Hi All!
Since I haven't updated in a while, I thought I'd write up a little note.
As I said before, no news is good news, and it is!! I haven't had too much groundbreaking news to share lately, so I've just kept busy with normal, everyday stuff. Like errands. I'm a fan of errands. There is nothing better to me than having a list of things to do (pick up dry cleaning, drop off library books, go to the post office, etc), doing those things, and coming home after a productive day. I feel so dang accomplished. Like I'm a pioneer and have plowed the field, shot a bear, made a peace treaty with a native American tribe leader, and am finally home to put my feet up and watch Grey's Anatomy. A good day's work, wouldn't you say?
So I did have a doctors appointment this Tuesday. It was my first appointment in two weeks (the longest I've gone since OCTOBER. Yeah baby!) and all was mostly well. My labs looked good, heart sounded good, doc was happy. : ) My blood was waaayyy too thin, so we are trying to fix that so I quit bruising like a peach. So we'll have to postpone the fight club extravaganza we had planned for this weekend. Blast.
I do have some kind of pulmonary test next week which will tell us how much my heart is effecting my activity. I'm not too sure why I need this- shouldn't I be able to tell that by how far I can walk without grabbing the wall? Oh well, I'm not a cardiologist, I just play one on TV. The one good thing is it will probably show my heart is pretty weeny and that will be helpful in proving to my disability insurance company that I really am sick. They keep thinking I'm faking it I think. Then they get a copy of some lab that shows my heart looks like a 70 year old's and they shut up for a few weeks. Bah, insurance! ; )
Let's see what else is going on....Ah, did I tell you I've been going to counseling? I'm not sure that's the kind of thing you're supposed to put on a blog, but whatev. I've told you guys most everything else. Plus, I'm not ashamed of it- I'll shout it loud and proud! I was just feeling really overwhelmed and I do mostly keep a stiff upper lip and sometimes you just need to be able to whine to someone you are paying. :) They have no vested interest as long as the insurance claims go through! It's been good and I have been feeling tougher emotionally lately which is awesome. I was crying at the drop of a hat there for awhile. But getting better now!
In other news- Nick's cousin Derek is in town visiting and we are having a great time with him. The guys have seen every tourist trap this town has to offer, and then some! : ) They have also done a lot of cool stuff too (like going to Vancouver, BC today. Lucky!). I've gone along to some of it (like San Juan Island last week) but not everything because I still do get tired pretty easy. But it's been a ton of fun having Derek here. Love it!
Well, I hope you all have a wonderful Easter and I love you all!!
Talk to you soon!!
Love,
Jana
3/16/2010- Smiling again!
Hi All!
Well, the last few weeks have been a bit of a bummer, but I'm happy to report that I'm doing good! I haven't had an "episode" in over a week now and yesterday I had a good doctors appointment! Holla!
Yesterday the labs were good, I didn't have fluid around my heart or lungs, and I wasn't having PVCs! The doc was so happy with that she increased the all important beta blocker, which makes me feel even better. Ha, take that heart failure!
Obviously, I'm in a much better mood too. : )
The doc says that while I'm on the upswing here, we'll keep increasing the meds and hopefully, that will give me a little more energy. The beta blocker is the one that makes my heart pump more efficiently, and every bit of efficiency means I have more energy to do things, rather than using all my energy just to have heartbeats. And I have to say, "doing things" is one of my favorite activities!
In other news, who is watching American Idol? I am so on the Crystal Bowersox train, but am also on the Sioban (Siobougn? Siobogn? Chavonne?) Magnus train. I told Nick last night that I know I love them both because I could listen to either one for a full hour and half concert. I can barely do that with ANY singer at all, so that's a big compliment! It also may be a small sign of ADD. Hmm.
Well, I hope I have no reason to update you all for awhile! Remember, no news is good news!
Love you!
Jana
Well, the last few weeks have been a bit of a bummer, but I'm happy to report that I'm doing good! I haven't had an "episode" in over a week now and yesterday I had a good doctors appointment! Holla!
Yesterday the labs were good, I didn't have fluid around my heart or lungs, and I wasn't having PVCs! The doc was so happy with that she increased the all important beta blocker, which makes me feel even better. Ha, take that heart failure!
Obviously, I'm in a much better mood too. : )
The doc says that while I'm on the upswing here, we'll keep increasing the meds and hopefully, that will give me a little more energy. The beta blocker is the one that makes my heart pump more efficiently, and every bit of efficiency means I have more energy to do things, rather than using all my energy just to have heartbeats. And I have to say, "doing things" is one of my favorite activities!
In other news, who is watching American Idol? I am so on the Crystal Bowersox train, but am also on the Sioban (Siobougn? Siobogn? Chavonne?) Magnus train. I told Nick last night that I know I love them both because I could listen to either one for a full hour and half concert. I can barely do that with ANY singer at all, so that's a big compliment! It also may be a small sign of ADD. Hmm.
Well, I hope I have no reason to update you all for awhile! Remember, no news is good news!
Love you!
Jana
3/13/2010- Trying to gain some perspective
Hi All,
Well, I went to the doc yesterday and yet again, I left feeling like it was an excercise in futility.
