Posts Tagged ‘angioplasty’

Today is a Milestone Day For Me

Mar 23, 2011 life

Today is March 23, which means it has been six months since I had my heart surgery.

I had a heart catheter procedure done on my birthday last year, and it turned out I had an 80% blockage in my heart.

Six months later, I still am not up to my normal stamina, but every day I feel myself getting stronger. I almost never need my nitro spray anymore, and I walk faster than I did pre-surgery.

It’s amazing how much better I feel with the blood fully circulating through my heart. LOL

I still have to contend with the MS and all that, but as scary as it was to have it done, I’m glad that I took that leap of faith and did it.

I probably wouldn’t be here marking a six-month milestone if I hadn’t.

Now, I just need to build up my stamina so I can handle all the walking on my June trip to Canada for TBEX.

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A New Lease on Life

Sep 26, 2010 life

It all started Tuesday,  September 21, 2010.

That was the day that we (my roommate & I) had set up the big move with the U-Haul truck. The first truck I picked up had mechanical issues. I didn’t even make it to the stoplight before the “check engine” light came on.  Then the whole truck started shaking. We took the truck back and exchanged it for a different one. It was difficult for me to get into this truck because there were no handles. I had to pull up over my head by grabbing the steering wheel. It was a bit painful, but I didn’t think much about it. We got most of the stuff moved and called it a night.

Wednesday, I woke up not feeling very well. I felt woozy and nauseous. I ended up throwing up seven times. Then the pain started. The right side of my chest (front and back) felt like I had pulled something. Then the pain started spreading. My neck and right arm stiffened up and it occurred to me that it might be something worse than just pulled muscles.

By noon, the pain was so bad that I had Rhonda take me to the emergency room at Dr. Phillips hospital. They admitted me and gave me a nitro patch.  By 4pm, I was in a room. My blood pressure had skyrocketed and throughout the night, my heart enzymes showed I had actually had a minor heart attack.

I saw a cardiologist,  who recommended I have a procedure called a heart catheter. Basically they would insert a tiny scope up through an incision in my right groin.  They would then guide it up my femoral artery to my heart. If there were any blockages, they could then do an angioplasty to open up the blocked coronary artery.

I was scared but I agreed to do it. So on Thursday afternoon (my 43rd birthday)  I was wheeled into surgery.

I was lying on the table when I heard a whirring noise.  “What’s that sound?” I inquired. “Oh, I have to shave you for the surgery,” says the nurse. “Shave me?” I thought as I felt the electric razor touch my pelvis. Yup, I got shaved all right. Then they rubbed the area with alcohol to disinfect – to say that it stung was an understatement!

The doctor then injected me with a local anesthetic to numb the area and I was given something in my IV to make me sleepy. I fell asleep a little bit after hearing the doctor mention he had made the first incision.

I woke up 4 hours later in a different hospital room. I wasn’t allowed to move for 3 more hours, so I didn’t bleed out of the femoral artery. They kept me in one more night, but late Friday, they let me go home. Well, me and my bag of prescriptions.

Yesterday I pretty much just napped on the couch. Brighthouse came by and hooked up everything so I just let my body decide when to sleep. Today, I feel better. I’ve been up for a few hours and so far, so good.  Later, after Rhon gets home, I’m going to take my first shower since the whole thing started. This is when I get to first remove my surgery bandages, so just in case anything goes wrong, I’d rather have someone else in the apt.

I’d have to say this was probably one of the scariest weeks of my life. Being faced with your mortality isn’t an easy thing to deal with. I had been making small changes in my diet and lifestyle, but I guess I’m going to have to get a little more hard core.  But I have faith in myself that I can do this.

I meant to photo-document the whole experience, but I was so out of it. Plus, my cell battery died. =(

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