Results

Josh's cath is done, now we can breath a sigh of relief. Comparing his current pressures to his previous cath they found the results were nearly unchanged. Actually, the resting value has slightly improved this time. What's more, his pump is functioning just fine. This is probably the best news we received because the pump's function has been something of a worry for a couple of years now. 

While his pressures aren't great, he has adapted well to the slightly high pressures and his doctors are pleased to see they aren't rising. 

Overall, Dr. Peng (his cath doc) said she is pretty happy with everything she saw.

We also discussed the results with Dr. Kaufman. She is his primary cardiologist at Stanford and the driving force behind his treatment plan.  We discussed the plan moving forward based off today's results. In short, she thinks we need to "keep doing what we're doing."  At this point neither of us feel compelled to list Josh for transplant.

This is really what we aim for with his treatment plan, safely buying as much time as we can before transplant. 

We really feel good about the results today. Last time we were a little disheartened by his numbers, but this time, armed with the knowledge they aren't declining we are pleased. 

Josh was such a trooper through the whole process. His buddy Owen, who is an old pro when it comes to heart procedures, had given him a pep talk the day before which helped settle some nerves. 

Josh didn't need to be intubated during surgery so I feel like we were pretty lucky in that regard. He only needed to lay flat in recovery for 4 hours which was wonderful compared to the typical 6 hours. He woke up really groggy and it took him so much effort to mutter his first few words. He only had a tiny voice and closed eyes as he worked them out. Those whispers I eventually deciphered to be "Xbox" and "jalapeño Cheetos".  When he's in these situations he knows he can get just about anything he wants. Ha!

Unfortunately for Josh he did so well during the procedure he didn't get to recover in the bed they reserved for him in the CVICU. He stayed on the recovery floor, which lacks some of the perks of ICU that he's accustom to. 

But regardless, he had a great nurse and the stay was relatively short lived. 

He bounced back pretty fast as soon as he was back on his own two feet, he was darting all over the place making me nervous. I can tell the hardest part of recovery will be keeping him from playing harder than he should. 

I am so grateful that's my biggest worry tonight.

I'm really feeling thankful for the positive report and that he's been in good spirits. Thanks to everyone who has been there for us, who

has been thinking of us, praying for us, reached out with encouragement, visited, helped with the kids etc, etc. We truly feel loved and we appreciate it all immensely!