As you may remember, the PVCs I've been having have really been messing with me. They are the reason I went to the ER last weekend and I've had more this week. A few weeks ago, I was able to get an appointment with an electrophysiologist today and was so excited to speak to her. She was actually the doc that put in Sparky so that's cool too.
We talked and the bottom line was that she was puzzled, just like everyone else. Although she thought that all my trouble wasn't just being caused by PVCs but maybe also be caused by my heartrate speeding up frequently. That could also cause me to feel my heart pounding and to make me so tired.
The one thing she did say over and over was that I seem to be incredibly sensitive to anything going on in my heart, way more than most heart patients. Which, as she said, is unfortunate. This was proven once again when the nurse tweaked Sparky with a little tiny electrical shock that I was not supposed to feel. I didn't know what she was going to do, but as soon as she shocked me, I gasped from the weird feeling and then saw hundreds of little pinpoints of light in my vision, like a huge swarm of fireflies. While that's cool and all, it's pretty surprising while talking to your doctor.
So after we discussed for a while, she gave me two options:
1) Do a catheter test to see if she can see any particular section in my heart that is causing the increased heartbeat and the PVCs. She'd do this the cath lab and they would inject me with adrenaline to try to get my heart to act up. She could then possibly burn that little section of my heart to get rid of the tissue that is causing the problem. The bad side is that since I feel everything in my heart, this would probably be really uncomfortable and can be dangerous since my heart function is so weak anyway.
2) Start taking a drug called sotolol which is like one of the drugs I'm taking now, except it has anti-arrhythmia properties to it, so it could very well help with the fast heartbeats and the PVCs. The bad part is that it doesn't have the life lengthening properties that the drug I am on now has. Also, I would need to stay in the hospital for a few days after first taking it to make sure I did ok on it.
My thought was "HOORAY! Here are some options that can get me out of this mess!". Yeah, I know that neither option sounded that great, but at least I wasn't being told that I would just have to live with this.
My vote was the sotolol because it would be less invasive than burning off a piece of my heart. Plus, my hope was that I could take it for awhile and then maybe get back on the old drug later, so I could keep getting the long term benefits of the old drug.
Well, the doc was about to admit me to start the sotolol and get this show on the road, when she decided to call my cardiologist, just to get her blessing. Suffice it to say, the blessing was not given. My cardiologist freaked out and said that sotolol was way too risky and that she was not taking me off the other drug.
So by the end of the visit, my cardiologist said I could take a little more of my current drug which may help the PVCs a bit. Yipee. I was not impressed.
I held it together until I got to the parking lot and then cried and cried and cried. I just felt like I was so close to having a solution and then it got taken away. Logically, I know my doctor is right, long term effects are what we have to focus on. But man, it's hard to worry about feel crummy all the time.
After a while I composed myself and then my friend Lauren and I went to dinner and a movie. It was a fun girls night and just what I needed. Thank you Lauren!
Anyway, today is a new day and I have a fresh perspective. My hope is the drug I'm on will start easing up the PVCs and things will start to get better. Better attitude=feeling better! : )
And on that note, I'm going to take a little nap!
Love you all!
Jana
Well, I went to the doc yesterday and yet again, I left feeling like it was an excercise in futility.
As you may remember, the PVCs I've been having have really been messing with me. They are the reason I went to the ER last weekend and I've had more this week. A few weeks ago, I was able to get an appointment with an electrophysiologist today and was so excited to speak to her. She was actually the doc that put in Sparky so that's cool too.
We talked and the bottom line was that she was puzzled, just like everyone else. Although she thought that all my trouble wasn't just being caused by PVCs but maybe also be caused by my heartrate speeding up frequently. That could also cause me to feel my heart pounding and to make me so tired.
The one thing she did say over and over was that I seem to be incredibly sensitive to anything going on in my heart, way more than most heart patients. Which, as she said, is unfortunate. This was proven once again when the nurse tweaked Sparky with a little tiny electrical shock that I was not supposed to feel. I didn't know what she was going to do, but as soon as she shocked me, I gasped from the weird feeling and then saw hundreds of little pinpoints of light in my vision, like a huge swarm of fireflies. While that's cool and all, it's pretty surprising while talking to your doctor.
So after we discussed for a while, she gave me two options:
1) Do a catheter test to see if she can see any particular section in my heart that is causing the increased heartbeat and the PVCs. She'd do this the cath lab and they would inject me with adrenaline to try to get my heart to act up. She could then possibly burn that little section of my heart to get rid of the tissue that is causing the problem. The bad side is that since I feel everything in my heart, this would probably be really uncomfortable and can be dangerous since my heart function is so weak anyway.
2) Start taking a drug called sotolol which is like one of the drugs I'm taking now, except it has anti-arrhythmia properties to it, so it could very well help with the fast heartbeats and the PVCs. The bad part is that it doesn't have the life lengthening properties that the drug I am on now has. Also, I would need to stay in the hospital for a few days after first taking it to make sure I did ok on it.
