We were going to make a post last night but the internet was out at the house. Some exciting stuff happened on Thursday, we got to see Margaret's old heart! Yes Ray, I missed the picture of the bird but a got a few of this and a few are below. Don't worry it doesn't look that gross, Margaret says it look like something that went bad in the fridge and needs to be thrown out. It is in a few slices since the lab already had taken some tissue samples. Because of her amyloid the heart was pretty stiff and there were some parts that felt like bone or cartilage. It came in a bucket and it was stored in a big bag, there were large air bubbles which made it hard to take pictures and get the air bubbles out of the way. The post-transplant coordinator requested it and held it for us under her desk until we got to look at it, little creepy but she said she has gotten used to the smell since she does it a lot.
Yesterday we also had a Mayo executive chef show us how to cook. Big advantage was that we could eat what he was making. He made ground tuna sandwiches (patties), grilled fruit and bab ganoush. I tried it all and the tuna was better than I thought even though I don't like tuna.
We did find out that Margaret has osteopenia (barely) which is the precursor to osteoporosis, not enough bone loss to be osteoporosis. She had three choices, a weekly pill, a monthly pill or a once a year IV. She picked the IV which she got today, so she should be good for a year.
********** Warning Pictures of her old heart below ************
Very cool! I have more pictures but have to cover up some of the personal info that was printed on the bag. Also when I get home I will clean up the pictures so they look better.
These are very cool pictures, indeed -- that's some show-and-tell you've got there! The heart doesn't look at all like I'd expected a heart to look; then again, I've never seen a heart preserved in liquid and stored in a bag, either, so that must explain it. It's not too gross at all, just curious and very interesting. I'm glad that they caught the osteopenia early and are treating Margaret for it. We're looking forward to counting the days until y'all come home! -- Teresa
ReplyDeleteVery cool....will show Chicago group today.
ReplyDeleteOne shot a year is also cool.....all women get it....can't keep it away I guess.
Love to all,
M
Only you Jim....
ReplyDelete