From the Heart- A Unique Visit to Clinic + Next Step
Hi everyone! I'm dedicating today's post to a medical update. If you missed the last one you can see it, here.
So on Wednesday, I went to my local cardiology clinic for a follow-up appointment. I'm guessing that some of you readers might not be familiar with what a typical cardiology appointment for me looks like. I usually go twice a year. These semi-annual appointments consist of getting an EKG, then a once a year echo (ultrasound of the heart), and then a chat with my cardiologist. So it's really not a huge deal 😉.
Wednesday's appointment was kicked off with an EKG and it wasn't the time to do an echo yet. Then my cardiologist came in. Normally, the chats at my cardiology appointments are just with one of my parents, my cardiologist, me, and possibly a student who is an aspiring doctor. Wednesday was just that, except that others kept trickling in during the visit; a visiting cardiologist, the vascular surgeon, and a nurse practitioner 🙃. Hence, the appointment was unique.
So what happened at the appointment? Well, a lot was discussed, but before I get into that, I am happy to report that in God's mercy, my heart is doing well 🙌! That is definitely a great blessing!
I told my cardiologist about how when I have to stand for a long time straight, I have felt faint. Interestingly enough, when I put a compression stocking on my leg with poor circulation, I didn't get that feeling! Anyways, he gave me an interesting natural precautionary measure to take for feeling faint due to circulation problems: eat pretzels and drink water. Apparently, the mix of salt and water keeps the veins wet and therefore it will be less likely that blood pools in my leg. I'm going to try that out and see what happens!
Also, my right leg visually looks better than it did prior to the stenting, which is an indication that blood flow is improved. To make sure that the vein that got stented stays open, I am on an extra blood thinner called Plavix (before this procedure I was only on low-dose aspirin to make it easier for my heart to pump blood). Suffice it to say, an extra blood thinner makes me bruise easier. Someone in the room during the appointment (probably the vascular surgeon) noticed my bruises and understood the reason for them, but the other reason for the bruising is that I am a klutz in general 😂.
Even though my health is good, there are still some more steps that need to be taken to improve it, namely dealing with the circulation problems in my right leg that are a consequence of my congenital heart defect. The next step in dealing with this issue is that my vascular surgeon will do more stenting in my right leg in January or February of next year. Why the wait? Well, the problem is not urgent; it is more of an issue that needs to be dealt with to improve my overall health. Also, since veins are a delicate part of God's creation, those that are occluded cannot be opened all at once, or they might tear. So in January or February, I will most likely have another clinic visit where the procedure will be discussed. I appreciate that because of my initial vein procedure back in August in which there were a lot of surprises, some of which were inevitable (the vascular surgeon did not know exactly what he would find until he "explored" what was going on in the veins) but others that I probably could have been warned about. Also at this appointment, the cardiac nurse practitioner will "interrogate" my pacemaker. This is just the medical jargon that means flying a "magic wand" over the pacemaker to make sure it's working right 😁. This procedure shouldn't be too bad; God will bring me through it. However, my family, team, and I are hoping that anesthesiologists will be able to figure out what drug in the "sleepytime" cocktail made me feel so nauseated after my last procedure. Also, this procedure is supposed to require about a week of recovery time (last procedure was more like 3 days), which doesn't quite make sense to me. Oh well, just gotta roll with it!
Thanks for your readership. That's all for now. Don't forget to follow me on Instagram! I look forward to posting again on Monday (hint: winner winner chicken dinner) 😊.
So on Wednesday, I went to my local cardiology clinic for a follow-up appointment. I'm guessing that some of you readers might not be familiar with what a typical cardiology appointment for me looks like. I usually go twice a year. These semi-annual appointments consist of getting an EKG, then a once a year echo (ultrasound of the heart), and then a chat with my cardiologist. So it's really not a huge deal 😉.
Wednesday's appointment was kicked off with an EKG and it wasn't the time to do an echo yet. Then my cardiologist came in. Normally, the chats at my cardiology appointments are just with one of my parents, my cardiologist, me, and possibly a student who is an aspiring doctor. Wednesday was just that, except that others kept trickling in during the visit; a visiting cardiologist, the vascular surgeon, and a nurse practitioner 🙃. Hence, the appointment was unique.
So what happened at the appointment? Well, a lot was discussed, but before I get into that, I am happy to report that in God's mercy, my heart is doing well 🙌! That is definitely a great blessing!
I told my cardiologist about how when I have to stand for a long time straight, I have felt faint. Interestingly enough, when I put a compression stocking on my leg with poor circulation, I didn't get that feeling! Anyways, he gave me an interesting natural precautionary measure to take for feeling faint due to circulation problems: eat pretzels and drink water. Apparently, the mix of salt and water keeps the veins wet and therefore it will be less likely that blood pools in my leg. I'm going to try that out and see what happens!
Also, my right leg visually looks better than it did prior to the stenting, which is an indication that blood flow is improved. To make sure that the vein that got stented stays open, I am on an extra blood thinner called Plavix (before this procedure I was only on low-dose aspirin to make it easier for my heart to pump blood). Suffice it to say, an extra blood thinner makes me bruise easier. Someone in the room during the appointment (probably the vascular surgeon) noticed my bruises and understood the reason for them, but the other reason for the bruising is that I am a klutz in general 😂.
Even though my health is good, there are still some more steps that need to be taken to improve it, namely dealing with the circulation problems in my right leg that are a consequence of my congenital heart defect. The next step in dealing with this issue is that my vascular surgeon will do more stenting in my right leg in January or February of next year. Why the wait? Well, the problem is not urgent; it is more of an issue that needs to be dealt with to improve my overall health. Also, since veins are a delicate part of God's creation, those that are occluded cannot be opened all at once, or they might tear. So in January or February, I will most likely have another clinic visit where the procedure will be discussed. I appreciate that because of my initial vein procedure back in August in which there were a lot of surprises, some of which were inevitable (the vascular surgeon did not know exactly what he would find until he "explored" what was going on in the veins) but others that I probably could have been warned about. Also at this appointment, the cardiac nurse practitioner will "interrogate" my pacemaker. This is just the medical jargon that means flying a "magic wand" over the pacemaker to make sure it's working right 😁. This procedure shouldn't be too bad; God will bring me through it. However, my family, team, and I are hoping that anesthesiologists will be able to figure out what drug in the "sleepytime" cocktail made me feel so nauseated after my last procedure. Also, this procedure is supposed to require about a week of recovery time (last procedure was more like 3 days), which doesn't quite make sense to me. Oh well, just gotta roll with it!
Thanks for your readership. That's all for now. Don't forget to follow me on Instagram! I look forward to posting again on Monday (hint: winner winner chicken dinner) 😊.
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