It's been a long time since I updated anything here, and the journey has been a long and busy one.
I didn't think I would be back here, and yet-here I am. I guess I knew I would be at some point but I really didn't think it would be this soon. You see I thought my heart was fine after the valve repair, but it turns out...not so much.
"Severe Global Hypokenisis" it's called. Basically it means my heart is really weak and fading. According to my research the output of a heart is measured in something called the "Ejection Fraction". The majority of people have an EF of somewhere between 50-70%. Because of the valve repair I had those many years ago my normal EF is 40-45%. When I was sent to the hospital last month - it was 15%. Basically, in layman's terms I was "Circling the drain".
So, here's what happened:
I had a cough that just didn't want to go away. All day, every day. It started to get progressively worse as the week went by. Then I had trouble getting a decent breath. So, I called my doctor and he said to come on in. By the time I got to his office all I wanted to do was lay down, I haven't felt that bad in, well..ever.
After checking me over it appeared that my heart was bouncing between 75 and 147 beats a minute. Not the best of conditions really. He called my Cardiologist who had him give me some meds and said, "go home, rest, and if it gets worse call 911, and tomorrow go to the Cardio guys". So I went home, had a not so pleasant night and headed to the Dr in the morning. When I got there he checked me and quickly decided I needed to go for a "Cardoversion". That's where they shock your heart like you see on TV to bring it back to a normal sinus rhythm. That worked, but the heart-rate was still way high. So, on that Friday they checked me in to the hospital where I stayed until Tuesday.
I came home with a boat load of drugs, and a "Life Vest". A really annoying contraption that has to worn 24/7 and if I passed out would have shocked me to kick start my heart again...Good times.
On Thursday the Aortic Flutter returned and at that point the decision was made to do what is called an "Ablation". This where the fun really begins. They run lines up through the arteries in both sides of the groin, up into the heart, one of the lines is a camera and the other is what I think of as a soldering iron. Then, they find the spot in the heart that is causing the flutter and burn it to stop the electrical impulses that cause the flutter. That works in about 95% of the cases, and it looks like I'm in the lucky 95%.
The first 4 or 5 nights after coming home is rough. Just when I started to go to sleep I woke up in a panic and really couldn't sleep the rest of the night. I did a little more research, (Thank you Google), and I found that this isn't really that uncommon. It's called "Fear of impending doom". It's your brain saying Hey! Don't fall asleep 'cause if you do you will die! Nice-Thanks brain.
After a while the fear sort of goes away..mostly. You still get a bit of panic with every little twinge, and a dizzy feeling from the damn meds. I know they are necessary, but I hate the way I feel for an hour or so after.
Now, a month later I'm feeling actually pretty good. It's been rough but I think I am feeling pretty much back to my old self again. I've lost 15 lbs, which is pretty good. I might try to keep them off if I can stay away from the bad foods that I have grown to love. I'm working on the treadmill every day and getting stronger. My EF is now at 30% and I'm hoping for 40-45% again, but I'm not sure how realistic that is.
Anyway, I just wanted to say that there is hope for weak hearts. It just takes work, and the love and support of friends and family-those things I have in very large quantity so I consider myself a very lucky man.
I'm looking forward to moving on from this and getting another chance to cheat death again :-)
Until the next time....
