Here is an update on my upcoming surgery. I've been pushing for surgery for several months, but the Dr. was not on board. My symptoms have been increasing rather quickly. I've been swollen with fluid for 2 months. I think I have had fluid for much longer, but it was finally at the point of being very noticeable 2 months ago. Two months ago they put me on 20mg of Lasix a day. They also scheduled a stress test just to keep me quiet..haha However, they didn't tell me the results until 2 days ago (a month after the test.) Two days ago they got me in for an echo and visit with the Dr. after I called the day before to tell them that my swelling was spreading despite being on Lasix. It started in my abdomen, then also went to my feet. Now it's also in my thighs, and has been in my face and hands for quite sometime, but I didn't pay much attention to it. So, they called in another diuretic to take on top of the Lasix. I take 25mg of it 2 times a day.
On Friday, the Dr. told me he didn't want me to have any fluid on me. He said if these two pills don't take all the fluid away, then I should double up on the Lasix and take 2 20mg pills a day instead of 1. I am planning to add a second pill tonight, since I gave it a few days to work. They are also having me keep a daily weight log, so they can see what my weight is doing. I started the log Friday morning. Saturday I was down 1.4 pounds and today I was down 0.2 pounds. So, it's going down now with the diuretics, so that's good.
The Dr. finally told me the results of my stress test. However, he didn't give any numbers. He just said it was down from 2 years ago, so it shows my struggle. He also said the gradient on my echo was 10-12 Friday, when it is normally 8-10 for me. It should be around 3. (This is my St Judes 25mm mitral valve from 1993). So, he is finally on board with me having surgery. I go in this Thursday to talk to the surgeon and schedule surgery. However, he wanted to stress how risky this surgery is. This will be my third mitral valve replacement. He said it was very risky because there will be so much scar tissue. He was afraid the conduction system will get damaged during the surgery and they will need to put a pacemaker in. But, the surgery needs to be done. Not doing it would be worse than doing it. If I was 85, I might hold off, but I am 37 and not ready to live like this, where I am out of breath just sitting down. So, the surgery will happen. He also said that I may never be completely back to normal. He stressed that I may still have symptoms after the surgery. He wants me to talk about all of this with the surgeon.
So, the plan is to do surgery and pray it all goes better than expected and I don't get a pacemaker. On the other hand, getting a pacemaker now might be a blessing. my heart throws irregular beats here and there every day, especially when I'm stressed. A lot of stress will throw it out of rhythm where I have to be cardioverted or have an ablation. I've done this 4 times. I've learned over the years to do whatever I have to do to keep my stress level low to keep my heart in rhythm. So having a pacemaker might make life in general easier because I may not have to worry about trying to keep my heart in rhythm. I have no idea how I feel about all of this. It was a lot to process. I always wanted to be 50 before I needed a pacemaker. I have a lot of folks praying for me, and we will just leave this surgery in God's hands and take go with the flow whatever the outcome.
On Friday, the Dr. told me he didn't want me to have any fluid on me. He said if these two pills don't take all the fluid away, then I should double up on the Lasix and take 2 20mg pills a day instead of 1. I am planning to add a second pill tonight, since I gave it a few days to work. They are also having me keep a daily weight log, so they can see what my weight is doing. I started the log Friday morning. Saturday I was down 1.4 pounds and today I was down 0.2 pounds. So, it's going down now with the diuretics, so that's good.
The Dr. finally told me the results of my stress test. However, he didn't give any numbers. He just said it was down from 2 years ago, so it shows my struggle. He also said the gradient on my echo was 10-12 Friday, when it is normally 8-10 for me. It should be around 3. (This is my St Judes 25mm mitral valve from 1993). So, he is finally on board with me having surgery. I go in this Thursday to talk to the surgeon and schedule surgery. However, he wanted to stress how risky this surgery is. This will be my third mitral valve replacement. He said it was very risky because there will be so much scar tissue. He was afraid the conduction system will get damaged during the surgery and they will need to put a pacemaker in. But, the surgery needs to be done. Not doing it would be worse than doing it. If I was 85, I might hold off, but I am 37 and not ready to live like this, where I am out of breath just sitting down. So, the surgery will happen. He also said that I may never be completely back to normal. He stressed that I may still have symptoms after the surgery. He wants me to talk about all of this with the surgeon.
So, the plan is to do surgery and pray it all goes better than expected and I don't get a pacemaker. On the other hand, getting a pacemaker now might be a blessing. my heart throws irregular beats here and there every day, especially when I'm stressed. A lot of stress will throw it out of rhythm where I have to be cardioverted or have an ablation. I've done this 4 times. I've learned over the years to do whatever I have to do to keep my stress level low to keep my heart in rhythm. So having a pacemaker might make life in general easier because I may not have to worry about trying to keep my heart in rhythm. I have no idea how I feel about all of this. It was a lot to process. I always wanted to be 50 before I needed a pacemaker. I have a lot of folks praying for me, and we will just leave this surgery in God's hands and take go with the flow whatever the outcome.
