nursedarry (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
nursedarry) wrote2012-02-27 11:30 am
nursedarry) wrote2012-02-27 11:30 am
The plot thinnens again...but there will be a happy ending
Hi everyone. Since I last posted, I've had an MRI (last week) and met with one of my surgeons, who I absolutely loved (today). I brought along a friend who's a drug rep and knows lots of A&P, just for moral support and I didn't want to drive after a whole 45 minutes of sleep last night, and she liked him too. Answered all my questions, really listened to me, and didn't speak in jargon. Made me feel like I am in very capable hands.
♥ Anyone who's claustraphobic, hates loud noises or doesn't like needles should avoid having a cardiac MRI. I'm none of those things but by then end, I was ready to run naked through a quiet field full of daisies. You're strapped in and shoved into a noisy tube with a needle in your arm and after awhile (I was in there for over an hour), you get the feeling the nurses may have turned the thing on and gone for a cup of tea. Actually, the staff were wonderful and I was in there so long because of the nature of my condition - it had never been seen before, so they needed lots of pictures. I got to see them, and yes, it was cool. Not an experience I wish to repeat, though.
♥I've only got one pulmonary vein where it shouldn't be EDT: Actually, I had three parts of one vein where they shouldn't have been... One is coming from part of my lung which normally doesn't have pulmonary drainage. It's running from the lung to the Superior Vena Cava, which leads into the right atrium. The plan is to either take it off the SVC and attach it to one of the veins that is going to where it should (into the left atrium) OR just remove the vein and the part of the lung to which it's attached. It's a small piece of lung tissure and because of the how the vein is sited, it hasn't been used for proper respiration anyway. The other surgeon will decide when he gets in there.
♥ My mitral valve is worsening, and as much as he'd like to repair it, it may have to be replaced. But in order to keep me from needing more than one op, I'm all for this. Again, he'll decide when he gets in there.
♥ Those of you who follow me on Twitter will know I've got such bad Restless Leg Syndrome and other sleep disturbance side effects from the drugs I'm on (mainly the blood pressure ones), that I'm sleeping only one hour at a time, usually for less than four hours a night. I do apologise for all the whinging; I've re-read some of the tweets and boy, do I sound like a cantankerous twat. However, as a result, I've become quite depressed and groggy and grouchy and all those other things that go along with sleep deprivation. Doc has sent me home with a couple weeks worth of sleeping tablets and and is sending instructions to my GP to start me on antidepressants if I ask for them. The dose of the sleeping tablets is half what adults my age would normally take, but it's not recommended to take more because of the cocktail of tablets I'm already on and because of my heart condition. I CAN, however, start taking iron, which is one of the supplements used to treat RLS, so I'll see how that goes.
♥ The operation - four to six weeks away because of the need for the second surgeon who deals with "Grown Up Congenital Heart Problems." They only work at the hospital I'm going to a couple days a week, so I have to wait for a day the team is available. BUT, if my sleep problems can be alleviated, I'm okay to wait, AND the surgeon I met is keen to get in and do this surgery as it's more interesting than the usual stuff that comes across his table. (MRI doc said the same thing. Go me for being cool:)
♥ Finally, kids may or may not have any of this, but I don't need to even look out for it until they're at least 15. Doc thinks it's unlikely. So that's one less thing to worry about for now.
And completely off-topic, THANK YOU ALL FOR THE DRAGONS!!!
♥ Anyone who's claustraphobic, hates loud noises or doesn't like needles should avoid having a cardiac MRI. I'm none of those things but by then end, I was ready to run naked through a quiet field full of daisies. You're strapped in and shoved into a noisy tube with a needle in your arm and after awhile (I was in there for over an hour), you get the feeling the nurses may have turned the thing on and gone for a cup of tea. Actually, the staff were wonderful and I was in there so long because of the nature of my condition - it had never been seen before, so they needed lots of pictures. I got to see them, and yes, it was cool. Not an experience I wish to repeat, though.
♥
♥ My mitral valve is worsening, and as much as he'd like to repair it, it may have to be replaced. But in order to keep me from needing more than one op, I'm all for this. Again, he'll decide when he gets in there.
♥ Those of you who follow me on Twitter will know I've got such bad Restless Leg Syndrome and other sleep disturbance side effects from the drugs I'm on (mainly the blood pressure ones), that I'm sleeping only one hour at a time, usually for less than four hours a night. I do apologise for all the whinging; I've re-read some of the tweets and boy, do I sound like a cantankerous twat. However, as a result, I've become quite depressed and groggy and grouchy and all those other things that go along with sleep deprivation. Doc has sent me home with a couple weeks worth of sleeping tablets and and is sending instructions to my GP to start me on antidepressants if I ask for them. The dose of the sleeping tablets is half what adults my age would normally take, but it's not recommended to take more because of the cocktail of tablets I'm already on and because of my heart condition. I CAN, however, start taking iron, which is one of the supplements used to treat RLS, so I'll see how that goes.
♥ The operation - four to six weeks away because of the need for the second surgeon who deals with "Grown Up Congenital Heart Problems." They only work at the hospital I'm going to a couple days a week, so I have to wait for a day the team is available. BUT, if my sleep problems can be alleviated, I'm okay to wait, AND the surgeon I met is keen to get in and do this surgery as it's more interesting than the usual stuff that comes across his table. (MRI doc said the same thing. Go me for being cool:)
♥ Finally, kids may or may not have any of this, but I don't need to even look out for it until they're at least 15. Doc thinks it's unlikely. So that's one less thing to worry about for now.
And completely off-topic, THANK YOU ALL FOR THE DRAGONS!!!