Today was a coin toss, Lauren was either going to be admitted or were we going to be able to come home.  Driving up to the hospital this morning for Lauren’s doctor appointment, was a very quite ride.  So many thoughts and emotions, and of course Lauren sleeps.  The Teddy bear with Lauren, was a gift from one her great friend Norm. On the Teddy’s shirt it says, “Lauren Warrior Girl”.  He gave it to her for Christmas and said “it was large enough for her to cuddle with in the hospital”.  She absolutely love it.  Norm, your a great friend to Lauren and to our family
When we arrived at the hospital we were early, so something that I have never done in my life, I fell asleep in the waiting room.  This pass week I have been running around for Christmas, then preparing for maybe our hospital stay.  It caught up with me.  Lauren had to wake me up lol I said “were are we?”  I guess I finally had a few quite minutes to myself.  I have NEVER ever done that before.  Lauren and my husband Dean said they were waiting for me to start snoring, nice.
During the appointment the doctor said that Lauren looked great and she was not going to admit Lauren today.  What a relief came over all of us.  But then she did say, they expect Lauren to be admitted next week.  They are going to call us with the date.
Ok, you are probably asking why does she have to be admitted to wait for her heart and kidney transplant?  Lauren’s body is strong and they want her to stay that way.  When she is admitted into the hospital Lauren will have a PA line (Pulmonary Artery Catheter Line), which is placed in her neck into her artery so they can read Lauren’s heart functions, and medication goes through the IV to help her heart beat.
Lauren right now is a status 1B, but when we go into the hospital Lauren will be a !A top of the list.  Last time when Lauren waited for her gift of life, Lauren became very sick, that is why she ended up with an LVAD, bridge to her heart transplant.  It is hard to say this, but this time Lauren does have that opportunity for a LVAD.  A transplanted heart cannot have a LVAD implanted into it.  So we don’t that that cushion.  So the sooner we move into the hospital, the chances for Lauren to receive her gifts of life a heart and kidney may come sooner.
With Lauren’s health being in a good spot, her surgery and recovery will hopefully be easier for her than last time.  If you may remember it took her 5 months to recover from the surgery.  So many set backs over and over again.

            As it stands right now,  we do know we are moving into the hospital after the New Year, next week. Our luggage is packed and ready to go.  Took them out of the car when we got home, so they are just going to hang out in the hallway.  It is such a hard emotion knowing when we do move in, it will be months.  After Lauren had her heart transplant 4 years ago, I said “I could never live that life again”.  Watching my daughter hooked up to that PA line, (if you remember we referred to it as Lauren’s leash) was one of the hardest time of my life.  Yet, now we are placed back into the same position.  That expression “Never say Never” applies here.  Lauren is scared and nervous, she knows what to expect and knows the pain she will have to endure.  Time to be her cheerleader again.  We did it once, we will do it again.
I would like to end this post by saying we received some GREAT news today .  My mother has been hospitalized, for the last couple of days. She was discharged today.  My mother had a procedure done at the being of the month for her leg circulation, she was experiencing pain, so my sister Laureen took her to her doctors He then admitted her into the hospital.  They were able to find out what was happening and was able to fix the problem.  So today no one in my family is in the hospital.    How was your Day??
Incase you would like to read about Lauren’a first heart transplant and what it is like to live in the hospital waiting for a heart transplant pick up a copy of our book                                             Strength in a Heartbeat, Diary of a Heart Transplant