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@danab

rare candy, Well he's lucky to have you. It will be a bit busy at first, but it won't take to long and He'll be able to do many things without much help. Even just a few weeks after mine, my wife was able to leave and do things for herself. She always loved walking for a hour or 2 each day. So with your other helpers that he could call when needed maybe a schedule will allow you to return to work Im thinking by your 8 week timeframe or maybe even less. We left the Hospital about 2 weeks after transplant and spent 2 weeks in a hotel nearby. Then went home as the appointments slowed down a bit. I live in Florence about 70 miles from Mayo and if we had to be near the hospital multiple days would get a hotel room. But once home it was really the lifting restriction mostly. I could only lift 10 pounds for the first 6 weeks. So it was mainly things that required lifting and car rides because until off of pain killers which ended at 6 weeks also. so after that i could even drive myself. But my wife was at all my appointments most of the first year. so that will be the hard part Im suspecting. Is your work close by? if you needed maybe after the 6 week point how easy will it be to be available for appointments. The biggest event was the biopsies. being under anesthesia required a driver every time and up to the about 6 month point they are often. Life for me is so independent now it hard to remember how much help I needed and for how long.

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Replies to "rare candy, Well he's lucky to have you. It will be a bit busy at first,..."

Dana,

It’s so great to hear how independent and “normal” your life sounds now! This is what I hope for him!

I live 2 1/2 miles from Mayo, so that part is convenient. I used to work there and I could get from my driveway to inside the doors at Mayo in 10 minutes usually! I do have one day off of work every week even in normal times, it’s Wednesday. So definitely if things could be scheduled on a Wednesday, I’d be there. I was even thinking that at some point it would be nice to cut down to working 3 10-hour days instead of 4 regardless, so who knows, maybe his transplant would be a good motivator to make it happen sooner rather than later.

I agree with your wife, long walks are my favorite way to de-stress.

Unfortunately, my job is 45 minutes away in Goodyear, which makes it hard to do stop over to Mayo during the workday.

With his other friends, I’m thinking we can work something out.

He’s really a great person and I’m lucky to have him too. 🙂

Thanks again, hearing from someone who has been there is so helpful and encouraging.

Dana, can I ask how long you waited for your heart on the transplant list? Of course I know it’s different for everyone, but just curious!