Friday, March 2, 2018

No School but Still Learning- My Health News



A Little Creepy, to Me

I’ve been procrastinating this post for so long. There's a peculiar speech bubble stuck in my head; I feel I’ve failed my school courses. They weren’t hard and I had just figured-out the modules and new way to learn. It was mostly doing an assignment and checking-off each assignment. 

I stopped school suddenly. It was one of those atrial fibrillation episodes. I could do both. I told myself so many times and I even thought my prayers would be answered. They were and it wasn't meant to be this semester. Twice I went to the hospital and both times they worked all night and all right to lower my heart rate without the cardioversion. One was an accident when I was startled out of sleep and the other was 100 and jumpy, and the hospital could let me go home.

I was finding that I was becoming tolerant to the heart meds and I was taking the highest recommended amount. Finally, after a few days, my heart was normal. I knew school would have to wait. I need those ablations. It’s like using a disbudding iron and burning my electrical escapee points.


Wise Words and Photo from my daughter, Larin Knapp


Now, I've had six cardioversions in one year and four ablasions, actually one was a dud because the team had to stop because there was a blood clot. Really, they saved my life by finding it. I did have another rough and extensive ablation, but somehow I managed to put myself back into "crazy heart" again.

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I've got to become a normal blogger without the gaps. It's been six whole months and I thought I'd get on with trying to just finish this one blog post and try and go back to writing regularly. What I didn't know was that my heart just needs medication and move on. I'm not upset with my heart that I was given and grateful it was only atrial fib and tachycardia. My valves in my heart could be causing more trouble, my murmur could be a lot more severe, and more.

 My knees could be better and it really makes me upset that my thoughts 20 years ago were to not climb the ladder and I did anyway. I fell on my knees and then was dragged into a fence, that was used for military runway stability. The fence didn't give, in-other-words. The rope was nylon and I didn't have gloves on and I now have no calluses. I made mistakes all the way around and I knew beforehand. That accident changed my life. My daughter rear-view mirror photo fits my life so much. I could've done so much more, I could've hiked and leisurely walked in the park. Lesson learned and  I do have to be better. I think this is where my New Year's resolution begins in March.

Yes, I'm disabled with my knees and heart, but no way am I changing my ADL. An acronym for Activities for Daily Living. WHAT? It's on my chart at my Primary Care Doctor. Sheesh, I brush my own teeth, shower, lots of make-up, etc. My ADL even when I don't leave the house!

I'm going to the doctor again on Tuesday, and by that time I will have been in atrial fibrillation and tachycardia for 24 days. I don't know what the doctor has planned. I know the routine. I have the best doctor and anesthesiologist and I awake like I've taken a nap. No shaking. I'll have headphones for privacy or to give privacy to others. Then, it's off to USC to have my Thyroid removed with a cardiologist. I'll be so happy that for awhile my hospital visits will be in my past, please. 

No more griping about health stuff because I have so much else to think about. When I read back on this I'll know why it took me so long. I think facing any surgery causes anxiety and I was putting off my blog post because I was afraid that anxiety and writing about my heart and knees would send an arrow in my brain that I didn't want to face-up to it. I did and really, I do feel better and yep, I could have a stroke or heart attack without this procedure and going to the doctor. But, maybe later because I have lots more to do. I'm not dying today and there you go. Health News is over.

Proverb Art by Mary Engelbreit