My thought was "HOORAY! Here are some options that can get me out of this mess!". Yeah, I know that neither option sounded that great, but at least I wasn't being told that I would just have to live with this.
My vote was the sotolol because it would be less invasive than burning off a piece of my heart. Plus, my hope was that I could take it for awhile and then maybe get back on the old drug later, so I could keep getting the long term benefits of the old drug.
Well, the doc was about to admit me to start the sotolol and get this show on the road, when she decided to call my cardiologist, just to get her blessing. Suffice it to say, the blessing was not given. My cardiologist freaked out and said that sotolol was way too risky and that she was not taking me off the other drug.
So by the end of the visit, my cardiologist said I could take a little more of my current drug which may help the PVCs a bit. Yipee. I was not impressed.
I held it together until I got to the parking lot and then cried and cried and cried. I just felt like I was so close to having a solution and then it got taken away. Logically, I know my doctor is right, long term effects are what we have to focus on. But man, it's hard to worry about feel crummy all the time.
After a while I composed myself and then my friend Lauren and I went to dinner and a movie. It was a fun girls night and just what I needed. Thank you Lauren!
Anyway, today is a new day and I have a fresh perspective. My hope is the drug I'm on will start easing up the PVCs and things will start to get better. Better attitude=feeling better! : )
And on that note, I'm going to take a little nap!
Love you all!
Jana
3/7/2010- In which you learn about PVCs
Grr. Last night was a real bummer-o-la.
Let me give you a little background on what's been going on...
I've been having these episodes where my heart will feel like it's beating so hard it knocks me around, I can't breathe well, and I get dizzy. I've almost gone to the hospital at least 5 times, but I just waited it out and 5 or 6 hours later, it would go away. We've actually been on our way to the hospital a few times when I have Nick turn around because I start feeling better.
I've told my doc about this several times and that's what lead to the King of Hearts monitor. She wanted to see what my heart was doing during these episodes. I had an episode the day before my last doctors appointment, so she got to see exactly what had happened. And it was pretty anticlimatic. All she saw were a bunch of PVCs (Premature Ventricular Complexes) which are also called "skipped beats" or "irregular beats". Everyone keeps telling me the PVCs are not dangerous at all unless they happen every other beat or every three beats or something.
My concern has been that when I have an episode like this, it stops me in my tracks. I have to lay on the couch and all I can do is listen to my heart pounding, try to breathe, and not move. It's pretty lousy.
So on to last night- I decided I was sick and tired of this craziness, so I went to the ER. I was having "an episode" and had just been feeling lousy all day. My chest had also been hurting a bit so when I told them that at the registration desk I got the speedy check in routine. I was in a bed getting an EKG within 5 minutes.
Surprisingly, the EKG said I was having a severe heart attack! Then they adjusted the tabs and saw I was ok. Just a little ER practical joke I guess. ; )
All my tests and labs came back normal (for me) although they saw me having the PVCs all night. After 3 hours they decided they couldn't really tell why the PVCs were effecting me so strongly. I almost started crying from frustration. The ER doc literally said "well, we don't know why you're feeling so bad, so I guess you should just go home". Barf.
But then the cardiologist came down (A very nice man who'd worked on me at one of my previous stints in the hospital) and we talked about how rotten I was feeling. I learned that the PVCs are essentially a nerve in my heart freaking out, and that causes the muscle around it to twitch. And the muscle happens to be my entire heart. Since my heart is so beat up anyway, it makes sense that any extra work (this twitching) could really have an effect on me.
I told him we have to find a solution for this- I just can't accept the answer that "it's just the way it is". He said we can tweak my meds to some degree, and there is also a procedure we can look into called Ablation.
Ablation is where the doc puts a catheter through my neck into my heart and burns a tiny burn on the section of my heart that is causing the PVCs. Then scar tissue forms and the nerve that was sending the signal for the PVCs is disturbed and doesn't send them anymore.
It sounds wonderful to me, but the doc said he's not at all sure they will do it. He said it's not dangerous normally, but since my heart is so weak, it's usually not great to damage a heart like mine (that's already damaged). But I want to speak to an electrophysiologist (the doctor that would preform the procedure) anyway. I'll certainly want to weigh the risks, but I don't want to give up on that option. I got an urgent appointment with the electrophysiologist on the 12th, so I'll know more then.
So we came home last night and got a good nights sleep in our own bed and I woke up in good spirits today. Thank goodness for that Cardiologist last night, or I may have acted on my impluse to clock the ER doc in the nose.
So today, I'll just chill out and watch the Oscars. My vote is Sandra Bullock for the Blindside. She was as sassy as they come in that movie!
I'll keep you posted on anything else cool that happens!
Love,
Jana
Let me give you a little background on what's been going on...
I've been having these episodes where my heart will feel like it's beating so hard it knocks me around, I can't breathe well, and I get dizzy. I've almost gone to the hospital at least 5 times, but I just waited it out and 5 or 6 hours later, it would go away. We've actually been on our way to the hospital a few times when I have Nick turn around because I start feeling better.
