So, most of you on Facebook knew Greg was having the heart catheterization today and gave us lots of prayers and good thoughts and juju and we can't thank you enough for that!
As per usual, Greg did not have an "ordinary" catheterization. He had a left heart catheterization and a right heart catheterization. When he came out of the operating room, he had one IV in the left arm, a catheter near his groin on the right side, a catheter near his elbow on the right side and a catheter in the artery in his right wrist.
Below is a drawing of Greg's heart and what the doctor found (click on the picture for an enlarged view):
Part of the reason for the "double" cath is because they needed a closer look at his Mitral Valve, as that has shown up as potentially being a problem over five years ago. It was time to really look at it and fortunately, there is no significant stenosis of that valve. Mitral stenosis is a narrowing of the heart's mitral valve where the valve doesn't open properly, blocking blood flow into the main pumping chamber of the heart (left ventricle). The picture above shows that Greg does have some mild blockage, but it's not enough to do any sort of by-pass surgery, so that's goo. The stent he had placed over ten years ago is still doing well.
The most significant finding is that Greg has what is called a "stiff" heart. A stiff heart occurs when the heart muscle thickens in response to high blood pressure. While initially this thickening helps increase pump function to maintain blood flow to the body, eventually, the pump starts to stiffen and pressure starts to build up in the heart leading to shortness of breath and fluid retention both in the lungs and in the legs. This is referred to as congestive heart failure. Greg's heart failure was caused by too much of a chemotherapy drug called Adriamycin.
The doctor ordered another Echocardiogram, even though Greg just had one in March. Now that we have a diagnosis for Greg, I'm assuming the echo was needed to specifically review the "stiff" heart issue and the echo was able to done right in the room, so we didn't have to schedule another appointment for that.
Greg does have to have another nuclear radiology exam next week. Sorry, I don't remember the name of the test, but it's not one he's had before.
Because they had to give him extra fluids to help to flush out the dye or whatever they use, there was a lot of time just waiting and I had some shopping to do, so I ran down to Walmart to pick up a few things. It was actually the first time I've been in a big box store since early March! I made sure to wear my mask, and was pleasantly surprised to find so many others also wearing masks, including all the employees. I have not found that to be the case in our local grocery store. I did my best to stay away from everyone, and was leery of even going there, but I had to pick up a prescription today, so I didn't have much choice. I got back in plenty of time to get Greg ready to come home, and just as he was finally eating something.
We finally got home at about 4:30 and Greg went right to bed. The next couple of days are going to be a little rough for him, because he cannot use his right wrist. That means no pushing up to get out of a chair or get out of bed, or using his cane in his right hand. That is where they went into an artery. If he does do that, he could develop a huge hematoma in his forearm, or blood could go spurting across the room! If that happens, it's a 9-1-1 call for an ambulance! Goodness knows we don't need to add an ambulance trip to his repertoire! When he had his last cath, about 20 years ago, he had a "plug" in the artery near his groin, and blew the plug! I was 25 miles away at work and called a neighbor to run over there and take him to the hospital and met them there! My dad had the same thing happen, and ironically, so did Greg's dad! I'll be keeping a close eye on him, and they gave him a sling to wear, so he remembers not to use that right hand/wrist. We'll see how that goes.
So, we are on the way to figuring out what's happening with his heart. Now, if we could just get the tests done on his diaphragm, to see what can be done, we'd be really happy! For those that don't know, we found out in March that the left side of his diaphragm is paralyzed or "frozen." That is a huge part of why he can't even take ten steps without wheezing and being out of breath. The tests that took six weeks to get scheduled were canceled because of COVID-19. I sure hope we don't have to wait another six weeks to schedule those tests. It really sucks when you can't even walk down eight stairs without being out of breath!
Again, thanks to everyone for your prayers and well wishes. We're getting there! I have to say, Greg is probably the strongest person I have ever met and I am always astonished at how well he handles all these health issues. He truly is Iron Man!
Love, Peace and Prayers to all!
