Well this week I got additional medicine changes. I was put back on coreg at 1.35 mg and metolazone at 5 mg. Both are diaretics (water pill) plus the coreg is a beta blocker. I was told to take the metolazone in the morning and the coreg in the evening. I have spent a lot of time in the bathroom...lol. My water retention is bad, my legs are so swollen they ache and feel tight. Then today I was told to increase my potassium pill by one more in the evening. Still doing the dobutamine IV treatments. I officially have a new (different) cardiologist....Dr. Lee the doctor that did my pacemaker/defibilator.
Thursday, May 17, 2012
Thursday, May 3, 2012
Thursday, May 3, 2012
Just checking in. Shingles are just about gone. I had my fifth infusion today. I get so tired afterward and end up taking a nap when I get home. Hopefully tomorrow I will feel peppy. I have been so tired since Tuesday, which makes me wonder if the infusion is wearing off sooner and sooner. I still have edema in my legs and feet and still have shortness of breath, especially on the days that I am tired. My appetite seems to be dwindling again. I'm so discouraged and tired about all of this.
Sunday, April 8, 2012
April 8, 2012 - Easter Sunday. To make my life even more complete and happy I broke out in a small rash that turn's out to be Shingles. Woohoo! They burn, itch, and seep goop. The doctor called me in a prescription that will help with all that. It's five days worth of meds. I take two pills three times a day. Already started treatment. I will be seeing the doctor on Wednesday this coming week for this and for my escape from the hospital. I live such a busy life....lol.
Friday, April 6, 2012
April 6, 2012 - More big changes. I went into heart failure Friday afternoon (by ambulance), March 23. They did a procedure called an ablation where they burn the nerves that squeeze the heart. Now my rythm is controlled by my pacemaker/defiliator. My heart contractions are now controlled by a drug called Dobutamine. I have to get an IV of Dobutamine once a week for four hours. I now use a walker to get around. They will be ordering me a wheelchair for longer excursions.
This made me think about things. 1.) I'm tired of being sick and in the hospital. 2.) I have a DNR 02 in place (n0 cpr, n0 entubation, no artifical feeding. 3.) I've got pallative care in place when the drug no longer works. Followed by hospice if I make it that far. 4.) My funeral and burial are pre-planned and had been for several years. 5.) I still need to make a will.
Two doctors have told me that I am on the last leg of my journey. Each time I get out of the hospital I migrate from one stage to another: legs, cane, walker, wheelchair, and casket?
I have two goals in place right now. 1.) Make it to my 70th birthday, April 29. 2.) Make it to my brother's birthday October 29 (6 months).
Services are still in the processing of being put into place. I will have a home nurse, a physical therapist, occupational therapist, and a home care aid. I have IV appointments in place for every Thursday from now to May 17. Then we will see how things are going. As always they
took me off some of my meds and added a new one or two.
I am at peace with this.
This made me think about things. 1.) I'm tired of being sick and in the hospital. 2.) I have a DNR 02 in place (n0 cpr, n0 entubation, no artifical feeding. 3.) I've got pallative care in place when the drug no longer works. Followed by hospice if I make it that far. 4.) My funeral and burial are pre-planned and had been for several years. 5.) I still need to make a will.
Two doctors have told me that I am on the last leg of my journey. Each time I get out of the hospital I migrate from one stage to another: legs, cane, walker, wheelchair, and casket?
I have two goals in place right now. 1.) Make it to my 70th birthday, April 29. 2.) Make it to my brother's birthday October 29 (6 months).
Services are still in the processing of being put into place. I will have a home nurse, a physical therapist, occupational therapist, and a home care aid. I have IV appointments in place for every Thursday from now to May 17. Then we will see how things are going. As always they
took me off some of my meds and added a new one or two.
I am at peace with this.
Tuesday, March 13, 2012
Tuesday - March 13, 2012.
It's been a long, long, time but a lot has happened.
In November (November 10, to be exact) I was hospitalized so I could get a pacemaker/defibalator implanted. Per my new normal...my health was slightly less after this procedure. Around Thanksgiving I was back in the hospital due to shortness of breath and very low blood pressure.
Just before Christmas I began passing black stools. This is an indication of blood in my stool...not a good thing. I was sent to the hospital on December 26. They ran all kinds of tests on me. They got blood out of my stomach, but could find no reason for it to be bleeding. They gave me a colonoscopy and told us there was some irritation there but not enough to cause black stool. Because of the pacemaker they couldn't test my upper colon in the normal manner. They got the job done and still couldn't find anything more than a little irritation. I was told I had colitis, but that is nothing new to me, I've had it since 1968. While I was still in the hospital all the prep stuff that I had to take for the tests wore my body down. I was moved to the Cardiac Care Unit and told I needed three days of bed rest. Once that was done I went back to a normal room. While there I had a bowel movement that was nothing but blood. It filled the toilet and ran down my legs onto the floor. The on-staff doctor happened to stop in as I was leaving the bathroom and saw the mess. "This should not happen!" He proclaimed He was going to get a proctologist to check me out. Before that happened I did the same thing all over the floor, on the next day. The proctologist said I had three hemmorhoids and he would remove them. I asked that it be done in the hospital. I felt with my track record that was the best place to have it done.