I've told my doc about this several times and that's what lead to the King of Hearts monitor. She wanted to see what my heart was doing during these episodes. I had an episode the day before my last doctors appointment, so she got to see exactly what had happened. And it was pretty anticlimatic. All she saw were a bunch of PVCs (Premature Ventricular Complexes) which are also called "skipped beats" or "irregular beats". Everyone keeps telling me the PVCs are not dangerous at all unless they happen every other beat or every three beats or something.
My concern has been that when I have an episode like this, it stops me in my tracks. I have to lay on the couch and all I can do is listen to my heart pounding, try to breathe, and not move. It's pretty lousy.
So on to last night- I decided I was sick and tired of this craziness, so I went to the ER. I was having "an episode" and had just been feeling lousy all day. My chest had also been hurting a bit so when I told them that at the registration desk I got the speedy check in routine. I was in a bed getting an EKG within 5 minutes.
Surprisingly, the EKG said I was having a severe heart attack! Then they adjusted the tabs and saw I was ok. Just a little ER practical joke I guess. ; )
All my tests and labs came back normal (for me) although they saw me having the PVCs all night. After 3 hours they decided they couldn't really tell why the PVCs were effecting me so strongly. I almost started crying from frustration. The ER doc literally said "well, we don't know why you're feeling so bad, so I guess you should just go home". Barf.
But then the cardiologist came down (A very nice man who'd worked on me at one of my previous stints in the hospital) and we talked about how rotten I was feeling. I learned that the PVCs are essentially a nerve in my heart freaking out, and that causes the muscle around it to twitch. And the muscle happens to be my entire heart. Since my heart is so beat up anyway, it makes sense that any extra work (this twitching) could really have an effect on me.
I told him we have to find a solution for this- I just can't accept the answer that "it's just the way it is". He said we can tweak my meds to some degree, and there is also a procedure we can look into called Ablation.
Ablation is where the doc puts a catheter through my neck into my heart and burns a tiny burn on the section of my heart that is causing the PVCs. Then scar tissue forms and the nerve that was sending the signal for the PVCs is disturbed and doesn't send them anymore.
It sounds wonderful to me, but the doc said he's not at all sure they will do it. He said it's not dangerous normally, but since my heart is so weak, it's usually not great to damage a heart like mine (that's already damaged). But I want to speak to an electrophysiologist (the doctor that would preform the procedure) anyway. I'll certainly want to weigh the risks, but I don't want to give up on that option. I got an urgent appointment with the electrophysiologist on the 12th, so I'll know more then.
So we came home last night and got a good nights sleep in our own bed and I woke up in good spirits today. Thank goodness for that Cardiologist last night, or I may have acted on my impluse to clock the ER doc in the nose.
So today, I'll just chill out and watch the Oscars. My vote is Sandra Bullock for the Blindside. She was as sassy as they come in that movie!
I'll keep you posted on anything else cool that happens!
Love,
Jana
2/26/10- Funky heartbeats and excercise with the elderly
Hi All,
I went to rehab!! But a few days ago I went to the doc again, so I'll start with that.
I went to the doc on Tuesday to have a check up and to figure out why I'm having those fast heartbeat runs. They interrogated Sparky again, and saw more of those fast beats but they wanted to get an idea of what is going on longer term, so they have me on the King of Hearts again. That is the portable EKG I will wear for 30 days. It's no big deal, and it will be good to try and catch lots of these beats to see what exactly is going on. So you'll be seeing me wired up for another month or so.
Over the last few days, I've been feeling quite good, so I decided to go to cardiac rehab. I put it off last week because I felt lousy, but Wednesday I was ready to go! I'm doing rehab at Virginia Mason (the hospital where I orginally went to the ER to be be diagnosed). The rehab place is pretty small but there are never more than 3 or 4 people there, so it's not crowded. Dave is the therapist and Cathy is the nurse. My first day, Dave hooked me up to the heart monitors (which, paired with the King of Hearts, means I has 6 leads on at one time). He then took my blood pressure (first time out of about 8) and we got started. I did stretches, 10 minutes on the treadmill (walking at a snails pace), and 7 minutes on the bike. Then I stretched again and that was it! Not a marathon exactly, but I was tired at the end!
On the first day, my heartrate was really pretty high. I started off at about 110 (normal resting heartrate is about 70, my normal is about 95) and then during the excercise I was getting around 138. That's pretty darn high. And you know what? When I got off the treadmill and was resting before the bike, I was talking to Dave and Cathy and we were laughing, and my heart rate went to 146! No wonder talking and laughing for too long wears me out! But the second day of rehab was much better, and I my heartrate didn't go above 126. : ) Big improvement!
Everyone there has been really kind and welcoming. I am definately the youngest person there by at least 30 years, but it's still a lot of fun. My new friend Steve (last name Martin, ha!) and I were watching the Olympics and he was talking about curling. I told him Nick loves it, but I think it's totally boring...ice mopping. He just howled..."Ice Mopping! That's hilarious! Hahaha! Honey, you're a hoot!". Easy crowd. ; )
Linda is lady in her early 60s who had emergency open heart surgery after they found a serious heart problem with her while she was under anestisia (sp?) for knee surgery. She's recovering pretty well, and likes to chat. She's been very nice except when I was on the bike. I noticed her looking at me for awhile while she was resting. I thought she was just admiring my excellent biking form, but it turns out she was waiting for the bike and was getting some annoyed with me. After I finished my 7 minutes, she says snarkily to Dave "Is she DONE?". I ran off to the treadmill with my tail between my legs. I'll get bolder later, but I want to stand back for now and see the pecking order. I definately don't want Linda putting a hit out on me or anything...
