Thankfully, we did not have any earthshaking events happen, and we can report the same ole, same old. We like it that way at the hospital. Another week passed means one more step toward the end of my infusions on September 28th. That’s right before my retirement “party” on Oct 2nd. Looking forward to both and for both to be in the rear-view mirror.
I’ve had far fewer (as in “almost none”) atrial fibrillations or other arrhythmias since introducing and balancing ‘amiodarone’ (am-ee-OH-duh-rown) with other meds. Also sold as Cordarone, amiodarone interacts with many other drugs and stays in the body for weeks after one stops taking it. I’m off digoxin because of an anticipated interaction. If you are around someone on amiodarone you can read about it here:
http://www.medicinenet.com/amiodarone/article.htm
This next week has some health events happening–another try at the Holter heart monitor, and another echocardiogram to see how my heart is doing. Will report in next weekend, and hopefully NOT before.
We have been continuing to raise the puppy that we are keeping till after his titer has shown he has immunity to Canine Parvovirus, sometime after Oct 4th when we will take him in for the lab test. The vet’s lab is in Phoenix, so not as handy as I get here at our hospital on my blood tests. If my INR is too high or too low I know in a couple of hours and can subtract or add Coumadin with the evening pill intake.
We went every day during the work week to the hospital to Out-Patient Services for the infusions, now of just Rocephin. It usually lasts only a half hour not counting the setup and take down time, but it totally is less than an hour, so that’s nice. They are so good to me and have brought me a Glucerna-boosted chocolate milk shake every session. They put me under a heated blanket because the rooms are cold, and have me in a nice bed for which I can control the height, the head, and under my knees, to lift them as well. I get very comfortable for my infusion. There was only one day last weekend when I was subjected to have it done in a chair with no warm blanket, and that was no fun.
On weekends we go to Medical Surgical, or as happened Saturday, the beds in MedSurg were full, so I was taken care of in the Critical Care Unit (CCU). I had a nurse yesterday who remembered me (and I her) from my stay there, way last summer when I also had bacteria in my bloodstream, which started all this heart mess, the Endocarditis.
There was no one staying in the CCU, but the day before it and Medical Surgical floor had been filled with young people, all kids. There were 6 appendectomies in one day, by one doctor. He said there must have been something in the water. He has worked at hospitals before in large urban areas and never had a cluster like this.
We also went to garage sales a couple days this week (Friday and Saturday). Found neat stuff, not the least of which is a case (50 cents) for my Dulcimer… it’s a case for a keyboard that died. They want $50 plus for special cases on the web. I’m obviously feeling better to be going back to yard sales. John is kind to drive me fairly close and let me out, so that I don’t have to walk too far, even though I’m getting better on my stamina each day. Two stops we went to were neighborhood sales with 5 or 6 sales on the block. Another was at a retirement community with the folks unloading knickknacks collected over a combined 943 years. There is a lot of “stuff” accumulated in such a long time by so many people.
John says I’m supposed to keep this blog to my health, so I will relate that I did get some things to aid in my health. I nice new pillow for my recliner foot rest (free); a lap blanket for cool nights, even though our heat has been coming on; a pair of Ray Ban sunglasses for my trips outside. I lost a lot of weight, so clothes and coats are nice to find deals on at yard sales too. I got a nice “Rawhide” looking coat with fleece from a friend at a yard sale. I found one of the foam seats for cushioning chairs. So, that’s my news of the uneventful week of hospital care, but how it influenced my healing process. The prices, except the coat, were 50 cents. Also, I take my many pills with chocolate milk in an ‘Old Fashioned’ (squatty) glass. This shape is easier to rinse out and clean than taller shapes. At one sale, for $1.50, I got 8 owl-motif glasses so can put the Christmas scene ones away for a few months. I continue to spend gas money on finding good deals at sale, and it gets me some fun exercise too. I pick up shirts that fit for a quarter, and that’s nice.
Also, I played music at the Rehab last Thursday, the place where I spent 6 weeks back in January and February, with physical therapy 3 times a day to regain use of my muscles that had atrophied. Those are happy memories only now, and it is nice to be able to walk down the hall, past my old room, and into the cafeteria to play for some people / patients I met while there, as a patient myself.
Okay, I had best stop this so John can put out on the blog.
Have a nice week and we hope to do the same.
Nancy