The next day I was discharged, January 8, 2012, and I went to Pickerington Rehabilitation Facility. I was there two weeks. The first three days I couldn't urinate so they straight line catherized me three times a day. I was eventually able to get back on track with that, thank God! I had physical therapy and occupational therapy each day. I came home from that stay with a walker. I still use my cane in the house and the walked out in public. I got home from here February 2, 2012.
I came home and got a home physical therapist and a home nurse. At this point in time I only have the home nurse who visits twice a week. My health is not improving at the rate I think it should. I am so tired that I just want to go to bed and never wake up. Every task is a chore and I am no longer interested in the things that I used to love to do. Its been at least four months since I've written anything or worked on a book.
Well that's it for now. Later.
It's been a long, long, time but a lot has happened.
In November (November 10, to be exact) I was hospitalized so I could get a pacemaker/defibalator implanted. Per my new normal...my health was slightly less after this procedure. Around Thanksgiving I was back in the hospital due to shortness of breath and very low blood pressure.
Just before Christmas I began passing black stools. This is an indication of blood in my stool...not a good thing. I was sent to the hospital on December 26. They ran all kinds of tests on me. They got blood out of my stomach, but could find no reason for it to be bleeding. They gave me a colonoscopy and told us there was some irritation there but not enough to cause black stool. Because of the pacemaker they couldn't test my upper colon in the normal manner. They got the job done and still couldn't find anything more than a little irritation. I was told I had colitis, but that is nothing new to me, I've had it since 1968. While I was still in the hospital all the prep stuff that I had to take for the tests wore my body down. I was moved to the Cardiac Care Unit and told I needed three days of bed rest. Once that was done I went back to a normal room. While there I had a bowel movement that was nothing but blood. It filled the toilet and ran down my legs onto the floor. The on-staff doctor happened to stop in as I was leaving the bathroom and saw the mess. "This should not happen!" He proclaimed He was going to get a proctologist to check me out. Before that happened I did the same thing all over the floor, on the next day. The proctologist said I had three hemmorhoids and he would remove them. I asked that it be done in the hospital. I felt with my track record that was the best place to have it done.
The next day I was discharged, January 8, 2012, and I went to Pickerington Rehabilitation Facility. I was there two weeks. The first three days I couldn't urinate so they straight line catherized me three times a day. I was eventually able to get back on track with that, thank God! I had physical therapy and occupational therapy each day. I came home from that stay with a walker. I still use my cane in the house and the walked out in public. I got home from here February 2, 2012.
I came home and got a home physical therapist and a home nurse. At this point in time I only have the home nurse who visits twice a week. My health is not improving at the rate I think it should. I am so tired that I just want to go to bed and never wake up. Every task is a chore and I am no longer interested in the things that I used to love to do. Its been at least four months since I've written anything or worked on a book.
Well that's it for now. Later.
Saturday, October 22, 2011
October 22, 2011 - Saturday.
Sorry dear followers. It has been an enormous time since I've last posted anything. Please forgive me for that, a few momentous things have happened in this time period.
I finished writing Dearly Departed Deceased Dingies and am polishing it. Working on the third of my novels in the Flickertail Saga (Snow Flower and Tehya's Tree). Still submitting erotic poetry.
I made several new online friends. One is in England and he answers my questions about my erotic poetry and I critique his. I have a local friend that I hang out with either Saturday or Sunday. We watch TV and talk.
On August 25 I had my yearly physical. On September 13 drank the prep stuff of my colonoscopy. On September 14 I had my colonoscopy. They found a hemmorhoid that we are doctoring for.
Started painting in oil again.
On Friday - September 23, Kent, Heather, Mark (Heather's friend) and I went to the Shadowbox Theater. It was a good night for all of us.
I was called by my doctor and informed that they had set me up with an appointment with a kidney specialist. Evidently my creatinine level was high. I had an appointment with him on September 28. He took a urine sample and blood samples. He said my kidneys were working at 30%. He set me up an appointment for October 6 for an ultrasound of my kidneys and bladder. On October 11 Dr. McClaurin's office called to tell me they were scheduling me an appoint to have an MRI done of my liver because they found a lesion/cysts.
On October 16 I began chatting with a friend in Germany, his name is Jorge Schiller. He's a nice guy.
