Outpatient Heart Procedure - Update Sunday June 3rd

[mrspunkysmom]

Today I had an appointment with an arrhythmia specialist. My heart has some severe scarring and the beat is irregular. SO I have to have an EP cath to see if I am vulnerable to sudden death (his words) and if so, have a defibrillator implanted. (Why do they like to scare you silly?)

Right now my emotions are vacillating from annoyed to cavalier to depressed. This scarring could have resulted from blunt force trauma such as car accident, hard fall. It could also have been a silent heart attack. I had an echo two years back and nothing was noticed so maybe the stress test picked this up. I could have had a silent heart attack this Christmas season when I had all that stress and allergies. I was on 4 different antihistamines per day. My blood pressure was up and I was tired. I wouldn't have even noticed.

Despite my weight, I've kept check on my BP and kept the cholesterol low. Right now I'm feeling frustrated.

I'll let y'all know when the procedure is scheduled.

[Scooter's Mom]

Best of luck in your procedure!

[Pinot's Mom]

Please do keep us posted...prayers and {{{hugs}}}.

[Lilith Cherry]

Best of luck Anne.. and don't worry because it isnt painful

[Karen]

We'll keep you in our prayers.

[mrspunkysmom]

Thank you all for your kind thoughts and well wishes here and on Facebook.

I realized today that many are not on Face book, so I thought I would post here also. A lot of this will be direct from Facebook but I will add more.

This is in reverse order

Sunday, May 27th.

Feeling pretty good. Realized that inactivity over the last several weeks and some MRSA infections added to the fatigue. Same with yesterday and today, which I why I got out and about. Still annoyed but that is far better than being depressed.
Made some dinner last night. I washed dishes and did some laundry. I've been checking my blood pressure and pulse. The pulse is between 60 and 70 while sitting at the computer. The BP ranges from 130/70 to 160/90. The discharge papers did say it would be erratic for a while. I think it's high right now because I'm annoyed and focusing on the negative.

I still have 24 hours before the lifting restriction is removed. So I'm going to call a friend to clean the litter boxes, take out the garbage, and move a box of papers to the living room for me to shred.

I need AA batteries for my other wrist cuff, so I'm going to rebel and drive to a nearby grocery store. The versed has completely worn off.

I'm not sure if I am nervous or angry right now.


Another rant: You can skip this if you like to read my good update from yesterday.

I looked up the stats on the medications before I picked them up yesterday. Both are rarely used and hard to find. The anti-arrhythmia drug, Flecainide, is generic and has been around a while. I talked to the pharmacist and he seemed positive about it. No one know much about Xarelto, and anti-coagulant, which was only recently approved for used with cardiac ablations. Recently as in November of 2012. It is very dangerous and has a 5.1% mortality rate. It had to be ordered and until recently was only used in those undergoing hip and knee replacements. I am not happy with being a lab experiment.

I am annoyed that the doctor was not clear with me on the procedure and the aftermath during our consult. Speeding up the heart for sudden death was not the only goal. He did call it an EP study but was not clear on the procedure. I was in too much shock during the consult to think clearly. I trusted him. They also performed an ablation which is to put some scar tissue where the heart is having electrical trouble. This is to reduce the incidences of extra fast heart rate, which can reduce the heart's effectiveness as pumping blood. It can also lead to strokes but not from clotting.

He and the other heart doctors are convince that I fainted in February due to fast heart rate. Not at all. I actually felt good and not at all tight. That's because an anti-anginal drug I was on interacted with the Toprol and lowered the heart rate and BP. I had it checked later. I had been standing very still for several minutes and when I moved I fainted.

So the 90 day restriction against driving is because he is afraid I will faint again. (I have already gone more than 90 days since my one and only lifetime faint and have not fainted even with erratic heart rates.) There is also all of the risk factors. By BP really doesn't get that high, except when I'm annoyed. Regulating my diet has helped greatly. My diabetes is considered well controlled and the A1C is below 6.5 which is in the pre-diabetic range. I hope to drop it more. Diagnosing Celiac disease and removing wheat from the diet has help with the weight.

I am having difficulty following instructions from someone that does not believe me when I say I don't smoke and can't be honest with me before performing a surgery.



Update for today, May 26th Saturday. Copied from original post lost in the multitude of posts. Doing good.

