Now we wait.

We had been told with discovery of the amyloid back in February that the treatment would likely be a double transplant of the heart and then the bone marrow.  We were pleased not to have this be a mystery any longer, but now we had a new problem, the wait.  We were another month into the process and I was experiencing my heart becoming weaker all the time.  The month of March was a time when the cardiologists tracked my water retention with my weight and the swelling of my feet and legs.   As my heart was failing I was retaining a lot of fluid.  The doctors answer to solving the fluid issue was to put me in the hospital where they would give me potent diruetic to pull the fluid off.  This was helpful, but always lowered by blood pressure too low, putting me at risk of fainting or blacking out, something they really did not want to happen.  Tracking my fluid retention by my weight seemed funny as I was loosing a lot of muscle mass due to atrophy.  If my weight was steady, it probably meant I was trading muscle for fluid.  In March I went through a battery of tests and examinations to get as comprehensive of a work up as possible.  This was the preparation phase for acceptance as a transplant candidate.  The comprehensive health review is why heart transplants have such a high rate of post operation success.   I was very fortunate to walk into this process with no issues other than a bad protein and a failing heart.  Every other area checked out fine.   

During this time, we started to receive a lot of cards, offers to help out around the house and calls of concern.   We had notes from people we did not expect and some calls from friends who we had not spoken to for some time.  Some people that were already close to us came out in grand style to make sure we were taken care of.  The community of support from family, Church and work has been very touching to us.