The (Other) End of the Internet

You guessed it. I just got back from yet another unexpected and unwanted vacation. This time it was because of an unexpected 5-day stay in the hospital. This time I can probably thank my gall bladder - or, more accuratly, my lack thereof.
Because I had to have it removed four or five years ago, there […]

My brother has had a problem recently with being short of breath after the simplest of activities, so he went in last week for a 4-hour stress test. I have no idea what that involves, but I do know that it sounds like a whole lot of no fun at all, to quote a friend […]

I just read a blog post in which the blogger was complaining about needing to lose weight and saying that she was starting the South Beach Diet Phase 1 (again).
It pains me to admit this, but between the side-effects of my daily medicinal cocktail, the fact that I am SO on the wrong side of […]

You may or may not have noticed I’ve been gone in my absence for a while.

 I just finished a 5-day stay in the hospital because of pneumonia. What I find disgusting is the fact that my 79-year-old mother in law was also down with pneumonia last week and she kicked it in 1/2 the time […]

<rant>
I’ve mentioned here before that my heart surgeon is insisting that I take blood thinners because of my artificial heart valves.
I’ve mentioned here before that everything I’ve learned about heart valves in the last two years says that blood thinners are not generally required if one has tissue valves (which I do) as opposed to […]

I almost didn’t remember this in time!
Today, August 3, is my second “Valversary”. To those readers who don’t happen to be heart patients, that means that it was two years ago today I had my heart valves replaced.
Valve+Anniversary=Valversary.
Don’t groan at ME about it. I did’t make that term up; I read it on a message […]

This new medicine they put me on to regulate my heart rate seems to be starting to work. It’s only been two days since I started taking it, but I’m already experiencing fewer skipped heart beats. I’d like to get to the point where I could get away with being active again. With Summer all […]

I have had rheumatoid arthritis for about ten years. It damaged two of my heart valves to the point where they had to be replaced two years ago. My surgeon elected not to use mechanical valves. Instead, he used valves made from bovine pericardial tissue. He told me at the time that this was because […]

As I mentioned a little earlier, I spent the greater part of today getting transported to and from the heart surgeon’s office. What happened while I was there was both a relief and a disappointment at the same time.

The test on my heart yesterday wasn’t as bad as I anticipated. I explained to the nurse handling the anestetic what happened the last time I had that test done and she said she’d go really easy on the medication - which she did. She had told me several times that, while I wouldn’t lose […]