Happy 1st Birthday, 14th biopsy!
Hi ya'll!
I recently got back from Cleveland Clinic from my 1 year anniversary appointment for the new heart. Today, Sept. 12th, is the actual one year anniversary! I was just getting put to sleep about this time last year to have my chest cracked open, be placed on the cardiac pump, and have my old heart removed! I still have the echo of my old heart from last year as well as my EKG. Wow, it is still so crazy to talk about.
Well this appointment was so much better than last year. Last year as some of you may remember, I bleed out after the procedure and had to be rehospitalized. At this appointment I had a full cardiac catherization performed; this looks at the heart in more detail via a long wire that is introduced through the groin and snaked up to the heart. The pressures and function were good, and my coronary arteries looked ok. The IVUS was not able to be performed b/c last year's study could not be obtained, but no matter, less mucking around my coronary arteries (the vessels that supply the heart itself, stopping blood flow=bad), is fine with me. They did find an anomaly of the right coronary artery that was interesting and not seen last year. Thy told me there are 2 orifices of the right coronary artery (instead of one)! I am assuming they meant that I have a separate branch called the the conus branch that occurs in 50% of the population. So instead of having 2 holes for the right and left coronaries, I essentially have 3! (Did ya'll get that?) I guess I am probably their only patient who thinks this is neat.
Anyway, labwork was ok. My cholesterol is good, which they follow b/c the most common cause of death after a transplant is accelerated coronary artery disease in which high cholesterol contributes. They performed that new test called the ultrasensitive C-reactive protein at Cleveland which was normal and assesses risk for cardiovascular disease (this test has been getting a fair amt of press and was in a recent Time magazine). I'm not sure it is actually helpful in a transplant patient, but at least its another point of information and mine was normal. The electrolytes were ok, my allomap and immunoassay(new blood test for rejection) are not back yet, but mine are always high, so I expect it to be high again. My CMV (that infection that I was hospitalized for last Dec.) continues to be negative off medication. My kidney function appears to continue to be normal, as well.
The chest Xray looked normal, and the EKG was unchanged.
So the things I get to do now? Go down on my steroids, yeah!!! Go down a little on my prograf (the one that makes me shake and have pins and needles), yeah!!! Stop my Bactrim, which was the antibiotic I was taking prophylacticly for lung infections, yeah!!! And I don't have to go back for another biopsy until December, since the biopsy this time was 1B(slightly worse than last time, but acceptable). I will still be taking around 40 pills a day, but less than b/f!
My other medical problems are still in the middle of their workups. I had a mammogram and ultrasound for the tumor last week, and will have to get a "boob biopsy" this week, since it was not cystic on the ultrasound. The repeat ultrasound for the ovary mass will be in about 1.5 weeks.
Other than my medical issues I have been a bit more stressed lately with things related to hurricane Katrina, planning my future, and studying for the pediatric boards. At least I was able to volunteer at the Red Cross here in Cincinnati for evacuees. I wrote prescriptions and assessed patients that had non-infectious issues. I loved it! Everyone I know from LA is safe, though some have lost their homes. It will be a long healing process...but NO will rebuild.
On happier notes, LSU won against AZ state this weekend after having their first game postponed and moving the game to AZ. I recreated my stance from last yr. in the hospital by wearing my pink LSU hat and ordering pizza for the game as a treat! The Saints also won! And the 2nd Annual Have a Heart Benefit is set for November 4th, so look for more details and mark your calendars! This year we will be giving proceeds not only to NTAF, but to the Lifelink organ procurement agency and the Red Cross hurricane releif fund (since LA is my home state). Oh, and the happiest news again is that I am alive and made it to the year milestone, and since the survival rate for heart transplant patients at one year is 65%, I can give a bonafide sigh of relief that I am officially a part of that 65%!
