Title: What a Difference a Year Makes
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Blog Entry: Last year, I totally 'skipped' Christmas. One year ago, I was just out of the hospital. I'd spent a total of 9 days there (two visits to the E.R. and then admitted both times). And I was waiting to have a procedure to fix a heart problem. I guess I was in pretty bad shape by the time I first went to the E.R. It turned out to be a combination of problems. I'd lost a total of 34 pounds, mainly because not only did I not have an appetite, but I simply couldn't eat--or keep it down. I started out thinking it was 'good' to be losing weight; but I got to the point where I was just too weak to even walk to the bathroom. And the 'pain' in my abdomen was bad. That's when I told my husband to call 911. I had heavy coughing, which I thought was just from heavy sinus drainage. I was dehydrated. They put me on an IV. And an another IV for 'pain', since I also had 'gut pain'. Then, they said my heart might have a problem. I don't really remember all they said was wrong, to be honest. They did all kinds of tests: CT scan of my head to check for the sinus problems, a CT scan of my entire digestive system, and an ECHO (?) of the heart. And of course, they took blood samples every 6 hrs! Boy, were my arms bruised--both of them! (Some of those were probably on the second visit--I am not sure now) After 5 days, they let me go home; at that point, the med they gave me for the heavy coughing had worked, so I could eat a few bites. Well, I was supposed to see my regular doctor about a week after I left the hospital for the normal 'after hospital check'. It was a snowy day, the roads weren't great; so my brother--who has a 4 wheel drive vehicle--volunteered to take us to my doctor's office. It's a good thing I didn't decide to put it off! My doctor said my heart was 'racing'--dangerously so; he was so worried that he called an ambulance right then to take me back to the hospital! The odd thing is that I felt perfectly fine...I felt calm, didn't "feel" my heart pounding or anything. So, there I was, back in the hospital. More IVs of course. After tests, the heart doctor said I had "A-fib". That meant a 'conversion' after I'd left the hospital. I had that on January 9th. They put me on 3 meds for the heart problem. Luckily, the conversion worked, so I no longer have A-fib; so now, I'm only on one heart med--that will 'control' the heart rate should the A-fib ever come back. I do have some 'irregular' heartbeats, but nothing serious so far; that med also keeps that in order. And, since it took a while for me to get my appetite back, I actually had to make myself eat two small meals a day! But I'm now totally back to normal. So normal, in fact, I really have to watch how much I eat, snacking, etc. I had never been in the hospital before that, other than when my 2 children were born; and I hope it's a long time before I do that again!
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