Sunday Stroke Survival: Update on Cardiologist

 

You know a couple weeks when I did my mini rant on my cardiologist? I thought to fire him. Don't get me wrong, I still may. But doing the heart cath just to placate me. He actually found something. Not one but two blocked arteries.

Maybe he learned something akin to how to listen to patients. Maybe some humility. But I doubt it. Guess he's right by his way of thinking I don't have a heart condition because he's already fixed it. but something wrong and he can't figure out what it. All week long he's been trying to puzzle it out. My blood pressure and heart rates are through the roof. Instead of making things better, they've gotten considerably worse, and my life is an awake H3LL!

After two stents were placed at the carotid arteries, blood flow should flow more freely, right? That the heart caths and stents are designed for, right? I have been home for a week and a day since they performed the cath on the 22nd. I spent the entire weekend after discharge in bed asleep having very lucid dreams. I woke my daughter one night saying I was in labor! I was on the verge of being taken back to the hospital by a very worried daughter, when I awoke Monday. On Monday, the increased dose of my blood pressure medicine and an additional blood thinner was ready for pick up. I went into the bathroom when I heard an all too familiar sound. It was my heartbeat. 

It was like a drum beating in my head and I started getting short of breath. I barely made to my dining room chair. I was wheezing bad. I looked at my desk confused. I couldn't Remember why I'd sat down there. 'Sit there and calm down. The air will come.'

I was still fumbled around with things around my laptop. Inhalers! That's what I was looking for. It's the first time in about ten years that I've had a full-blown asthma attack. It took me by surprise. Y'all know me by now. You know I listen to my body like a mechanics listen to an engine and it whispers speak to me. I know how my body reacts or should not react. Something was definitely off with mine. I remembered the protocol rescue first to open air pathways for the steroids to get into my lungs. It has been drummed into my head. Asthma is the only sign that I was a premature baby and it's been a major factor in my life my whole life. It's only been compounded with all my allergies recently.

Albuterol increases heart rates, so the drumbeat was back in my ears. I grabbed my pulse/O2, O2=93 and flashing 96, P 127. That explain the drumbeat. Whenever my

heart rate goes higher than 100 BPM. It vibrates the tiny bones of my inner ears and eardrum works in reverse echoing bodily sounds instead of outside noises like normal hearing. I'm not really sure how it does it or it does it for anyone else. I just know immediately when it does. I used to use it as a tool when I ran strips of V-Fib and was on medication for it years ago. I only used the pulse/ox monitor for him. I've been using it for to monitor my own low heart rates the past few years.

Maybe, whatever switch the neurosurgeons at Emory hit to reverse my BP and HR into low gear was tripped by the heart cath switched it back on. I'm second guessing here. I just don't know. It'd be nice to know what and where that switch was. Think of the medical implications. Maybe, God just said, "Honeymoon's over, kiddo.  Time to get back to life." Or maybe, I was put on this Earth to be Queen of Abby Normal to baffle medical folks. All hail the queen!

The problems is that the return of my high blood pressure puts more strain on my leaky, damaged heart valves. If I have a resting heart rate (sedentary, lying around with your feet up) of up to 127, can you imagine how fast it beats when I'm up and moving? Yeah, you get the picture. I feel like a pile of dog poo and I can't do much. No, I'm not saying all this for pity mongering nor from the self pity mode. Maybe, I brought another doctor to his knees. By throwing his attitude back in his face demanding, "You were supposed to make it better! What did you do to me??" It's humbling when for a god-complex doctor has to say, "I don't know." But honestly, I secretly take joy that I've made him a better man/woman for their next patient. 

All I want is I want to live this life the best way possible!

                                            Nothing is impossible.

Sunday Stroke Survival: Update

My Botox is in. I'm starting to get some relief of the cramping although actual movement and control haven't kick in yet. It will sometime in the coming days. I'll be calling Monday to set up my therapies again. I can't remember when I've been so excited about going. Imagine, seeing positive gains towards recovery!!

I know it's only temporary at this point, only lasting so long as the Botox is working, but the fact is, I'm meeting goals again other than just maintenance. Last time I managed 2 full minutes of standing, a full weight bearing, without my AFO before the spasticity kicks back in. It might not sound like much, but it's 2 full minutes of freedom after 12 years of my ankle and foot being locked in paralysis and/or spasticity. With support, I can sit, stand, and shift weight from my left and right foot for about 20 minutes without my AFO. It will take time to get new pathways rerouted in my brain and strengthen the muscles to combat the spasticity. 

Whew! It's been years since I've had any positive reinforcement to keep at it and hope alive for recovery. As I end every post with "Nothing is impossible," it is pretty tiring and almost trite to keep hope alive and stay positive. For now, 2 minutes of pre-stroke(s) normalcy is enough.

I had a mini nosebleed this week. In the wee hours I went to the little necessary room and noticed two small drops of blood on the floor. I reached for the toilet tissue to apply it to my nose. I also checked that a hand towel was in easy reach. The wad of toilet paper conveniently stuck in the blood to plaster it to my face as I applied pressure to the right sinus near the bridge of my nose. I was in the bathroom between my daughter and son in law's bedroom and mine, so I was within hollerin' distance of them. I kept waiting for the flow to either pour down the back of my throat or out of my nose. The seconds turned to minutes, it didn't. I gingerly remove the pressure from my nose and waited. Nothing. It had stopped on its own just that quick.

Needless to say, I didn't go back to bed. I sat at my computer for about three hours just in case it started again. I was terrified it would. Finally, as the birds outside began chirping and the skies lightened, I went back to bed. In the following days, no reoccurrence of the nosebleed. All I can do is raise my hand to heaven and say, "Thank you, Jesus!" It's nuts to have to live this way, but at least I know what the cause is not that really helps.

I had my visit with the vascular surgeon and the ultrasound showed a little more progression (ballooning) of my triple A (Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm). But it's still in the "wait and monitor" category. We talked about the swelling in my legs. He didn't think it was a vascular origin problem because diabetes was no longer in my mixed-up medical history. With my Hashimoto's diagnosis though, he thought it was more a lymphedema problem. A blood test was needed to confirm. They also scheduled me for an ultrasound of my carotid arteries. It's been a year since it's been done. 

My heart cath was done Friday. Nothing unusual was found or at least nothing stent worthy. He did have a look at my three leaky valves. Yes, he confirmed they were leaking. (Hurrah!) Maybe he's not that bad at cardiology. He talked to me about valve replacement to which I refused. I'm still looking for a new one.

Nothing is impossible.