New Heart Update

We just met with a doctor from the cardiology team and really, I’ve come to the conclusion, that God has allowed some unique things to happen with my heart that really befuddles many! But, the very God who created me is also the very God who can heal me!

The MRI did not really show anything new, except that it showed an EF of 34, which is improved from my EF of 20 a week ago. That’s encouraging. I do not feel as many pvcs (irregular beats), which is also encouraging. This morning I went on a walk and struggled immensely, getting quite winded and had to go back and lay down. Two hours later, I tried again and was able to walk around the whole floor slowly. Make sense of that, right?

So. Because my MRI and heart cath showed that my arteries are completely healthy (which is awesome) and everything really looks okay (including my valves), they are going to try and tackle this with medication. There is a new drug out there that studies have shown has greatly improved chronic heart failure, but it’s hard to get insurance approval for, which is frustrating. So, while they work hard to appeal the denial, they are putting me on another med that I’ve taken before, but are going to try and see if that helps decrease the extreme fatigue and windedness (if that’s a word). I will stay another night and if I tolerate the med change okay, I will go home tomorrow. If I feel the same as I did this morning, they are going to keep me over the weekend and try to tweak it enough so that they and I feel comfortable that I go home. I will go back to wearing the LifeVest, until I return in the future for an ECHO, to see if my EF has improved. Of course I was hoping to get rid of that thing, but at the same time, I’m hoping it’s temporary and that my heart function improves drastically so that I don’t need an implanted defibrillator. The fewer mechanisms have in my body, the better I think!

So did the high number of pvcs cause the EF? Unsure. We really do not have a lot of answers as to the cause. We do know that the “heart attack” scarring they found is from before. Whew. Why did my heart decline so much after surgery? We don’t know. Why did it also hit me like a ton of bricks? I think my heart had just had enough and I became symptomatic. I think it was God’s gentle way of letting me know “hey, your heart is still ticking, but it’s got some issues, go get it checked out.” I am so thankful that no cardiac event happened and that things will only look up from here.

What does the future look like? Lots of little med tweaks if you ask me. I pray that the med changes will work and that my heart will heal once again, by the Great Physician. This ole ticker has sure been through a lot, but it’s still beating and I don’t need a new one! I want to keep MY heart as long as I can.

I sure am a puzzle, but we are just thankful that hopefully a small med tweak will make me feel like a new person, which will allow my heart to go back to a normal EF range. Thank you for the prayers and love sent our way! We had some visitors on Wednesday and what a nice break it was from the normal pace of life. We are just in AWE of how God has taken care of us. Do I wonder what the future holds? Absolutely. But one thing the hospital has taught me time and time again is that taking life one day at a time is the best thing you can do for your mental, spiritual, physical, and emotional health. Not that we don’t care, but we just care about the gift of each day. Tomorrow has enough trouble of it’s own.