In other news, Gay and Pete are here, and we're having a great time catching up. Nick and Pete went to Snoqualmie Falls yesterday and it was lovely. It was a great day in Seattle yesterday...probably high 50s and plenty of sun poking through the clouds. Spring, is that you? Are you almost here? I like the thought of that!
Well, that's all I've got for now!
Love,
Jana
Jenny Lavik So glad to hear you went to Cardiac rehab! Also really glad to hear you are feeling better than last week! Have a great weekend with Gay and Pete! Love and Miss you!
Sandy Farrill Tell Gay & Pete hi. We miss spending time with them. Dad Glad to hear about the second day ecercise results. Snarkily, a great word.
Sandy Farrill So much for getting Dad his own facebook! He is still using mine. I'm glad you are feeling better. Your rehab class sounds fun. Give Gay and Pete a hug for us. We bought that house in OK and are going to look at it and some others this weekend.
Michelle Gonzalez McMullen It's good to be greatful for the little things!
Maggie Parry Salvino Take good care, Jana. Maybe you can meet a guy for me in your rehab class...LOL!!! ;)
Rosa Roberge Love your update :) Ice mopping. Too funny. When Jacob saw curling he said "I need that broom!" (he loves mops and brooms). Curling is indeed a very curious sport. Looking forward to hearing more. The ongoing saga with Linda - could be quite the drama. LOL.
Tammy Chriss *smiling and laughing* i love your outlook and the way you perceive things around you...you always make me smile and laugh {{tight hugs}} Come on Girl...hang in there and get the gold star on your forehead while Linda gets the silver star on hers...rooting for you
Lisa Mushel nice to see your smiling face - Linda will soon be one of your best friends!
I went to rehab!! But a few days ago I went to the doc again, so I'll start with that.
I went to the doc on Tuesday to have a check up and to figure out why I'm having those fast heartbeat runs. They interrogated Sparky again, and saw more of those fast beats but they wanted to get an idea of what is going on longer term, so they have me on the King of Hearts again. That is the portable EKG I will wear for 30 days. It's no big deal, and it will be good to try and catch lots of these beats to see what exactly is going on. So you'll be seeing me wired up for another month or so.
Over the last few days, I've been feeling quite good, so I decided to go to cardiac rehab. I put it off last week because I felt lousy, but Wednesday I was ready to go! I'm doing rehab at Virginia Mason (the hospital where I orginally went to the ER to be be diagnosed). The rehab place is pretty small but there are never more than 3 or 4 people there, so it's not crowded. Dave is the therapist and Cathy is the nurse. My first day, Dave hooked me up to the heart monitors (which, paired with the King of Hearts, means I has 6 leads on at one time). He then took my blood pressure (first time out of about 8) and we got started. I did stretches, 10 minutes on the treadmill (walking at a snails pace), and 7 minutes on the bike. Then I stretched again and that was it! Not a marathon exactly, but I was tired at the end!
On the first day, my heartrate was really pretty high. I started off at about 110 (normal resting heartrate is about 70, my normal is about 95) and then during the excercise I was getting around 138. That's pretty darn high. And you know what? When I got off the treadmill and was resting before the bike, I was talking to Dave and Cathy and we were laughing, and my heart rate went to 146! No wonder talking and laughing for too long wears me out! But the second day of rehab was much better, and I my heartrate didn't go above 126. : ) Big improvement!
Everyone there has been really kind and welcoming. I am definately the youngest person there by at least 30 years, but it's still a lot of fun. My new friend Steve (last name Martin, ha!) and I were watching the Olympics and he was talking about curling. I told him Nick loves it, but I think it's totally boring...ice mopping. He just howled..."Ice Mopping! That's hilarious! Hahaha! Honey, you're a hoot!". Easy crowd. ; )
Linda is lady in her early 60s who had emergency open heart surgery after they found a serious heart problem with her while she was under anestisia (sp?) for knee surgery. She's recovering pretty well, and likes to chat. She's been very nice except when I was on the bike. I noticed her looking at me for awhile while she was resting. I thought she was just admiring my excellent biking form, but it turns out she was waiting for the bike and was getting some annoyed with me. After I finished my 7 minutes, she says snarkily to Dave "Is she DONE?". I ran off to the treadmill with my tail between my legs. I'll get bolder later, but I want to stand back for now and see the pecking order. I definately don't want Linda putting a hit out on me or anything...
In other news, Gay and Pete are here, and we're having a great time catching up. Nick and Pete went to Snoqualmie Falls yesterday and it was lovely. It was a great day in Seattle yesterday...probably high 50s and plenty of sun poking through the clouds. Spring, is that you? Are you almost here? I like the thought of that!
