Around the Home
What a fun week we had, taking a break from our normal activities with school, work, and everything in between! Because the CEA convention (Christian school conference) was supposed to be this week, the kiddos still had off Wednesday-Friday, which made for FREE days. I was equally excited because I am homebody in the sense of love being home and with my family. I was able to work on a few projects, play games with Mazers, explore the Grand Rapids area, and get some heart things figured out. Here’s what we found out:
I had an ECHO done on Wednesday and it showed my ejection fraction (which is how hard your heart pumps), went up 13%! I was ecstatic when I first saw that, but then realized it said in the notes that that’s what it was last year, and it was a “false” result, meaning my heart was having so many extra beats last year, that it skewed the results. And so last year, it was around 20-25%. And this year I’m in the same boat again, with extra beats, so is it an accurate reading? Don’t know. But I’m going to go with because I felt so good this summer and I’m going to trust that my heart is getting structurally better because I know God can heal. And if he chooses not to and it isn’t as good as what we had hoped, well, he is still a God who can heal. It changes nothing, just our approach to intervention.
Then on Friday, I had a virtual visit with my electrophysiologist and we have a plan set in place. I indeed do have a PVC burden of 18% (anything over 10% typically requires treatment), and they feel the cause of my 80s/60s blood pressures are my extra beats (PVCs). It is hard to function with a BP of 85/60, but I have yet to faint and yet to need medical attention, so we are so so thankful for that. So, I will get another holter monitor, this time a 12-lead, so that they can determine exactly where the extra beats are coming from. If they are multifocal (all over the heart), then the only thing that they can do is put me on a medication, in hopes I respond to it. I haven’t had the greatest success in the past, but you never know. New year, right? If the extra beats are centrally located in one area, they will be able to do an ablation, they hope, where they would go in and zap/burn the area that is misfiring. All that to say, the next step is the monitor for 48 hours, waiting a few weeks for the results, and then determining the best treatment.
Until we figure out the next steps, I’m going to capitalize on every moment I can. I often find that in circumstances that shake up life a little, it makes ya want to live every moment to the fullest. Not necessarily in the sense of DOING more, but by BEING more in the moment I’m in.
On Thursday, we went to the Craft Outlet in Grand Rapids, which is an extension of the company my brother-in-law works for. It was such a unique place and was SO fun to walk around in! And the unique character of the building alone, was enough to look at!
It was a day we had no plans, but just went wherever the wind blew us. After the outlet, we decided to drive up Rockford, so see the dam. Mazy hadn’t ever seen a dam, and so we figured it was a great fall day to do so:
She is one of my most favorite people to hang out with. And as everyone says, “wow, she’s sure your mini me!” Yes, yes, she is.
The fall colors, I never get sick of!
My brother-in-law recommended a chili dog place in Rockford called Dam Dogs, and they were SO SO good! Mazy of course just got a plain hot dog with a bun, but had to get a loaded up dog! And a soft pretzel as a side…
After seeing a fish jump at the Rockford Dam, I knew I had to take Mazy to Fish Ladder Park in downtown GR. So back to Grand Rapids we went! And thankfully we saw a few jump! Mazy was quite concerned that the babies would be left behind, but we assured her families went up together :).
There were lots of people salmon fishing in the river…
We finished the morning off by driving around downtown Grand Rapids, looking at all the big buildings! Mazy is just like her mama in loving cities and big buildings! Can’t wait for our next adventure…
