{"id":300,"date":"2026-03-27T22:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-03-27T22:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cota.org\/cotaforevelynsheart\/?p=300"},"modified":"2026-03-30T23:47:39","modified_gmt":"2026-03-30T23:47:39","slug":"finally-a-good-week","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cota.org\/cotaforevelynsheart\/2026\/03\/27\/finally-a-good-week\/","title":{"rendered":"Finally A Good Week!"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Evelyn has had a really good week!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We\u2019ve been using a little incentive system called \u201chospital bucks\u201d whenever she finishes an assessment, vitals, meds, dressing changes, etc. She earns \u201cbucks\u201d that she can trade for things like DoorDash treats, toys, new Switch games, extra tablet time, picking a movie, or her favorite snacks. Today, she chose to use her hospital bucks for lunch down in the hospital caf\u00e9, beef sandwich, noodles, Joe Joe\u2019s, and Cool Ranch chips. It was a special little treat for her!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>She also had some fun time playing board games with the local Rochester police officers\u2014and yes, she totally kicked their butts at Uno!\u00a0It\u2019s little moments like this that make her so happy and help her feel more at home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We\u2019re still working to balance her meds around fluid retention, which has been okay so far. It\u2019s been on my mind, so I checked in with her transplant team this morning about heart offers. She\u2019s had three calls in the last two weeks, all while being in the top ten on the list. In the transplant world, that can mean nothing or everything all at once. All three offers were viable matches, but she\u2019s not quite #1 yet. Still, it\u2019s a sign we\u2019re getting closer. With warmer weather, donor availability usually goes up in the Midwest, so we\u2019re hopeful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Mom, Dad, and little brother will be spending the weekend together again. I\u2019ve transferred my job down to Rochester and am living at the Ronald McDonald House full time. Work is just 3 miles from the hospital. That means I can be at her bedside at a moment\u2019s notice, which is such a relief. Feeling grateful to have that option and to be here with her every step of the way.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/fonts.gstatic.com\/s\/e\/notoemoji\/17.0\/1f49b\/72.png\" alt=\"\ud83d\udc9b\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"822\" src=\"https:\/\/cota.org\/cotaforevelynsheart\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6643\/2026\/03\/evelyn-cafe-mayo-e1774914306800-1024x822.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-301\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cota.org\/cotaforevelynsheart\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6643\/2026\/03\/evelyn-cafe-mayo-e1774914306800-1024x822.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/cota.org\/cotaforevelynsheart\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6643\/2026\/03\/evelyn-cafe-mayo-e1774914306800-300x241.jpg 300w, https:\/\/cota.org\/cotaforevelynsheart\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6643\/2026\/03\/evelyn-cafe-mayo-e1774914306800-768x616.jpg 768w, https:\/\/cota.org\/cotaforevelynsheart\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6643\/2026\/03\/evelyn-cafe-mayo-e1774914306800.jpg 1153w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"m_-4566851812402022062gmail-h-how-you-can-help\">How You Can Help Now<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Whether you choose to wear a \u201cHearts for Evelyn\u201d shirt or make a direct contribution to COTA for Evelyn\u2019s Heart, you are joining a community that will help Evelyn for her lifetime- thank you\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/wl.donorperfect.net\/weblink\/weblink.aspx?name=cota&amp;id=27&amp;dpgid=COTAforEvelynsHeart&amp;dpgsol=PTOL&amp;dpg_frname=Evelyn+Otto\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Click Here to Donate Now<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bonfire.com\/cota-for-evelyns-heart\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Get your \u201cHearts for Evelyn\u201d T-Shirt<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/people\/Hearts-for-Evelyn\/61567380579056\/\">Join our \u201cHearts for Evelyn\u201d Facebook Group<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Evelyn has had a really good week! We\u2019ve been using a little incentive system called \u201chospital bucks\u201d whenever she finishes an assessment, vitals, meds, dressing changes, etc. She earns \u201cbucks\u201d that she can trade for things like DoorDash treats, toys, new Switch games, extra tablet time, picking a movie, or her favorite snacks. Today, she [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2374,"featured_media":301,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-300","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.6 (Yoast SEO v26.6) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Finally A Good Week! - COTA for Evelyn&#039;s Heart<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/cota.org\/cotaforevelynsheart\/2026\/03\/27\/finally-a-good-week\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Finally A Good Week!\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Evelyn has had a really good week! We\u2019ve been using a little incentive system called \u201chospital bucks\u201d whenever she finishes an assessment, vitals, meds, dressing changes, etc. She earns \u201cbucks\u201d that she can trade for things like DoorDash treats, toys, new Switch games, extra tablet time, picking a movie, or her favorite snacks. 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