Don't forget to mark your calendars for Have a Heart Benefit II! And I love you all for taking this past year's long journey with me!
xoxoxo, jenn
I recently got back from Cleveland Clinic from my 1 year anniversary appointment for the new heart. Today, Sept. 12th, is the actual one year anniversary! I was just getting put to sleep about this time last year to have my chest cracked open, be placed on the cardiac pump, and have my old heart removed! I still have the echo of my old heart from last year as well as my EKG. Wow, it is still so crazy to talk about.
Well this appointment was so much better than last year. Last year as some of you may remember, I bleed out after the procedure and had to be rehospitalized. At this appointment I had a full cardiac catherization performed; this looks at the heart in more detail via a long wire that is introduced through the groin and snaked up to the heart. The pressures and function were good, and my coronary arteries looked ok. The IVUS was not able to be performed b/c last year's study could not be obtained, but no matter, less mucking around my coronary arteries (the vessels that supply the heart itself, stopping blood flow=bad), is fine with me. They did find an anomaly of the right coronary artery that was interesting and not seen last year. Thy told me there are 2 orifices of the right coronary artery (instead of one)! I am assuming they meant that I have a separate branch called the the conus branch that occurs in 50% of the population. So instead of having 2 holes for the right and left coronaries, I essentially have 3! (Did ya'll get that?) I guess I am probably their only patient who thinks this is neat.
Anyway, labwork was ok. My cholesterol is good, which they follow b/c the most common cause of death after a transplant is accelerated coronary artery disease in which high cholesterol contributes. They performed that new test called the ultrasensitive C-reactive protein at Cleveland which was normal and assesses risk for cardiovascular disease (this test has been getting a fair amt of press and was in a recent Time magazine). I'm not sure it is actually helpful in a transplant patient, but at least its another point of information and mine was normal. The electrolytes were ok, my allomap and immunoassay(new blood test for rejection) are not back yet, but mine are always high, so I expect it to be high again. My CMV (that infection that I was hospitalized for last Dec.) continues to be negative off medication. My kidney function appears to continue to be normal, as well.
The chest Xray looked normal, and the EKG was unchanged.
So the things I get to do now? Go down on my steroids, yeah!!! Go down a little on my prograf (the one that makes me shake and have pins and needles), yeah!!! Stop my Bactrim, which was the antibiotic I was taking prophylacticly for lung infections, yeah!!! And I don't have to go back for another biopsy until December, since the biopsy this time was 1B(slightly worse than last time, but acceptable). I will still be taking around 40 pills a day, but less than b/f!
My other medical problems are still in the middle of their workups. I had a mammogram and ultrasound for the tumor last week, and will have to get a "boob biopsy" this week, since it was not cystic on the ultrasound. The repeat ultrasound for the ovary mass will be in about 1.5 weeks.
Other than my medical issues I have been a bit more stressed lately with things related to hurricane Katrina, planning my future, and studying for the pediatric boards. At least I was able to volunteer at the Red Cross here in Cincinnati for evacuees. I wrote prescriptions and assessed patients that had non-infectious issues. I loved it! Everyone I know from LA is safe, though some have lost their homes. It will be a long healing process...but NO will rebuild.
On happier notes, LSU won against AZ state this weekend after having their first game postponed and moving the game to AZ. I recreated my stance from last yr. in the hospital by wearing my pink LSU hat and ordering pizza for the game as a treat! The Saints also won! And the 2nd Annual Have a Heart Benefit is set for November 4th, so look for more details and mark your calendars! This year we will be giving proceeds not only to NTAF, but to the Lifelink organ procurement agency and the Red Cross hurricane releif fund (since LA is my home state). Oh, and the happiest news again is that I am alive and made it to the year milestone, and since the survival rate for heart transplant patients at one year is 65%, I can give a bonafide sigh of relief that I am officially a part of that 65%!
Don't forget to mark your calendars for Have a Heart Benefit II! And I love you all for taking this past year's long journey with me!
xoxoxo, jenn
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home