Had fun today. Called a friend who had a friend come pick me up so I could get the medicine for arrhythmia. I then went to my friends gyms and walked SLOWLY on the treadmill. She got me a salad from Subway and I took my medicine. Other than a little warmth, I felt okay.

Her gyms closes at 2 PM on Saturday so I walked to the Bi-LO to pick up some fresh fruit and veggies. The Bi-Lo was having a fundraiser for a local childrens' home and I found a cup with Jane on it and a hardcover Warrior's book.

One of the asst managers was very nice to me. He asked if I was okay. I had gone in yesterday to see if the pharmacy had the meds. They didn't, but he was concerned because I was walking so slow. I was just being careful since I am a clutz and didn't need to bleed out on the floor. Nice people. Hardest working Bi-lo or grocery store around.

I went back to the gym and waited on her to finish cleaning. Wendy, who needs a pancreas kidney transplant came in and we chatted for a bit. She's had difficulty getting approved for the transplant although she is not overweight. Maybe 10 pounds.

It's been a good day and I didn't go stir crazy. Going to rest shortly!

Friday May 25th in the evening. My rant after I really read the release papers.

Now for the irritating part. The doc says I can't drive for 90 days but this won't keep me from going to work. So no disability, which I didn't want, but I live rurally.

Okay, I'm single. What gives? He's worried about fainting and strokes, yet he couldn't reproduce the super fast heart rate. I will be on a mild blood thinner and an arrhythmia drug for a while. Well I haven't fainted in over 90 days and I know that was a medication that I quit taking. The former doctor prescribed it. Slowed the heart rate and BP too much.

The next irritating issue. He checked on the discharge papers that I need to enter a stop smoking program. I don't smoke; never have. Grew up with it but that's been years. I take care to avoid second hand smoke. These are fighting words. I had to declare that I was smoke free to get a discount on my insurance.

Also, he said if I could reduce some of the risk factors like diabetes, weight, and HBP, he might amend his orders. ARGHHHHHH!!!!!!

I think what he said was atrial fibrillation. And Syncope (fainting) I have to go 90 days without fainting. Already been there. EWww I'm mad.

How the hell am I supposed to look for a job if I can't drive?

[mrspunkysmom]

Best of luck Anne.. and don't worry because it isnt painful

I'm not worried about the pain. I'm worried because their goal is to see if they can initiate a sudden death heart attack to determine whether I need a defibrillator. I just don't like the way he tried to scare me.

Thank you all for your wishes.

[krazyaboutkatz]

I hope that everything will go well. Good luck.

[mrspunkysmom]

the date of the procedure is May 25th at 11Am

a friend is taking me. Most everybody was involved with memorial day trips but one friend is with me. Great person.

I'll let y'all know the details later.

[pomtzu]

Wishing you good results. I don't think I'd like the idea of them trying for a heart attack. That sounds pretty darn scary to me.

[Karen]

I cannot imagine they'd try to induce a heart "attack," that doesn't sound right. Maybe he meant a heart stoppage, to see if it restarts on its own?

[phesina]

Prayers and good wishes that all goes well for you, Anne.

[Randi]

It sounds scary, but I suppose they know what they're doing. There'll be experts around you.

Try to read up on the procedure - or perhaps it's better not to, just trust them and live healthy in the meantime.

Best of luck!

[mrspunkysmom]

Wishing you good results. I don't think I'd like the idea of them trying for a heart attack. That sounds pretty darn scary to me.

It is pretty darn scary. They are afraid that might heart might speed up and then quit causing sudden death. The scarring and electrical issues make this likely since my heart has already sped up several times. Sounds scary. I don't know why they just can't put in a pacemaker or defibrillator in without trying to kill me.

But I am trying to keep my spirits up and stay positive.

[mrspunkysmom]

It is pretty darn scary. They are afraid that might heart might speed up and then quit causing sudden death. The scarring and electrical issues make this likely since my heart has already sped up several times. Sounds scary. I don't know why they just can't put in a pacemaker or defibrillator in without trying to kill me.

But I am trying to keep my spirits up and stay positive.

I'm wondering if this has more to do with insurance. My heart's already erratic. Why not just put a defibrillator in? Insurance has to justify it?

I'm taking two days off before the procedure. I have things to do..