Well, that's all I've got for now!
Love,
Jana
Jenny Lavik So glad to hear you went to Cardiac rehab! Also really glad to hear you are feeling better than last week! Have a great weekend with Gay and Pete! Love and Miss you!
Sandy Farrill Tell Gay & Pete hi. We miss spending time with them. Dad Glad to hear about the second day ecercise results. Snarkily, a great word.
Sandy Farrill So much for getting Dad his own facebook! He is still using mine. I'm glad you are feeling better. Your rehab class sounds fun. Give Gay and Pete a hug for us. We bought that house in OK and are going to look at it and some others this weekend.
Michelle Gonzalez McMullen It's good to be greatful for the little things!
Maggie Parry Salvino Take good care, Jana. Maybe you can meet a guy for me in your rehab class...LOL!!! ;)
Rosa Roberge Love your update :) Ice mopping. Too funny. When Jacob saw curling he said "I need that broom!" (he loves mops and brooms). Curling is indeed a very curious sport. Looking forward to hearing more. The ongoing saga with Linda - could be quite the drama. LOL.
Tammy Chriss *smiling and laughing* i love your outlook and the way you perceive things around you...you always make me smile and laugh {{tight hugs}} Come on Girl...hang in there and get the gold star on your forehead while Linda gets the silver star on hers...rooting for you
Lisa Mushel nice to see your smiling face - Linda will soon be one of your best friends!
2/22/10- Trip to the Doc
Hi All,
So when I last checked in (right after our trip to Leavenworth), I was so happy because I'd done great on the trip! When we got home, I was tired, but I expected that. Well, the tiredness didn't let up, which I didn't expect...
For the past week, I've felt really shaky and lightheaded (that feeling like I was stuck in an washing machine. Not the front loading kind. Then I would feel like I was drowning. That's not the analogy I'm trying to make here). And every day from about 11am to 5pm or so, I've also felt like my heart is pounding in my chest, I'm breathless, and my arms felt super heavy. So I called the doc and went in last week. The looked at the records from Sparky and saw that I have been having lots of little episodes of fast heartbeats for a minute or two. I also had an episode of ventricular tachycardia, which what they saw to make them put in Sparky. But they only saw one run of those, which is very good news.
In an effort to stop those fast little heartbeats runs, they reduced my meds a bit and we hoped that would correct things. No dice. So I talked to the docs again (the receptionist and the heart center operator now know me by name), and they decided to do an echocardiogram today.
The echo is the ultrasound that gets the very best picture of the heart that they can get (without cutting me open). I last had one in November, and I've wanted another for awhile, just because it tell me my ejection fraction(EF). That is the pecentage of blood my heart is pumping out with each heartbeat. When I was first diagnosed, it was about 15%. About 70% is normal. At my last echo, it was 25-26%. I've been really hopeful that I'd see a big jump this time since I feel so much better than I did in November. I tend to put a lot of importance on this number, because when I tell any new doctor my EF is 26%, their eyes get a little wide, and they make a note. That's not confidence inspiring.
Well, I was wrong-o-la about the EF improving leaps and bounds. My ejection fraction is now 20%. Blech. The doctor said that those little fast beats can make the EF low, so she's not surprised. I think the lesson here is not to put so much value on the EF because it doesn't exactly correlate with how I feel and what I can do.
So the doc decided to increase another med today and I'll go in tomorrow to see her again. If these med changes don't work pretty soon, they may try a new medicine that helps reduce those fast beats better, but it sounds like it's not great for my lungs long term. Hmmm. Well, we'll see.
In better news, I've actually felt quite a bit better today than all last week, so maybe I'm getting a little better anyway!
And in better news than that, Nick's parents, Gay and Pete, are flying in tomorrow for a visit! We always have fun when they're here, and I'm sure Gay will whip up some yummy treats for us to enjoy. : )
I'll keep you posted on this stuff as it becomes news worthy!
Love,
Jana
Meghann Chapman poor Jana, keeping you in my thoughts and prayers!
Michelle Gonzalez McMullen Goodness girl! I am thankful for your fb updates. I am sending you a big hug and lots of prayers.
Patty Morrelli Tapney I'm sending you a really big hug, and I'm sure that Gay and Pete will help to lift your spirits.
Hannah Sales As always girl, praying for you and missing you tons! Love ya!!!
Daniel Fletcher Stay safe!
Errin Kramer-Wilt Ugh. What a bummer. Just remember no one WANTS to be a number :) How long will you have guests for? I am out of town until next tues...but we should get together after that for some shenanigans. Keep me posted on your schedule!
Yoanis Mendoza Thanks so much for the updates..i often wonder how you are and all i have to do is log on. Keeping you in my thoughts.
James Reasoner I thought EF was "extra fine".....which you are!
Luis Cheng-Guajardo Love you Jana! Hope you have a good time with the Morrelli's!
Rosa Roberge I like to hear how you are doing with your updates too. Sorry you are still having to deal w/ tachyardia, etc., but glad you were having a feel-good day today :)
Melissa Cadena Morrelli Love Ya Jana, we are always thinking of you!