Julie
I don't know how much I've talked about when Greg was first diagnosed with cancer in this blog, but the 28th anniversary of that is tomorrow, Holy Thursday. The only reason I remember the date is because it was Holy Thursday. I'm sure I could go look up what day Holy Thursday was in 1992, but why bother. It's not that important. What's important is that it was 28 years ago when Greg had his first cancer diagnosis and I remember that day like it was yesterday.
Greg was scheduled for day surgery at a hospital across from the Zoo in Milwaukee. I don't recall the name of the hospital, but it's not there any more. His parents were babysitting Aaron, who was just a year old and we had just had his first birthday party the week before. The surgery was for a lump near his groin. The doctors weren't sure what it was. In the previous year, they had found "something" in his gut area, but all the tests came back inconclusive, so they were just "watching and waiting" to see if anything developed. When he found the lump near his groin, they decided that they needed to operate to find out what it was.
It didn't seem to be a big deal, so I was alone at the hospital. I was all of 26 years old and Greg was 35. After what seemed like an inordinate amount of time, I went up to the nurse's desk and asked what was taking so long. They said they would check with the operating room staff and let me know. Next thing I know, a nurse is coming out in scrubs, telling me that they would like permission to cut Greg's gut open, because they think they know what might be going on, but they need permission. So, I signed the form.
A while later, I don't remember how long, the doctor came out to sit and talk to me. He told me that Greg had cancer. He was not comfortable telling me this, and I remember feeling like this is not the kind of thing he is used to telling people! I asked some questions, and felt like I was doing OK, until they handed me a box of Kleenix! That's when I lost it. He said when they took out the lump near his groin, they realized it was lymphoma, and wanted to take a look at his gut. He said it was riddled with cancer, and there was nothing they could actually remove, because there are too many lymph nodes that are in that part of the body and were diseased. They checked all his other organs and put everything back where it belonged and stitched him back up.
I remember calling Greg's mom and telling her that her oldest son had cancer, and that I wasn't sure what time I would be picking up Aaron, because we had to get Greg settled in a room.
The doctor and I agreed that we would wait until tomorrow to tell Greg that he had cancer. At one point, Greg did say to me "what happened, it feels like they ripped my stomach open!" I looked at him and said "They DID!" Ha, ha!
I remember, after getting Greg situated in his room, that it was time for me to leave. As I was walking to my van in the parking lot, I heard someone calling my name. Confused, I turned to look, and there was Greg's sister, Jody! She told me that their mom had called her at work to tell her about Greg's cancer, and she left work, telling her boss that her brother was just diagnosed with cancer and her sister-in-law shouldn't be all alone at a time like this! That was probably the nicest thing anyone has ever done for me before or since! I was pretty much in shock, and trying to figure out how I was going to work the next day, and do everything that needed to be done with a one year old baby, all by myself, when I had just been told that my husband had cancer. Jody and I went into the hospital and she visited with Greg for a bit, and then we left so he could get some sleep.
The internet hadn't been invented by Al Gore yet, so there was no going home and doing research. There was just going home and taking care of my baby boy.
I remember telling my boss that I would not be at work the next day, but having to stop in the office to pick up my shoes for Easter Sunday service! I always wore tennis shoes to work, and kept all my "heels" at my desk, so I didn't have any shoes at home to wear to church on Sunday! LOL
I then went to the hospital and the doctor and I sat with Greg and told him he had cancer. Specifically, he had Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma and needed to start chemotherapy within a week. We had a lot of decisions to make at that point, as we discovered that chemo could make you sterile, and I wasn't done having babies! (Spoiler Alert: We had two more babies! Ha, ha!) We ended up freezing as much sperm as we could before chemo started (that's a whole 'nother story in and of itself that I won't go into here).
So many memories. So many feelings. This time of year always pulls me in a direction I don't like to go. We've had so many crisis issues during the Easter season. I'm always somewhat fearful of this time of year and am always grateful for Easter Sunday for so many reasons. With Greg's current health situation and the Corona Virus, it's been more stressful this year than ever before.
But, Sunday, April 12, 2020 is not only Easter Sunday, it is also Aaron's 29th birthday, AND the 20th Anniversary of Greg's Bone Marrow Transplant! Be on the lookout for more memories on Easter Sunday! We have been through a lot, but we are well and truly blessed!
Love to all!
