Sunday, November 23, 2014

Trying to Catch Up - part 2

About 3PM I got settled into my room and was given IV lasix......it worked :-) I was hungry so they gave me a sandwich. Supper was about 6:30 so everything worked out fine. Kev stuck around so he could hear what the Dr had to say, we really didn't know what was going on with me. We found out that I have severe congestive heart failure and my heart is pumping at 19%, it had been at 33%. When an Echo was done before the Herceptin was given I was at 55%........anything over 50% is the infraction rate they want to see. Now we are trying to get it up to 35% with drugs. We are hoping to be able to strengthen the muscle and that too much hasn't died, otherwise mechanical devices will be discussed. One year ago I was stressing about Thanksgiving and today I just want to be alive. You never know what is going to come your way.
You may be wondering what caused these heart problems...........two of my chemo drugs.....
doxorubicin (Adriamycin) & trastuzumab (Herceptin)
and of course the latter one I still need to be on and that one is said to be a Godsend for my her2+ cancer. I feel like I am dammed if I do and dammed if I don't. This does happen to people but not on the scale which it has hit me.
Right now my cancer surgery is on hold.
Everything was going so smoothly.......blood work was great. Then WHAM!!! it seemed like if something unusual was going to happen it would happen to me: heart failure, pink eye, blood clots,  rashes, cyst pops up.
Friday I had a chest x-ray and MRI. The MRI was hard b/c I had to hold my breath. I was gone from my room for over 2 hours. My Dr was looking at the 'pictures' as they were being taken so he'd be sure he got what he wanted. Yes, he told me that he and my original Dr were very concerned about me. Fortunately I did not need any invasive tests done and the rest of my stay was rather boring. I will finish up tomorrow.

  • I am blessed with so many good friends and family members!!!!

5 comments:

  1. Prayers going up from here in southwest missouri. You are so right about us never knowing about tomorrow, everything can change in an instant. Please stay focused on the good, and always believe in miracles! xxDazee

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  2. Praise God you were admitted! Will keep you in my daily prayers, Linda. It will be so easy to remember and pray for you by NAME!
    May you be blessed with increasing strength and health.....may God provide for your every need according to his riches in glory!

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  3. I'm gonna ask the Lord to remind me to pray for you and I'm going to write your name down. I pray for you but lately my memory has been lazy. Keeping you in my prayers, Linda.

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  4. I've been keeping up with what you've been posting, Linda, but I haven't known what to say. Or, I know what I want to say but feel it's not "right" to say it, simply because we haven't met in person. That's awfully silly of me, isn't it? So here goes...

    Prayer is good; prayer is always good. You can't get too many of those being sent your way, and you can include mine in the pack. But as human beings my opinion is that prayer isn't enough. It rarely is. You have a real problem and those problems need real resolution. And, to bring about that resolution you need qualified people to help you achieve it.

    I'm going to tell you that my husband wouldn't be here today were it not for the cardiologists and cardiac surgeon at Bay Care Hospital in Green Bay. My husband has a blood disorder, a genetic condition, which resulted in his having had two major heart attacks...and the need to have an angioplasty, and stents numbering in double digits. I jokingly say that his heart is held together with duct tape and paper clips...that he's the MacGuyver of cardiac patients.

    When I read that your doctor wasn't particularly concerned that your lips were blue I can tell you that if I knew where you lived I would have come knocking on your door. My mission would have been to do my best to try to talk you into getting yourself up to Bay Care right then and there.

    As it is, I'll go out on a very very short limb and guess that your doctors are affiliated with Holy Family Hospital. I know the Aurora-affiliated cardiologist here in Manitowoc, thanks to my husband I know him very well --- the excellent Dr. Wolf is my husband's cardiologist here in town. Dr. Wittmer is his awesome Bay Care cardiologist, and Dr. Roitstein, was his nationally-recognized cardiac surgeon. Bay Care Cardiology is recognized as being one of the best facilities in the country.

    I can tell you with absolute certainty that if you would have walked in Dr. Wolf's office with blue-ish lips he would have had you up at Bay Care before you would have been able to finish buttoning (or zipping up) your jacket.

    So with all that said, thank GOD that you went to St. Luke's!!!
    Often it is said that people need to be their own health care advocate. Sure, there's truth in that. But doctors are also supposed to be that for (and with) you!

    If, IF, you are thinking you might like another opinion on your health conditions, I suggest you consider those doctors I mentioned in the Aurora system. Bay Care is also in the Aurora system, though they are an independent (doctor-owned) facility. If this is something you would want to pursue I sure wouldn't blame you! What happened to you at your last appointment here in town was, in my opinion, totally incomprehensible.

    My last two cents that I'll throw in before I step off my soapbox is this: keep in mind that not everybody whose been hired to do a job does it well. There are plenty of people who do jobs that they have no business doing.

    I wish you the best, Linda, this day and every day.






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