David Carson J. There has got to be a book within U about all this, I have never seen anyone ill, spread so much joy, blessings DDC
Lauren Berett Thinking of you...Hope you feel better soon.
Mandy Morrelli Young Glad you are feeling better today, hope you have a great time with mom and dad. I wish we could be there! ((hugs))
Isabel Morelli The in-laws are visiting!Better feel better and ready yourself for a lot of talking and lots of bear hugs. I hope P+G got off OK with all the snow, etc. I read your note and think it encouraging. Lots of kisses
So when I last checked in (right after our trip to Leavenworth), I was so happy because I'd done great on the trip! When we got home, I was tired, but I expected that. Well, the tiredness didn't let up, which I didn't expect...
For the past week, I've felt really shaky and lightheaded (that feeling like I was stuck in an washing machine. Not the front loading kind. Then I would feel like I was drowning. That's not the analogy I'm trying to make here). And every day from about 11am to 5pm or so, I've also felt like my heart is pounding in my chest, I'm breathless, and my arms felt super heavy. So I called the doc and went in last week. The looked at the records from Sparky and saw that I have been having lots of little episodes of fast heartbeats for a minute or two. I also had an episode of ventricular tachycardia, which what they saw to make them put in Sparky. But they only saw one run of those, which is very good news.
In an effort to stop those fast little heartbeats runs, they reduced my meds a bit and we hoped that would correct things. No dice. So I talked to the docs again (the receptionist and the heart center operator now know me by name), and they decided to do an echocardiogram today.
The echo is the ultrasound that gets the very best picture of the heart that they can get (without cutting me open). I last had one in November, and I've wanted another for awhile, just because it tell me my ejection fraction(EF). That is the pecentage of blood my heart is pumping out with each heartbeat. When I was first diagnosed, it was about 15%. About 70% is normal. At my last echo, it was 25-26%. I've been really hopeful that I'd see a big jump this time since I feel so much better than I did in November. I tend to put a lot of importance on this number, because when I tell any new doctor my EF is 26%, their eyes get a little wide, and they make a note. That's not confidence inspiring.
Well, I was wrong-o-la about the EF improving leaps and bounds. My ejection fraction is now 20%. Blech. The doctor said that those little fast beats can make the EF low, so she's not surprised. I think the lesson here is not to put so much value on the EF because it doesn't exactly correlate with how I feel and what I can do.
So the doc decided to increase another med today and I'll go in tomorrow to see her again. If these med changes don't work pretty soon, they may try a new medicine that helps reduce those fast beats better, but it sounds like it's not great for my lungs long term. Hmmm. Well, we'll see.
In better news, I've actually felt quite a bit better today than all last week, so maybe I'm getting a little better anyway!
And in better news than that, Nick's parents, Gay and Pete, are flying in tomorrow for a visit! We always have fun when they're here, and I'm sure Gay will whip up some yummy treats for us to enjoy. : )
I'll keep you posted on this stuff as it becomes news worthy!
Love,
Jana
Meghann Chapman poor Jana, keeping you in my thoughts and prayers!
Michelle Gonzalez McMullen Goodness girl! I am thankful for your fb updates. I am sending you a big hug and lots of prayers.
Patty Morrelli Tapney I'm sending you a really big hug, and I'm sure that Gay and Pete will help to lift your spirits.
Hannah Sales As always girl, praying for you and missing you tons! Love ya!!!
Daniel Fletcher Stay safe!
Errin Kramer-Wilt Ugh. What a bummer. Just remember no one WANTS to be a number :) How long will you have guests for? I am out of town until next tues...but we should get together after that for some shenanigans. Keep me posted on your schedule!
Yoanis Mendoza Thanks so much for the updates..i often wonder how you are and all i have to do is log on. Keeping you in my thoughts.
James Reasoner I thought EF was "extra fine".....which you are!
Luis Cheng-Guajardo Love you Jana! Hope you have a good time with the Morrelli's!
Rosa Roberge I like to hear how you are doing with your updates too. Sorry you are still having to deal w/ tachyardia, etc., but glad you were having a feel-good day today :)
Melissa Cadena Morrelli Love Ya Jana, we are always thinking of you!
David Carson J. There has got to be a book within U about all this, I have never seen anyone ill, spread so much joy, blessings DDC
Lauren Berett Thinking of you...Hope you feel better soon.
Mandy Morrelli Young Glad you are feeling better today, hope you have a great time with mom and dad. I wish we could be there! ((hugs))
Isabel Morelli The in-laws are visiting!Better feel better and ready yourself for a lot of talking and lots of bear hugs. I hope P+G got off OK with all the snow, etc. I read your note and think it encouraging. Lots of kisses
2/15- Vacation and More!
Hi All!
We took a vacation!!!!! Granted, it was small, it was within driving distance, and there was no beach, but it was fun! We went to Leavenworth, WA for our anniversary/my birthday/valentine's day. For those of you not from around here, Leavenworth is a little town in the mountains about 2 hours east of Seattle. It wasn't snowing like I hoped, but there was plenty of snow on the mountains, and even in town, so it felt wintery for sure. We also met our awesome friends Chuck and Errin up there so we had partners in crime (if you consider eating and looking at porcelin german figurines crime).
