Heart Journey Update
Summer was everything I had prayed for. Time with family and friends, time at the pool, adventures here and there, and the biggest answer to prayer – I have felt GREAT. Going into this summer, the goal was to keep me out of the hospital and never once did it cross my mind, the idea of having to go in. I never thought once about messaging my doctors because something didn’t feel right. And that is all God.
Now that we are nearing the end of summer, and like every September for the past 5 years, heart issues are gearing up again. This time though, it’s planned.
This past Tuesday I stopped taking amiodarone, which was the medication that is often given at the end of life. It’s hard on the body and it’s often seen as one of those “last resort” meds. Well, since I’m living til I’m 90, it’s not an option to stay on it at this point. There were a couple of reasons I was put on it though. 1. Give my body a break after a hard spring, which led to a hospitalization. 2. No other medication has been proven to work with all of the different types of extra beats that I have. My heart is misfiring in all chambers, which makes medication tricky. 3. To try and get me through summer so that we could readdress the issues in September. 4. Try and fend off a transplant as long as we can.
And to God be the glory, it has worked. I’ve been on this med in the past and it hasn’t work, but God allowed it to this time. And that’s why we go into this next round of tests and procedures with somewhat of a renewed confidence that everything is in HIS timing, not ours.
On September 15, I’ll be having more ablations done by 2 surgeons this time (last time I had 3). We are hoping it goes a bit better than last, but the chance of it working is only 50-60%. My last ablation did not work, but they want to give it a whirl again. I put it off for a bit because I just couldn’t do it again; especially after the last one. But I’ve got the gusto I think I need to give it another shot. The ablations won’t be completely successful like I said (though by God’s hand they could be), but the goal is to just buy us more time before a transplant.
With going off amiodarone, the goal is now to basically get me sicker. If all went as planned, I would get all of those extra beats back, to the point that I needed an ablation by September. It’s sometimes hard to wrap my mind around the fact that I’m going to start to not feel well. Normally in the medical world, the goal is to make you feel better, not worse. Not for Kristin at this point. Only by God’s miraculous healing would I not get the extra beats back; and I do believe He can do that too. Though right now, we are preparing for hospitalization. The week of the ablations, I will be admitted a few days before so that they can monitor me, assuming I will not feel great. Then on the 15th, my doctors will select areas of my heart to burn to try and stop the misfirings. Normally ablations are pretty easy-peasy in the realm of procedures, but I’m a complicated case as they say, so it’s always tricky. But we are just PRAYING that this round goes a whole lot better than the last.
What does life look like right now? So far, I’m feeling great. It takes a bit for the med to leave my system, so we are just living life grateful for each day that I feel well. I feel a few extra beats here and there, but that’s just fine. I plan to start working at school again next week, which I’m looking very forward to. It’s a very life-giving place for me and I’m so thankful the school is understanding and so compassionate with all of this. In September I will stop taking one of my heart failure medications (this makes me a little nervous), since I can’t be on it for the procedure. I have a feeling my body is going to go into a bit of a spiral, but hey, glad God’s got it all figured out and not me!
We also want to praise God that Mazy is EXCITED for school this year and has taken the news about my heart well. We are attempting to try and keep her life as normal as possible, especially when I’m in the hospital. We’ve learned that is how she feels safe and secure. We know God will work out all of the details and as much as I am dreading the next month heart-wise, we know this too, is all part of God’s perfect plan.
If after the ablation, my heart doesn’t improve, I believe we are back to the drawing board and back to the discussion of a heart transplant. It’s a mental, physical, and emotional roller coaster, but spiritually, God has only grown our faith. Each day is such a gift, knowing that each day is a miracle that I’m here. And really, that holds true for all of us! May we all live like today is our last because it’s in that mentality, we find the things of this world to not matter as much as we think they do. And for the things that do matter, they matter all the more.
