Day 2: 9am

Kristi woke up before me, as usual. She's just standing there. She insists that there has been enough lying down for the time being. My night involves endless beeps and nurses and what have you. Krist says that she actually slept well. As soon as I am on my feet, they come for her. She's getting a "Hickman" central line. It's a special IV. It involves surgery, but it's only minor. She was basically on "stand-by" today. The surgeons were going to work her in between kidney and heart transplants. They aren't putting her under, they are using some kind of conscious anaesthetic. The advantage is that they don't need to intubate her. Anyway, she will be coming back with an IV that exits just below her collar bone (very near the dimple). This new IV will eliminate the tubes exiting her wrist and, more important, the endless pricks on the other arm, which is now quite bruised.