The trip was great and pretty low key. We did lots of eating (surprisingly, the german food was lousy but the cheeseshop was right on point, as expected) and some drinking and some hot tubbing and lots and lots of laughing. : ) We stayed 2 nights and got home yesterday. I held up really well on the trip, but I was ready for bed last night. All in all, a great weekend.
And in other news, I had my consulation with the cardiac rehab folks today! I'm so excited about this because it's the beginning of me getting stronger and more confident with what my heart can do. Today's session was just paperwork and chatting. We discussed what the program will be like (rehab 3x week for an hour each time, heart monitor on all the time I'm there, and blood pressure checks before and while I'm completing each excercise), my medical history, and I asked if I could get my parking validated (I can. I'm obsessed with parking validation these days).
There were about 5 guys working out while I was there. I'd say they ranged in age from 68-80. Not a non-white hair among them. ; ) So I'll be the spring chicken...I'm sure it will be fine. : )
My first class is on Wednesday afternoon, so I'll tell you all how it goes!
Also, happy belated Valentine's Day!
I love you all!
Jana
.
Errin Kramer-Wilt Both of us had a fabulous time too!!! We make great travel partners. Also, I just realized I never wished you a happy birthday this weekend even though that was part of the celebration. So....HAPPY BIRTHDAY!
Jana Farrill Morrelli :) Thanks Errin!!
Kelley Dees Atkinson You will probably make the day for all the old guys in your cardiac rehab! They will be scheduling extra workouts just so they can be in class with the young hottie! : )
Patty Morrelli Tapney I was thinkin' the same thing as Kelley!
Sandy Farrill What a wonderful weekend! Love you
Tamara Donnelly Yay!! Happy birthday!
Michelle Gonzalez McMullen Sounds like things are looking up!
Fe Melissa Owens Reasoner Sounds like you guys had a blast! So glad things are looking good! :)
Kelly Morrelli Looking at is ok, but eating porcelin german figurines sounds criminal?!? hope yall had fun!! Happy Birthday!
Jana Farrill Morrelli lol Kelly :)
Mandy Morrelli Young LOL... Kelly!
Jo Carson Hey Glad you had a wonderful time. My Anniv, BD, Valentines celebration was not nearly so much fun. Ice Storm uggggg.
We took a vacation!!!!! Granted, it was small, it was within driving distance, and there was no beach, but it was fun! We went to Leavenworth, WA for our anniversary/my birthday/valentine's day. For those of you not from around here, Leavenworth is a little town in the mountains about 2 hours east of Seattle. It wasn't snowing like I hoped, but there was plenty of snow on the mountains, and even in town, so it felt wintery for sure. We also met our awesome friends Chuck and Errin up there so we had partners in crime (if you consider eating and looking at porcelin german figurines crime).
The trip was great and pretty low key. We did lots of eating (surprisingly, the german food was lousy but the cheeseshop was right on point, as expected) and some drinking and some hot tubbing and lots and lots of laughing. : ) We stayed 2 nights and got home yesterday. I held up really well on the trip, but I was ready for bed last night. All in all, a great weekend.
And in other news, I had my consulation with the cardiac rehab folks today! I'm so excited about this because it's the beginning of me getting stronger and more confident with what my heart can do. Today's session was just paperwork and chatting. We discussed what the program will be like (rehab 3x week for an hour each time, heart monitor on all the time I'm there, and blood pressure checks before and while I'm completing each excercise), my medical history, and I asked if I could get my parking validated (I can. I'm obsessed with parking validation these days).
There were about 5 guys working out while I was there. I'd say they ranged in age from 68-80. Not a non-white hair among them. ; ) So I'll be the spring chicken...I'm sure it will be fine. : )
My first class is on Wednesday afternoon, so I'll tell you all how it goes!
Also, happy belated Valentine's Day!
I love you all!
Jana
.
Errin Kramer-Wilt Both of us had a fabulous time too!!! We make great travel partners. Also, I just realized I never wished you a happy birthday this weekend even though that was part of the celebration. So....HAPPY BIRTHDAY!
Jana Farrill Morrelli :) Thanks Errin!!
Kelley Dees Atkinson You will probably make the day for all the old guys in your cardiac rehab! They will be scheduling extra workouts just so they can be in class with the young hottie! : )
Patty Morrelli Tapney I was thinkin' the same thing as Kelley!
Sandy Farrill What a wonderful weekend! Love you
Tamara Donnelly Yay!! Happy birthday!
Michelle Gonzalez McMullen Sounds like things are looking up!
Fe Melissa Owens Reasoner Sounds like you guys had a blast! So glad things are looking good! :)
Kelly Morrelli Looking at is ok, but eating porcelin german figurines sounds criminal?!? hope yall had fun!! Happy Birthday!
Jana Farrill Morrelli lol Kelly :)
Mandy Morrelli Young LOL... Kelly!
Jo Carson Hey Glad you had a wonderful time. My Anniv, BD, Valentines celebration was not nearly so much fun. Ice Storm uggggg.
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