First nights sleep at home

Good morning, last night was very exciting!!! I am so happy to be home and it was so fantastic to surprise my children! I know that even though I'm out of the hospital my journey still continues and I want to continue to share this miracle.

I have to say again that the Heart Transplant Team at Mass General are incredible. The surgeons, medical doctors, nurses, physical therapist, occupational therapists, nutritionist, pharmacist and nurse coordinator all worked together to make sure that I was ready to go home and that my transition home was as smooth and easy as can be. As a medical professional myself I can honestly say they provided exceptional care and they really wanted to get me home before my birthday. They didn't realize the surprise they were involved in!

My nurse Kirsten worked so hard on my behalf. You see there were a list of tasked that needed to be completed before I could go home and she was determined to make it happen. Our day started at 8am with an ultrasound of my abdomen, then I had had to eat breakfast and take my morning medication's which is not always easy for me. Then at 10:45 I had to go for my echocardiogram. At 1pm I had to take a shower- this is a requirement for discharge. At 1:30 I had to work with physical therapy one last time to practice my stair stepping. This went much better than the last time. At 2pm the pharmacist Sarah came to my bedside with a box from the pharmacy and to review my medication with me again. The Heart Transplant Nurse Coordinator Carol came to the bedside at 2:30pm to review the medication box and helped me fill my complimentary pill box for the week so that I would not get my medications confused. She also spent time reviewing my upcoming appointments and what to expect.

I was sent home with everything possible to my transition easy. All of this was advocated by my exceptional nurse Kirsten. Thank you so much!!!

We were discharged and out the door by 5pm!! Woo hoo!

I can not thank everyone enough!

My evening went well and we spent a lot of time just talking about me lol and how this has affected each of us. It was good for me to hear everyone's perspective. Just like me my family has had a roller coaster of emotions from excitement and happiness to terror and sadness during these past 12 days! Can you believe it 12 days and I'm home. I can honestly say I worked for this and I will continue to work and do whatever it takes to protect my special heart.

I love my beautiful life❤️

I did stay up late because I didn't want to miss a minute but when I went to bed the very first thing I said was " oh my God my bed is comfortable" I slept for about 3.5 hours straight and then 3 hours straight for a total of 6.5 hours. It was heaven. The most sleep I have gotten in days. I'm looking forward to more and more.

I'm still pretty unsteady on my feet and require a significant amount of help but I will get there.

My beautiful bonus daughter Kayln and her husband Stu are being interviewed on their local radio station in North Carolina this morning to talk about their utube channel

https://youtube.com/@coastalcarolinaliving.

So

I'm going to take a break on this post and listen ... I'm so excited for them ❤️

I know this one was long . I had so much to say. Thank you all for your support. The journey continues...

Each❤️ Beat Matters

KellyAnn