Wow - sorry for so long between updates!
Last week went very well. Tuesday morning I was prepped for the heart procedure - checked in at 9am, rolled into the OR at 2pm (fasting - uuugh! mostly i just whined about not getting coffee. I think they should offer IV caffien to us coffee addicts when they make us fast ALL day).
I found out I am severely allergic to Vancomycin - that was fun...
Oh and I get totally bombed on IV benadryl... that really WAS fun...
From that point on most of the procedure is a blur.. I was awake but very doped up on benadryl and something else they gave me that made it all a pretty happy experience... A few hours later I woke up with a picture of the xray of my heart with the device in place (apparently I hounded them for a picture the whole time... lol!! Im a total geek even when im wasted on IV sedatives).
The great news is Dave says my O2 levels were at 100% as soon as I left the OR!!
Thats right... Im off oxygen for the first time in 8 months!!!!! My levels are beautiful and I have noticed several crazy changes since I left the hospital...
-Im warm... I am the girl who wore sweaters in Jamaica, and long underwear in the summer... I have been cold my whole life... now, in December, Im in a tank top in my living room and totally comfortable!! Its wild...
-Im pink - my cheeks are pink... Ive never thought I was particularily 'unpink' before but now that I have more color i look downright sickly in my pictures from before the procedure! Everyone keeps asking if Im overheated my cheeks are so rosy!! :)
-The BEST part - Im not winded... I can walk up stairs without resting or getting totally winded (always been an issue), I can walk around the grocery store without getting winded, I can do laundry without breaking a sweat... Im not even a week out of surgery and I feel WAY better than before.
The surgeon said that the hole was much higher on the heart wall than they expected which might be why it caused more problems that it normally does in people...
I dont care - its fixed and I feel better!!
Its a long recovery - 3 weeks of no lifting, 3 months of cautious activity, and 6 months of blood thinners before Im considered 'healed'... but today I feel better than I have in a very very long time, so I'll take it.
The boys are doing ok - Ty is doing great right now, and looking forward to getting back to a regular life now that were home. Brandon is sick again today - some sort of tummy bug. Were hopeful he is over the worst of it as he ate dinner and kept it down. He really cant take much more stress at the moment so were hopeful its over.
So thats us... back home, in time for the holidays, hopefully all of us on the mend.
Life is good.
K
