Heart Journey Update

Thought I would give a little update on my heart failure journey since I’ve been asked a few more questions recently. I am thrilled to say that I made it through 2020 (of all years) without being admitted into the hospital for heart failure and even bypassed having a procedure! It had been quite a journey the 3 years prior, but last year, I MADE it. When I realized in the fall that I had yet to be admitted, I was determined to make it the entire year (though I suppose it’s always my goal to not be admitted!). When I got COVID I got a little nervous, but God was so gracious and I got nothing but the flu. Only his grace!

This all doesn’t go to say that I haven’t struggled with my heart failure. I had a fantastic spring and summer, but knew when September hit, something wasn’t quite right. I started the year walking Mazy to school (3 blocks away) and by the end of the month, I could hardly walk 1. I contacted my heart failure doctor and she ordered a holter monitor. Sure enough, my extra beats (PVCs), were at 18%. My electrophysiologist was contacted since it was an electrical issue, and they ordered a more intricate 12-lead monitor and sure enough, it proved that I had some major PVC issues. So basically, every 5 beats, my heart beats irregularly and out of rhythm, which makes me short of breath and they believe this also might be the cause of my low blood pressure. The first sign I had was that my blood pressure was around 85/55 and I knew something was up because I wasn’t feeling well. Then it was dropping to high 70s/low 80s, and I couldn’t keep going like that. So hence the holter monitor.

As a result, I will now have yet another ablation done on Tuesday, February 9. It will be my 3rd. We know that ablations will eventually not be an option because they can only zap the heart so many times because I already have a lot of scar tissue, but the doctor believes he knows where the mis-firings are coming from and we pray that this procedure will work. The goal in all of this is to keep pushing back a transplant, which we know may be on the horizon, but the more they can do now, lessens the chance of me having to have 2 transplants in my lifetime. And God has been SO gracious to us in that I’ve been able to bypass one so far! Two years ago, I went through all the testing for one, but didn’t pass one test by a fraction. So they sought other options and so far, so good. Has it been easy? No, but neither would a transplant. At times I wonder what it’d be like to “start over” with a new heart, but at the same time, I look at 2020 and having bypassed the hospital for a whole year, was quite a miracle.

So we start 2021 with a procedure, but we know too that God has gone before us, has paved the way, and already knows what is best for us. As an ER doctor once told me, it’s a step. Steps in the journey. And I firmly believe that God directs our every step and I just look forward to see where God continues to take us. For it’s in HIM that we find true peace and contentment, even in our trials.