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
Well, back to the health issues for Greg! It seems to just never end. We knew this was coming, but that doesn't make it any easier. We were told back in July that he would need to have his pacemaker/defibrillator replaced before the end of the year. Apparently, the battery was dying. A pacemaker is allegedly supposed to last six years, but it's only been four for Greg (more on that later). As this is not something that can really be put off, he had to have it done, and yesterday was the day!
We didn't have to be at the hospital until 11:45 a.m., so I got up and started working at 5 a.m. I logged off at 10:30 so I could get ready to go. I could have taken a vacation day, but we are on mandatory overtime, so I would have had to work 8 hours at straight pay before time and a half, and I didn't want to do that, so I got up and went to work. For those that may not know, I telecommute, so "going to work" means getting up, putting on my sweats and walking down 16 steps to my office in the lower level of our house. I am the first to admit it's pretty rough! HA!
We got to the hospital and they took Greg to get him set up. Prior to taking him, I advised the person that I did not want the nurse to attempt his IV. His veins are shot from being chemo'd and radiated like crazy, so no matter how good you "think" you are, you are not going to be able to get it in. And let's face it. Needles hurt, but IVs hurt more! I advised that I did not want anyone but an anesthesiologist putting in his IV. I was assured that that information would be passed along.
When they finally let me in back, guess what? I was informed that the nurse insisted on trying to do the IV and COULD NOT DO IT! I was PISSED! She told me that "they insist we try before calling anesthesia." I advised her that I specifically requested an anesthesiologist because I knew she would not be able to do it. Nothing against her or her abilities, but we've been down this road too many times. When I told her that I was going to contact Administration, she was definitely nervous and stated that she'd put a note in his chart, etc., etc., etc. And then went on to state that the "anesthesiologists don't do anything special that they don't do." I DON'T CARE. I AM going to contact Administration because that's just unacceptable. All she had to do was listen to Greg tell her all he had been through this year alone and she should have known that we were not kidding about his veins. I'm getting upset again just typing this! So, let's move on. Oh, an anesthesiologist did come and was able to get both IVs in on the first try! Yes, I feel vindicated. So, enough about that. I'll let you know what Administration has to say after I speak with them.
Greg was finally taken to the OR at 2:15 p.m. We weren't sure how long the surgery would last, but I was told that they would call me (they had my cell number) every two hours to update me. At 4:30 I still had not heard anything, and the receptionist was about to leave for the day. She was kind enough to call the OR and have a nurse call me. Everything was going OK and they had just finished replacing one of the leads. They still had to work on the pacemaker.
Another two hours later and I was called again and told that they were done and that Greg was resting comfortably. Shortly thereafter, the surgeon came out to talk to me. Apparently, the old lead was doing something it shouldn't have been doing, so was draining the battery and that is why it died 2 years sooner than it should have. They had a bit of an issue with scar tissue that they had to cut away, but they were able to get it all done. That was at about 6:15 p.m. or so. The next step was to have Greg stay in bed and not stand up for 3 hours, and after that he had to have a chest x-ray. Once the x-ray was read (apparently by some radiologists in Australia!), then we could go home.
The new pacemaker/defibrillator is pretty awesome. We have a special box that connects to our Wi-Fi that will send reports every three months to his cardiologist. In addition, if the defibrillator shocks him, it will send a report to the cardiologist. How cool is that?! Technology is pretty amazing. I did tell him that he better toe the line or I might have to figure out how to hack into it and give him a shock! HA! (I'm kidding, people! Calm down.)
Instead of him staying in the cardiology day surgery area, he was moved to the regular cardiac area of the hospital.
He was able to order some food, seeing as he hadn't been able to eat prior to the surgery and actually felt like eating it. I must say, no matter what he's had done, whether is radiation, chemo, surgery or extensive dental work, he has never wanted to not eat!
Oh, yea, he managed to spill his V8. The nurses got a little scared at first, when they saw all the red stuff on his blanket! LOL. He was bummed, because he really wanted that V8 juice! Oh, notice the new glasses? Be sure to tell him how nice they look!
We finally got to leave the hospital around 10:15 p.m., so didn't get home until 10:45 p.m. By the time I helped to get him situated and took care of the dogs (with Abby's help), I didn't get to bed myself until almost midnight. I've been starting work at 5 a.m. because of the mandatory OT, but there was no way that was going to happen Tuesday morning. I gave myself an extra hour of sleep and didn't start until 5:45 a.m. I worked until 4:45, so still had a very long day and was fairly well exhausted all day and was grateful that I didn't have to get up early to shower and make myself look presentable to go into the office!
Following doctor's instructions, we changed his dressing today. That "hole" just about in the center of his stomach is where he had the feeding tube. You can't see it here, but below that is a scar that's about 8 inches long where they cut him open the very first time he was diagnosed with non-Hodgkins Lymphoma 25 years ago. This is definitely the body of a warrior!!!!!!!
And, because we always like to post pictures of the gross stuff, just for fun, here's what his incision looks like! There's a total of 12 staples there, in case you were wondering!
So, that's pretty much the latest health news on Greg. If you have time for some extra prayers for him, I would sure appreciate it. He made a comment to me the other day that really hit me hard. He stated that he didn't even know what it felt like to feel "normal" anymore. How sad is that?
Love, peace and prayers to all!
Julie
