Sunday, August 26, 2007

Update

This is just a quick health update on me, for those who are wondering since my last post. I had worsening symptoms (for example, extreme fatigue after walking up a flight of stairs, or getting out of breath just from walking from one room to another), and so I went in to the cardiologist on Wednesday August 22. A new EKG revealed that I had something called 2nd degree heart block--although my atrium (top half of heart) was beating at 98, my ventricle (bottom half of heart) was only beating at 50. This had not shown up on previous EKGs--apparently it comes and goes, and also it was getting worse.

The solution for that is a pacemaker, and they wanted to get it in as soon as possible, since the condition seemed to be worsening. So two days later, on Friday August 24, I checked into the hospital and got a pacemaker! It was more complicated than for most people because I had had a chemo port previously, and it had left scarring on the veins they would normally use. So I've got a bit more bruising and tenderness than usual, and I'm taking more pain medication than usual, which is leaving me a bit more sleepy and lightheaded than I had expected to be at this point. But I should be back to normal before long.

Mostly I'm still amazed at God's goodness: it's wonderful that there are such things as pacemakers, that I could get one so quickly, and that I had such good doctors and nurses taking care of me, not to mention my loving family and friends.

Thanks to all who have prayed for me! I'd love to hear about ways that I could pray for you!

3 comments:

robert austell said...

Praise the Lord, Debbie! I trust and pray that God will use this technology to restore your health and strength for His glory!

In Christ,

Robert

Karl Shadley said...

I am glad they were able to detect the issue and had a way of treating it. Good News. I will keep you in my prayers as you live into your new electronic body part. Blessings bionic woman. Karl

Dave Moody said...

Wow, glad I checked back here Debbie. Pacemakers do rank as one of the great inventions of the 20th century. My mom had/has arythmia pretty severely. Would lay her up in bed for days, no rhyme or reason-- it was quite a large concern, to understate it. But, 4yrs ago, they put in a pacemaker/defib unit, and its been like a new lease on life for her.

grace to you and Jim during these days...
dm