More excitement

I went in for my Physical Therapy today (Dorie drove for me), and after they'd strapped all the heart monitor stuff on me, taken my blood pressure, etc., they wouldn't let me on the machines.  They said my heart was already racing.  I've had a racing heart periodically for years, but now apparently it's really important to watch.  They laid me down, took a full EKG.  Afterwards, they called my own cardiologisist, Dr. Steve Horton, who came down to see me.  The Phys. Ther. team said they'd never seen Dr. Horton come down personally to see a patient before.  Pretty cool.  I then sat in a chair and kept busy wiping up from lots of cold sweats while everybody looked me over and did lots of tests on me.  I'd never connected the cold sweats before, for some reason.  I've just known I've had them, and that I haven't felt good sometimes.

Dr. Horton called and made an appt. for me at the Heart Timing Lab tomorrow at 2pm. They then wheeled me out to the car - they wouldn't let me walk.  I hope I'm learning to pay better attention to my body signals.  Apparently there are a lot I have simply ignored because I just didn't know what to do with them.  Or, (like the heart dys-rythym) they haven't had the fancy knowledge they do now, so they weren't able to really help me.  I've been tested before, and sent home with diagnosis of tachacardia dysrhythmia only.  That was years ago, and I've just thought it was something I've had to suffer through periodically.  Now, apparently, there is more they can do.  And with my brand new heart operation, they need to pay really close attention to it.

I must admit it's kinda scary.  The Dr. told me that he doesn't want the worst thing to happen - that my heart might stop because it just can't handle all of this.  I don't want that either.  So tomorrow, it's to the Heart Timing Lab.  And no more exercise for me until I'm okay'ed.

Lacy - Her haircut of long ago - To give an idea of what she looks like now.

Gratitude reigns tonight

Still feeling good tonight - The best for days and days.  There may yet be dark days to come, but the memory of the light of today will help tide me through.  Marcia's parents came to visit - both with their own health problems.  And they gave me some clothes to help me through this 'in-between' time.  Perfect fit.  I'm so glad!  And Lacy seemed to feel a little bit 'odd' without all her fur tonight.  She wandered around and around, and then finally settled down on her bed.  Maryjo gave me a picture of Lacy from her last haircut (a long time ago), which will show something of how she looks now.

Good day so far

Today is so far SO much better than the days have been.  Yes, I still feel tired, and yes, I still walk very slowly.  But no nausea this morning, and I went with Marcia to get Lacy trimmed by the groomer.  Lacy looks so much smaller!  She survived OK, but was SO happy to get out of there.  Wiggle, wiggle, wiggle, lick, lick, lick.  I'll see if I can post a picture.

It's wonderful weather - kinda rainy, kinda sunny, with dark clouds and white clouds and blue sky.  Really cool.  Yesterday I received a surprise 'Get Well Card' from my niece Kristin in Delaware.  Awesome.  I've always felt close to her.  I got into a size smaller clothes today.  I'm not familiar with this body.  It's really quite odd.  I feel better though.  It makes sense to me that if my heart wasn't pumping right, it would have taken a toll on my whole body.  We'll see where it settles.

Much needed 'coincidence'

I've been having such a difficult time with my healing process - not keeping food down, just not feeling good, etc.  Today I went in for my Physical Therapy and my Exercise Therapist, Mike, made all the difference in the world for me.  He told me of his own heart valve replacements - TWO of them - and he's only 26 years old.  He shared with me his own struggles with throwing up and having such a hard time.  Wow.  I'm not weird after all.  I wish I'd been given some small hint when I left the hospital as to what I could maybe expect.  It might have helped me put up with it better.  Mike's sharing with me has helped me a Lot!  Such a wonderful 'coincidence' that he happened to be there to share his experience with me.  I'm grateful beyond words.  On the way home I stopped by the local Iceberg and got a chocolate-mint milkshake.  It's the only thing that has sounded good to me for days.  It tasted as good as I hoped it might, and it even stayed down.  I'm celebrating!

What a surprise! Dark Chocolate.

A friend brought me a few dark chocolates before lunch today.  I could only eat one, but it tasted good to me.  And afterward, I found that lunch tasted better to me.  I didn't make the connection until I'd had another chocolate before dinner.  Surprise!  I found dinner tasting better to me as well!  Who would have thought that just a little piece of chocolate could make such a difference.  I would never have thought of getting a whole bag, but now the thought makes sense to me.

'So Good', for being 'So Bad"

Life is interesting.  I had a visitor tonight who went on and on about 'how good' I looked.  All I know is that the last two days have been really rough for me.  I haven't kept much food down the last two days until supper tonight, and I've slept a lot.  I suppose the body requires what it does to heal.  I'm feeling some better tonight though, and I'm glad.  I'm realizing that everyone has their own sense of what 'looks good', and what they think that means.  To me, right now it doesn't really matter how I 'look', but how I feel.  That matters a lot.  So I'll pay attention to that.

Dorie drove me down to the Garden today.  We were only there for a short time because I got tired quickly, but it was nice to be there.  I showed her which zinnia flowers were ready to gather seeds from, and I noticed that the Summer garden has turned to Fall.  The tomatoes and peppers are still going strong, but the squash and cucumbers look done.  There is a season to everything.

One Day Down

I didn't feel good yesterday.  A little better today, but not much.  My energy is down, the hurting is up, throat swollen and sore.  I've felt like crying and I haven't felt like eating.  I did my required weighing this morning, and it shows I'm 4 pounds down.  I would usually rejoice, but not this time. I'll weigh tomorrow and see what it says.  I remember that there might be some 'bad days' among the good.  OK.  Here was a bad one.