From the Heart- Home From the Hospital!!
Hi everyone! First of all, I want to apologize for not posting on Friday; last week was a bit of a crazy week, but I should have planned ahead. Second of all, I want to dedicate this post to some medical updates.
So, as you know, in my last post, I announced that I would be having a couple of heart procedures on August 3. Well, I sure did and let me tell you, that was a crazy day but God certainly carried me through it 😵!
A little review: I went to the hospital on Friday to get a heart cath and angiogram done. I had to get to the hospital at 6:30 in the morning, which meant I had to get up pretty early. Honestly, I'm glad that my procedures were first thing in the morning so that I could get them out of the way and not have to fast for a super long time. Upon arriving at the hospital, I was admitted and prepared for the procedures. There wasn't tons of prep, just answering some questions, getting my vitals checked, getting an IV put in, getting the lowdown on everything, you know, the works. It was really neat because as I was being wheeled into the cath lab for the procedures, one of the anesthesiologists asked my family friend to pray for her and the other medical professionals because she knew that we were Christians as was she. I thought that that was really cool!
I don't remember much about the cath lab. I know that the IV got tangled around me (oops!), which made me laugh and that I had some patches and a hair net put on me. The last thing I remember is one of the anesthesiologists (?!) I think saying that he was going to give me versed in my IV. Then, I felt kind of funny from the versed and was out 😴.
About five hours later, I woke up to find myself in the ICU surrounded by people and feeling pretty out of it and nauseated. The next few hours were pretty rough and were a blur 😬! I slept some, dealt with an upset stomach, and just felt pretty bad 😷. I also had to lie flat for about 5 hours after the procedures so as to help prevent bleeding 😬💉. There were some good moments in that hard time, though. My cardiologist, (who is super awesome) stopped by to check on me, which cheered me up. The nurses were super sweet, patient, and compassionate. (To all you nurses out there, a huge thank you! We might not always be able to show it, (ahem nausea) but us patients appreciate you and think that you are superheroes 👊💪💗!) At one point, I was feeling ok enough to watch a funny vlog from The Frey Life. Also, one time, one of the machines in my room that was monitoring my oxygenation somehow got disconnected from me and with a red light and loud dinging started alerting the nurse that I was not breathing 😆💥! That was pretty funny because I was 100% alive and was having a good laugh about the whole situation 😅!
By the late afternoon, things took a turn for the better! I think that the anti-nausea meds (finally) kicked in, so then I could actually keep some food and water down 🙌! My aunt and uncle came to visit me, which was super nice. They brought me homemade bone broth and a popsicle, which were some of the first things I was able to keep down! You guys, it is such an amazing feeling to be able to eat food after 24 hours of not eating any!!
After that, I ate some more, was allowed to get up, and even was able to walk a few very slow laps around the unit I was in 🙌! God was certainly helping me to recover!! After that, the Christian anesthesiologist who prayed with us stopped by to check on me, even though her shift had ended about 40 minutes before, which was super thoughtful. After getting ready for bed, eating some more (had to make up for lost time!), and watching another Frey Life vlog, I attempted to hit the sack! I say "attempted" because let's face it: between the lights, beeping monitors, and nurses checking on you, the hospital ain't the place for sleeping! (Sorry to all you nurses out there; I know you're just doing your job 😉.)
By Saturday morning, I was feeling a lot better! My cardiologist came and checked on me again and showed me some pictures of what was done during the procedures.
This leads me to an important part of this post: what the procedures did for me! The heart cath confirmed that God is helping my heart to continue to work well 🙌🎉!! The angiogram turned out to be more than we thought. Not only did the vascular surgeon take pictures of my veins, but he was actually able to open up about a 4cm portion of a vein in my upper right leg that was almost totally blocked 😲🙌! He did this by inserting 4 stents (my cardiologist likened them to little chicken wire baskets 😁) via one of the inserted catheters, which opened up the blood vessel to about 5 times as much! Because of his work, the blood circulation in my right leg is improved and I will be on a blood thinner called Plavix for a while to help prevent the opened vein from clotting. I am so thankful for God's work through modern medicine 🙌!!
Taking Plavix shouldn't make my life too much different, but I do need to be somewhat cautious because it will make me bruise and bleed more easily. I think my cardiologist summed it up well. He said something to me like, "I want you to do things, but just be careful."
One thing I'm learning through this bump in the road is being patient with myself. I'm a generally energetic person, so since my energy level dipped significantly after going under anesthesia, it's been frustrating at times. I like to feel like I accomplished something, but when Friday through Sunday I was mostly resting, it's hard to feel like I did anything. I explained my predicament to a family member who said something in return like, "Well, you were supposed to rest today and you accomplished that." I think that that was an important point for me to hear. In my mind, I want to get back to normal in a heartbeat, but my body is telling me to take it slow. I just need to pray that God will give me patience to just go at my own pace, even though that pace is slower than how it normally is.
This bump in the road is not over yet. In a couple of weeks, I'm going to go to my local cardiology clinic for a follow-up appointment. At this appointment, I am going to meet with my cardiologist and vascular surgeon to make sure that my heart and circulation is healthy, to hear more about what was done for my circulation, and to discuss how to continue to deal with my circulation issue. My cardiologist said that in a few months, I will be going back to the hospital so that more work on the occluded veins can be done. He saw how I had a rough time with the general anesthesia and told me that when I get my veins worked on some more in a few months that there is another option in which I would be somewhat awake but not feel the operation, which would mean not having to be given the anesthetic that causes nausea 🙌. I am super interested in that because I would really not like to feel so sick again.
I'll keep you guys posted! Don't forget to follow me on Instagram! I look forward to posting on Friday!
