Can You Imagine? (Heart Journey Update)

Can you imagine? That after fighting cancer, that my heart would show signs of improvement?

Going into chemo, my oncology and heart failure teams worked closely to ensure that my heart failure wouldn’t worsen, all while trying to combat the leukemia in the best way they could. Those first few days were filled with so many conversations about my heart and what to do. Whatever concoction they decided on, proved to be effective because my leukemia is in remission.

But where did that leave my heart?

On Wednesday, it was decided to lower my amiodarone dose (the med that combats the extra beats) to see if my heart would still respond to it, since it’s not a drug I can be on long term. Today I went back to U of M to talk with my heart failure doctor, to decide what to with that area of my heart. After answering several questions and a short examination, it was determined that I am doing REALLY well, in comparison to my last appointment (granted I was on chemo at the time). In fact, my fluid levels (a major heart failure symptom is fluid retention) haven’t been this good for over 5 years!

FIVE YEARS!

Now granted, it was only one lab draw, so not sure if my fluid levels will stay consistent (that’s going to be the true test), but my levels were in the NORMAL range! I haven’t had that in YEARS. I will say too, I put myself on a very strict salt diet (way lower than what they even recommend for heart failure). It’s a pain and expensive to buy all the healthy food, but it is WORKING. My doctor said, “Whatever you are doing, keep doing it!” If I have more consistent blood draws, they will be able to reduce the amount of diuretics I take, which will save my kidneys in the long run. Kidney failure coincides with heart failure, so if I could save an organ, I would be thrilled!

With heart failure, the regimen at Michigan is to be on the big 4, as they call it. There are 4 types of medications they want their patients on because research has shown that they have given the best prognosis. I tried the 4th med a year and a half ago, but got very sick on it, so we decided to hold off on trying another. But today they suggested I try a sister drug and be put on the lowest dose possible, to see if my body can tolerate it.

That’s the tricky part with heart meds. I’d be on the highest dose of all 4 of those meds if my body could handle it, but they are powerful and cause many side effects, so it’s a fine line.

If I tolerate it well, combine that with the fluid reduction, these meds could help restructure my heart and in the long run, make it stronger. I call that God’s healing hand.

Can you even imagine, that God would use cancer to bring some healing to my heart? I have no explanation, except that it is all God. I have a LONG ways to go and I know, it was just one lab result, but my heart seems to be heading in the right direction. After starting this new medication, I will have an ECHO in about 6 months, to see if there is any structural improvement. We will also see if my body can continue to tolerate the medication changes.

Heart failure is ever-evolving, so I’m hanging on tight for the ride, but I am just thankful that God protected my heart from the effects of chemo. Chemo is definitely some nasty stuff that gets pumped into the body, so for my heart to be spared, is truly a miracle. My heart was in rough shape when I was admitted to the cancer center.

So I will see where this all takes me. We praise God for his sustaining grace and healing that He has provided for my body in both my cancer and heart, and continue to pray that he would continue to repair this body. Some blood levels are still off from the chemo and my heart is definitely still “under the weather” to put it mildly, but for ONCE, I feel like we are heading in the right direction!

Only God.