A little explanation on why I haven’t been posting regularly the past week or so. I’m having some heart problems and I’ve been having tests on my heart almost every day. I failed the Exercise Stress Test (hooked up to a treadmill) miserably … I mean I failed it in a minute and a half. They had to stop the test and make me lay down because I couldn’t breathe. It showed “significant” loss of blood flow and they quickly referred me to a cardiologist.
My father’s father passed away from heart disease when he was in his early forties. My father had a heart attack and open heart surgery in his late fifties. He then lived to be seventy-nine. Last year my brother died of a sudden, unexpected heart attack at the age of sixty-six.
For the last two months I have had absolutely no energy and have run out of breath within 5 minutes of trying to sweep or vacuum the floors … or any kind of exertion. I thought it was because of the congestion in my bronchial tubes but when that cleared up the problem stayed.
My cardiologist is also a professor at the University of Utah and I have a lot of confidence in him. His question that got me to agree to the next procedure: “Are you more afraid of having it or not having it?” Definitely the answer is “Not Having it”. I am extremely grateful they found all this out before I had an actual heart attack. I am scheduled for an Angiogram tomorrow morning at 6:00 AM. From that we’ll have several possibilities:
1. They will find nothing and have to keep looking … but that isn’t very likely according to Dr. Chander.
2. They will find something they can fix right then with an Angioplasty, coronary stenting, or atherectomy (”rotor-rooter”).
3. They will find something they can’t fix right then and will schedule a Coronary Artery Bypass.
As you can probably guess I am hoping for Door Number Two and that it can be fixed with stents since I’ve seen how a rotor rooter works in the septic tank pipes.
I’m a bit keyed up tonight … it is actually 1:00 AM on the day of the test and I don’t think I will be sleeping at all. I have to get up in three hours if I could go to sleep. I’ve been taking Prednisone, Nizatidine and a large dose of Benadryl every six hours so I won’t have an allergic reaction to Iodine. Prednisone absolutely drives me hyper crazy nuts but Nizatidine and Benadryl are supposed to make me sleepy plus help with the allergic reaction … but they aren’t making me sleepy. One of the meds, or all of them, have given me an enormous headache, though, so I know they are working on something.
Okay … I’m nervous. I’m worried that they won’t be able to stop the bleeding because I have very thinned blood and bleed easy. I’m worried they won’t find what they need to find or they will … either one worries me. I’m worried that they won’t be able to do the stent and will have to schedule surgery. I know, I know, I know, there is no point in worrying. Well tell that to my brain that is pumped full of cortisone and Matheson super gene’s of worry.
Besides that … they aren’t going to put me to sleep. They want me awake so I can feel it all and learn my lesson, I bet ya. My lesson being diet and exercise maybe? Welllll, the doctor did say that a great part of it is genetics … but I know I could have worked harder to avoid this. So it’s probably a good thing I am going to be awake and scared silly so I will get out and start walking as soon as I get the okay. I haven’t been very diligent with it. This is a picture of me after my hysterectomy in 1980 … Notice what is keeping my life flowing … look real close at the IV. Lynn and my male nurse hooked the 2 Litre bottle of Pepsi up as a joke. Very Funny! If they were to do that now it would need to be Diet Coke.
My brother’s autopsy after his heart attack showed he had a hereditary defect that they will look for tomorrow. Where the circumflex artery (a main artery in the front of the heart) comes down and separates into two arteries there is an unusual thickening just before the split. It doesn’t show up on ordinary tests and usually they only find it if they are specifically looking for it. In fact he had quite recently had a thorough medical examination, including a stress test on his heart and been given a clean bill of health. I feel okay about it all until my imagination takes over … and well, I’m a writer and I have a very active thinker. For instance:
1. I will feel the jerking and pulling all through my chest as they move their video equipment around my inside studio. “Camera, Action …”
2. I have to lay flat for a couple days without bending my leg while the wound heals in the groin area so as to avoid infection and bleeding. That sounds suspiciously like a possible lesson in patience which I know I haven’t prayed for any time during this last year.
3. If the wound does start to bleed at home I am to put hard pressure on it to see if we can stop it. If not we have to get to a hospital rather quickly. Now that is scary no matter how you look at it. I have expertly and covered my entire body with a generous cushion of fat and I think Lynn would have to stand on me to get enough pressure to stop an artery from bleeding.
4. FiFi and Freska, my pets, are already smothering me with love and affection (How do they sense things like this?). They have been following me everywhere lately, napping and sleeping right next to me. I don’t know how they know, but they know.
5. The last time I was in the hospital for pneumonia they put an IV in the artery of my upper arm and it bled and put a huge puddle on the floor of the hospital room without any of us even knowing it. And it still hurts to touch!.
Okay, so I know this is an ordinary procedure that is done every single day thousands of times over. But, it’s the first time it’s happened to me. It must be the words “heart” and “artery” that have succeeded in getting me nervous. I’ve had a hysterectomy and my gall bladder taken out and not been this nervous before hand. Plus … I’m sure you’ve heard that , “A little knowledge can be a dangerous thing”. Yes, I have been reading on the Internet.
Well, I’ll let you know how it goes. If I can’t get to it I’ll have my daughter, Kim, do it. She’s always looking for things to blog about. There ya go, Whimmer! That’s your assignment for tomorrow.
P.S. I must say, I am looking forward to a renewal of my energy. Lynn and I have so many plans for our retirement years … and most of it requires energy.
P.S.S. One positive has already come from it. The Prednisone has done wonders for my knees. I can even get up off the couch by myself now!
P.S.S.S. I am grateful for modern technology. To think I found out all of this without having to have a heart attack is absolutely amazing.
P.S.S.S.S. Next month you will get to learn about Colonoscopies … now aren’t you lucky?
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