm going to have that checked out today. I guess I'm just trying to see if I can have as much pain as Tyler. It will make for a very loud household!

Robert