A routine.....seriously?????

"Efficiency is intelligent laziness".....my Mom!  I'm not sure if the quote actually originated from my Mother, but it is one she said often enough to us.  I am finding that to be true now, more than ever! Since Todd has been home from the hospital I have been struggling to find a routine that works best for us.  I mean, really, I never had to figure out when to squeeze a dressing change or log numbers from a Heartmate display module in my day, pre LVAD!! I find that if I don't stay on top of things or let them slack, then it all piles up at the end of the day or we are rushing around and the day is chaotic. I like things to run smoothly , hence, my ever tweaking routine!!!  Luckily, I am an early bird...I love to get up and have my quiet time with a cup of coffee before I get my day going.  Today that happens to be at the kitchen table where I can look out and enjoy the neighbor's Christmas lights!!  I get my shower and dressed before I wake Todd up at 7:30....I tried to be nice and let him sleep in longer but that just throws the day off , along with all his medications....that is where the tweaking comes in!!  We are part of a program called VAD Watch, It is a pilot program through U M to monitor his vital signs and device parameters through a website on a 24/7 basis.  We do it right at home and all the results are sent right to our VAD coordinators and to a registered nurse who calls us periodically to check on Todd and basically gives him support, answers questions, ect...That means, right when Todd wakes up he has to get his weight, BP, temp, all the numbers from his Heartmate display, and now his INR (his machine just came) and input the data  into a little monitor that goes directly to this program.  If we don't get it in by a certain time, they will call and check on us.  We have been trying to figure out when a good time to change his dressing would be...we tried first thing in the morning, but it seemed we had so many other things going that we moved it to night time, well, that was OK, but sometimes I would be pretty tired so we changed again to right after dinner and that is working out best right now, it only takes a few minutes but if we get it done then we have the rest of the evening to relax. Something usually comes along to throw things off but I TRY not to be too rigid about it!

I am thrilled that we don't have any appointments for another month , other than right here in town for PT ! Now I am off to get my day going!!
NOTE****  Morning did not run smoothly as planned...Todd got up at 6am...what the heck??  He never stays up at that time, he was just excited to use his new INR monitor....my quiet kitchen table time turned into loud hunting show background noise....my quick retreat into the other room was interrupted by a 6:45 AM phone call, who calls someone before 7 am....????  Oh well, I will try again tomorrow!!! Now I am REALLY off to start my day!!!