Some guy on Captain America did,<\/a> only Captain America wasn\u2019t a girl. Point is \u2026 \u201cGet that girl a sandwich\u201d sums up Dr. Wilkoff\u2019s advice. Let me explain:<\/p>\nBiggest news is that I\u2019m not having heart surgery (!!!!), because:<\/p>\n
ONE<\/b>: There are lots of features on my pacemaker. So far, two of those features don\u2019t bode well with my situation. One feature has already been tweaked back home, which improves some of my symptoms. The other was tweaked today, and the hope is that it will hopefully get rid of the remaining symptoms. The feature that was tweaked today should\u2019ve been set to a 2.0 voltage, but was set at 5.0 voltage. So they lowered the voltage, in the hopes that it\u2019s what could be causing the zapping sensation that I\u2019ve had since surgery two years ago. As Doctor W said \u2026 let\u2019s just do the next logical thing, which is to tweak a pacemaker setting that\u2019s obviously not working well.<\/p>\n
TWO<\/b>: Because my BMI is 16, the Doc thinks I may very well be feeling the electricity from the leads simply because I\u2019m too skinny and because I\u2019m malnourished, which tends to make your muscles sensitive and twitchy and not operate well in general. Shaun and I had wondered if maybe the reason I\u2019ve feeling the electricity could be physiological, and now we know that\u2019s at least possible. Time will tell if it\u2019s physiological, or due to high voltage.<\/p>\n
THREE<\/b>: The benefits of a lead extraction surgery do not outweigh the risk \u2013 at least not my situation. In essence, he\u2019s willing to be risky, but he said he\u2019d have to have something to offer me in return, and he\u2019s got nothin\u2019. I don\u2019t have reserves enough to heal from a surgery like that \u2013 at least not well \u2013 and the benefits of doing the surgery are just not great enough to risk life itself.<\/p>\n
We talked about the idea of whether it\u2019s safer to do the lead extraction surgery now rather than when I and the leads are older. But he did not agree that it\u2019s necessarily better, especially if I can \u201cfigure a way to gain some weight\u201d and fix my malnutrition in the meantime. The leads are already super old, and I am super not well. So if we can get me well, and there comes a day where the surgery can\u2019t be put off anymore, then at least I would be in a better position to handle the recovery.<\/p>\n
Also, technology is fast growing and ever changing. They have pacemakers now the size of a .22 cartridge that they insert through your leg. But the problem is, I need a dual lead pacemaker, and these new itty bitty pacemakers only come in single lead. BUT \u2013 who knows what the future holds? He seemed pretty confident that if I can make it through with my current pacemaker until the battery dies (about nine years), it\u2019s possible technology will progress and the itty bitty pacemakers would be dual lead by\u00a0then.<\/p>\n
\u2018Twas funny when he brought out one of those tiny pacemakers from his pocket, and placed it in my hand.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou just carry the pacers of the future around in your pocket all day, eh?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n
His face lit up like a happy Halloween pumpkin, and he said \u201cThis is what I do!\u201d<\/p>\n
Anyway I held the itty bitty pacer in the palm of my hand and stared at it. It\u2019s amazingly small, with prongs that stick out of it that look like cricket legs.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ll definitely take one of those,\u201d I said.<\/p>\n
It would be awesome to get rid of this clunky, oversized piece of machinery in my chest. I\u2019m grateful for it, and weary of it all at the same time. I\u2019m dependent on it for life. How could I not love it? At the same time, after four of them, two that have caused me much heartache and stress and money, I\u2019m ready for something new and improved and \u2026 small. Real small. Cheap is something I\u2019ll probably never get.<\/p>\n
Last but not least, he really would like me to pursue ways to get some nutrition. When I told him what my diet has consisted of for the last decade or so, he was fairly horrified. I tried to be excited about my newly tolerated carrot juice, but he wasn\u2019t that impressed. A body can\u2019t live on chicken, yogurt, and carrot juice for years on end, and he knows it. So \u2026 he suggested either get in contact with someone who is open to administering parenteral feedings (tube feedings), either at the Cleveland Clinic, or possibly the University Hospital close to us. We will do some research on that when we return home.<\/p>\n
It was amazing to me that he even acknowledged my gastroparesis\/celiac\/malnourishment as a problem. I\u2019ve been trying to get someone, anyone, to address these issues, but gastroparesis is such a difficult disease. It\u2019s called idiopathic<\/i> gastroparesis for a reason: nobody knows what causes it. Therefore, nobody knows what to do about it. I\u2019m not looking for a cure, per se. Just a way to work around the problem, and find a way to get me some decent, well rounded nutrition.<\/p>\n
In closing, I am relieved (SO relieved), as I was not comfortable undergoing a serious heart surgery, due to the state of my general health. So when he acknowledged my concern with me undergoing this surgery as being totally legit and even an overriding factor, I took it as an answer to prayer. Now I\u2019m not forced to make an agonizing decision as to whether to have the surgery, because Doctor W made it for me, and that\u2019s a huge answer to my prayers (my docs back home told me it would come down to what I wanted \u2013 dangerous surgery now or more dangerous surgery later). And now that I have a big wig doctor from Cleveland suggesting I find a way to get some nutritional help, I have some leverage when I go about trying to make that happen.<\/p>\n
Doctor W said it all when he said \u201cRight now, the heart problems are not your biggest problems. Go figure a way to beef up, and maybe we will see you at a later date.\u201d<\/p>\n
So now you can pray for whoever God might put in my path to treat the malnutrition. Just what you wanted, huh?<\/p>\n
Thanks for following. Thanks more for praying. I am ever so tired of talking about myself, and I\u2019m looking forward to blogging about something besides me, myself, and I. I mean, it\u2019s been real. It\u2019s been fun. But it ain\u2019t been real fun!<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Now, the doctor didn\u2019t say those exact words. Some guy on Captain America did, only Captain America wasn\u2019t a girl. Point is \u2026 \u201cGet that girl a sandwich\u201d sums up Dr. Wilkoff\u2019s advice. Let me explain: Biggest news is that I\u2019m not having heart surgery (!!!!), because: ONE: There are lots of features on my […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2920,"featured_media":454,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[21,159,180,105],"class_list":["post-1191","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-chronic-illness","tag-cleveland","tag-good-news","tag-prayer"],"yoast_head":"\n
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<\/p>\n