So, as you know, in my last post, I announced that I would be having a couple of heart procedures on August 3. Well, I sure did and let me tell you, that was a crazy day but God certainly carried me through it 😵!
A little review: I went to the hospital on Friday to get a heart cath and angiogram done. I had to get to the hospital at 6:30 in the morning, which meant I had to get up pretty early. Honestly, I'm glad that my procedures were first thing in the morning so that I could get them out of the way and not have to fast for a super long time. Upon arriving at the hospital, I was admitted and prepared for the procedures. There wasn't tons of prep, just answering some questions, getting my vitals checked, getting an IV put in, getting the lowdown on everything, you know, the works. It was really neat because as I was being wheeled into the cath lab for the procedures, one of the anesthesiologists asked my family friend to pray for her and the other medical professionals because she knew that we were Christians as was she. I thought that that was really cool!
I don't remember much about the cath lab. I know that the IV got tangled around me (oops!), which made me laugh and that I had some patches and a hair net put on me. The last thing I remember is one of the anesthesiologists (?!) I think saying that he was going to give me versed in my IV. Then, I felt kind of funny from the versed and was out 😴.
About five hours later, I woke up to find myself in the ICU surrounded by people and feeling pretty out of it and nauseated. The next few hours were pretty rough and were a blur 😬! I slept some, dealt with an upset stomach, and just felt pretty bad 😷. I also had to lie flat for about 5 hours after the procedures so as to help prevent bleeding 😬💉. There were some good moments in that hard time, though. My cardiologist, (who is super awesome) stopped by to check on me, which cheered me up. The nurses were super sweet, patient, and compassionate. (To all you nurses out there, a huge thank you! We might not always be able to show it, (ahem nausea) but us patients appreciate you and think that you are superheroes 👊💪💗!) At one point, I was feeling ok enough to watch a funny vlog from The Frey Life. Also, one time, one of the machines in my room that was monitoring my oxygenation somehow got disconnected from me and with a red light and loud dinging started alerting the nurse that I was not breathing 😆💥! That was pretty funny because I was 100% alive and was having a good laugh about the whole situation 😅!
By the late afternoon, things took a turn for the better! I think that the anti-nausea meds (finally) kicked in, so then I could actually keep some food and water down 🙌! My aunt and uncle came to visit me, which was super nice. They brought me homemade bone broth and a popsicle, which were some of the first things I was able to keep down! You guys, it is such an amazing feeling to be able to eat food after 24 hours of not eating any!!
After that, I ate some more, was allowed to get up, and even was able to walk a few very slow laps around the unit I was in 🙌! God was certainly helping me to recover!! After that, the Christian anesthesiologist who prayed with us stopped by to check on me, even though her shift had ended about 40 minutes before, which was super thoughtful. After getting ready for bed, eating some more (had to make up for lost time!), and watching another Frey Life vlog, I attempted to hit the sack! I say "attempted" because let's face it: between the lights, beeping monitors, and nurses checking on you, the hospital ain't the place for sleeping! (Sorry to all you nurses out there; I know you're just doing your job 😉.)
By Saturday morning, I was feeling a lot better! My cardiologist came and checked on me again and showed me some pictures of what was done during the procedures.
This leads me to an important part of this post: what the procedures did for me! The heart cath confirmed that God is helping my heart to continue to work well 🙌🎉!! The angiogram turned out to be more than we thought. Not only did the vascular surgeon take pictures of my veins, but he was actually able to open up about a 4cm portion of a vein in my upper right leg that was almost totally blocked 😲🙌! He did this by inserting 4 stents (my cardiologist likened them to little chicken wire baskets 😁) via one of the inserted catheters, which opened up the blood vessel to about 5 times as much! Because of his work, the blood circulation in my right leg is improved and I will be on a blood thinner called Plavix for a while to help prevent the opened vein from clotting. I am so thankful for God's work through modern medicine 🙌!!
Taking Plavix shouldn't make my life too much different, but I do need to be somewhat cautious because it will make me bruise and bleed more easily. I think my cardiologist summed it up well. He said something to me like, "I want you to do things, but just be careful."
One thing I'm learning through this bump in the road is being patient with myself. I'm a generally energetic person, so since my energy level dipped significantly after going under anesthesia, it's been frustrating at times. I like to feel like I accomplished something, but when Friday through Sunday I was mostly resting, it's hard to feel like I did anything. I explained my predicament to a family member who said something in return like, "Well, you were supposed to rest today and you accomplished that." I think that that was an important point for me to hear. In my mind, I want to get back to normal in a heartbeat, but my body is telling me to take it slow. I just need to pray that God will give me patience to just go at my own pace, even though that pace is slower than how it normally is.
This bump in the road is not over yet. In a couple of weeks, I'm going to go to my local cardiology clinic for a follow-up appointment. At this appointment, I am going to meet with my cardiologist and vascular surgeon to make sure that my heart and circulation is healthy, to hear more about what was done for my circulation, and to discuss how to continue to deal with my circulation issue. My cardiologist said that in a few months, I will be going back to the hospital so that more work on the occluded veins can be done. He saw how I had a rough time with the general anesthesia and told me that when I get my veins worked on some more in a few months that there is another option in which I would be somewhat awake but not feel the operation, which would mean not having to be given the anesthetic that causes nausea 🙌. I am super interested in that because I would really not like to feel so sick again.
I'll keep you guys posted! Don't forget to follow me on Instagram! I look forward to posting on Friday!
I'm so glad you're just about back to your normal cheery self! It's neat to hear about everything in more detail! 😍
ReplyDeleteThanks, Aunt Trish! Your bone broth helped me recover :)!
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