Colleen Johnson

On February 16th,  I brought my mom into the ER at United, she was not feeling good.  She has been in and out of the hospital for about a year.   When we arrived they took her back immediately.  Her blood pressure was extremely low and labs were not good.  It was about after an hour, they advised me to call family.  I called my aunt, it was the absolute worst phone call to make. Things were shutting down, nurse said it could go either way.  Family arrived within about 15-20 min.  She has now been at United for 2 weeks.  In this 2 weeks, she has experienced many emotions.  On February 17th, they basically said there was nothing they could do, gave advanced directives.  I called my brother home, because she needed him and so did I.  He arrived that evening.   Our family and friends are aMAzing.  We are so lucky to be surrounded by so many great people.  The love and support  is unbelievable and something every family needs in a time, such as this.   The long of the short of this story is, in this 2 weeks, some were ready to give up on her.  Her heart is not happy and ejection fraction is 15%.  Staff kept pushing hospice,  she agreed, this was the best decision to live the rest of her life, with a quality of life.  She was set and ready to start hospice at my home on Tuesday February 25th, 2020 and comfortable with her decision.  In the 1st week of being  here, this was the only option being offered.  Monday February 24th, 2020  at 11am, her new cardiologist put hospice on hold.  He was not giving up on her!  He talked with us and strongly encouraged going to Abbott and consulting on the LVAD surgery.  He thought my mom would be a great candidate because of my mom’s amazing attitude and her being so upbeat, despite her heart being very sick.  He didn’t think choosing hospice prior to consulting on the LVAD surgery was a good choice.  Hospice isn’t a bad choice however, he strongly encouraged her to get all her options prior to making a final decision. She will be transferred to Abbott from United on Monday 3/2/2020.  They plan to admit, run a bunch of tests, then she will meet with the LVAD team and find out if she is a candidate for surgery.  Sounds like whatever she decides, it will happen quickly.    She is not going down without a fight and we are thankful for this Dr.  that saw my mom, as he saw someone who has had so many fights and still willing to fight.  

Keep the prayers coming 🙏
Thanks for all the love and support❤️
Coco’s Crew