On Thursday, October 20, I had my MRI done. On Monday, October 24 I get the results of all my tests. Hopefully we will find out what's going on, how to treat it (if possible), and get started to fix what we can. Also on that Monday, Kent starts culinary school and Heather starts her second job.
Depending on what I find out on Monday I will try to keep this blog up to date.
Sorry dear followers. It has been an enormous time since I've last posted anything. Please forgive me for that, a few momentous things have happened in this time period.
I finished writing Dearly Departed Deceased Dingies and am polishing it. Working on the third of my novels in the Flickertail Saga (Snow Flower and Tehya's Tree). Still submitting erotic poetry.
I made several new online friends. One is in England and he answers my questions about my erotic poetry and I critique his. I have a local friend that I hang out with either Saturday or Sunday. We watch TV and talk.
On August 25 I had my yearly physical. On September 13 drank the prep stuff of my colonoscopy. On September 14 I had my colonoscopy. They found a hemmorhoid that we are doctoring for.
Started painting in oil again.
On Friday - September 23, Kent, Heather, Mark (Heather's friend) and I went to the Shadowbox Theater. It was a good night for all of us.
I was called by my doctor and informed that they had set me up with an appointment with a kidney specialist. Evidently my creatinine level was high. I had an appointment with him on September 28. He took a urine sample and blood samples. He said my kidneys were working at 30%. He set me up an appointment for October 6 for an ultrasound of my kidneys and bladder. On October 11 Dr. McClaurin's office called to tell me they were scheduling me an appoint to have an MRI done of my liver because they found a lesion/cysts.
On October 16 I began chatting with a friend in Germany, his name is Jorge Schiller. He's a nice guy.
On Thursday, October 20, I had my MRI done. On Monday, October 24 I get the results of all my tests. Hopefully we will find out what's going on, how to treat it (if possible), and get started to fix what we can. Also on that Monday, Kent starts culinary school and Heather starts her second job.
Depending on what I find out on Monday I will try to keep this blog up to date.
Tuesday, August 30, 2011
It has been a long, long time since I've posted here. A lot has happened. I was in the hospital in mid-June due to my heart. They ran me through every test they could think of including another cardio-cath. All of my arteries were clear. My heart valves hadn't changed. Nothing seemed amiss. The brain scan that they did showed that there was scar tissue indicating a stroke, but it was an old scar. The upshot of this four day hospital visit was that they took me off of digoxin and coumanin. My heart sinus rhythm was back to normal and I no longer had atrial defib.
The day I went home a man that I had talked to on the internet and on the phone decided to come an met me face-to-face. He was on the front porch when we got home. He swept me off my feet. Right away we were engaged even though I wanted to not move that speedily. We spend a lot of time together and we seemed to get along. As you know I have medical issues and so did he. He had had several surgeries on his feet and one foot had metal in it that was being rejected. Well to make this story short...we broke up two months later. He cited his medical problem. He had been told that they were going to do surgery on both feet and there was a chance that he would be confined to a wheelchair for the rest of his life and he didn't want to put me through that.
As fast as he entered my life the faster he left me. In retrospect however, I was relieved that we were no longer getting married. I felt that I had to watch every thing I said because he would get upset for no visible reason. He didn't want to be touched on the back because his parents would beat him for things he said he didn't do. So, when he told me for medical reasons I agreed with him and told him to stay in touch. He hasn't.
So I'm "healthy" according to my primary care doctor, my cardiologist, and a "nurse" that I report to at the "Heart Health Program". I'm still doing Curves and of late getting caught up to date on things I haven't been keeping up on, like this blog.
The day I went home a man that I had talked to on the internet and on the phone decided to come an met me face-to-face. He was on the front porch when we got home. He swept me off my feet. Right away we were engaged even though I wanted to not move that speedily. We spend a lot of time together and we seemed to get along. As you know I have medical issues and so did he. He had had several surgeries on his feet and one foot had metal in it that was being rejected. Well to make this story short...we broke up two months later. He cited his medical problem. He had been told that they were going to do surgery on both feet and there was a chance that he would be confined to a wheelchair for the rest of his life and he didn't want to put me through that.
As fast as he entered my life the faster he left me. In retrospect however, I was relieved that we were no longer getting married. I felt that I had to watch every thing I said because he would get upset for no visible reason. He didn't want to be touched on the back because his parents would beat him for things he said he didn't do. So, when he told me for medical reasons I agreed with him and told him to stay in touch. He hasn't.
So I'm "healthy" according to my primary care doctor, my cardiologist, and a "nurse" that I report to at the "Heart Health Program". I'm still doing Curves and of late getting caught up to date on things I haven't been keeping up on, like this blog.
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