Todd went in to see his local cardiologist today. Many of you know he was feeling very tired and winded. His lower rate was set at 55 BPM so he was really dragging. Dr. read his pacemaker and adjusted the lower rate to 70 BPM which is where he used to be.
So good news is that he now has what he had 20 years ago – atrial flutter. He is not in A Fib but in flutter. He is going back on an anti-arrhythmia drug to try to knock out the flutter. Yes, this is better. We still need to wait three more weeks to see what happens as his heart heals from the procedure. If he is still in flutter at that time, they will cardiovert him again.
On a lighter note, I met my friend Sarah and her two youngest at the Please Touch Museum. Luc and I had a great time!
I think that is it for now.
St. John of God, patron of heart patients, pray for us.
This is how we have spent the afternoon. Todd is sore but feeling well. He is excited because he is “throwing PVCs”. A normal person would be unsettled by this but not my husband. This means he is still in sinus rhythm. When he is in a-fib his pacemaker regulates the heartbeat and he doesn’t have the PVCs.
We can’t wait to head back home tomorrow morning.
Thanks to everyone for your prayers – you know who you are! And thanks for the texts and emails to see how we were doing. Big shout out to Sam and Aunt Anne for staying with the kids. The Lowery’s and Conforti’s for the dinners. The Chepega’s, Corcoran’s, and Lowery’s for driving the kids all over the place. And Noelle who met me in Indy to get lunch at the mall. Off to bed!
St. John of God, patron of heart patients, pray for us.
“To lay flat on your back for 12 hours is not fun”
“Standing up never felt so good”
“I need to be on bed-rest for a month” (he’s lying)
He also says, “Thanks for all of your prayers.”
Since Todd refuses to “social network” I am providing you with a selection of quotes from the patient.
The Doctor came in to see Todd early this morning and gave him a similar report. Everything was still intact from the Houston procedures – all of those ablations held. And with this new device he was able to to find three sources of electrical interference, he calls them rotors, one on the right and two on the left. 90%+ of sources are on the left side so he didn’t expect to find anything on the right side. He was able to isolate those and if the procedure worked they will not come back. They confirmed that they were able to get the atrial BPM down even when he was in a-fib. This morning the fellow told todd it went from 600 – 180. This means that even if he goes into a-fib he may still feel better than he has recently. So there may be some improvement even if in a-fib.
Good news is he is still in sinus rhythm (meaning no a-fib). Reality tells us that this was the case after the last two ablations which held for one day and one week. We are trying to be optimistic. May God’s will be done!
Well, he’s still dozing in and out. It is almost 9PM. His blood is still too thin to remove the seven ports from his upper thighs. So he is still flan on his back. He has to continue to lie like this for 6 hours after the ports come out. He’s not thrilled about it but otherwise is doing okay. He has noticed his heart trying to go back into a-fib a couple of times – fascinating to hear him recognize it and then see it on the monitor a few seconds later. I’ll give another update tomorrow.
St John of God, patron of heart patients, pray for us.
The doc, along with his fellows who laugh at all of his jokes, just came out to give me a report (2:00 PM). Dr. thought it would be an easy procedure with this new device, that there were some areas that the Houston surgeries missed, but there were none. The Houston procedure was a thorough as it could have been. He found an “interesting” thumb sized area in the right atria which the worked on from quite some time with “the basket” and brought the BPM down to 345/350 from 400. Then he moved to the other atria and found two similar spots. Worked on both of those areas. At the end, while he wouldn’t admit failure, he said Todd was still in a-fib but at a slower BPM. So they tried cardioversion and that knocked him out of a-fib. The doctor is hopeful but I am feeling a little down because this is the same thing that happened in Houston. That said you don’t know until this heals. May God’s will be done.
The doc also made a comment about Todd’s artificial aorta and aortic valve being positioned 45 degrees from where it should. But it works and looks good so that is all that matters.
Now I wait for another hour or two until I can go in to see him.
St. John of God, patron of heart patients, pray for us.
I was working in the cafe all morning and took a break to go to Mass at 11 AM. How nice it is that they have Mass here everyday. They even have the Eucharist present in the Chapel. I sat in the second row and the priest made a beeline to me and asked me to do the readings. At the end of Mass, I saw I had five messages from my patient flow coordinator (no he didn’t page me).
I went back to the waiting area and we called in to the procedure room. They have been ablating him for about an hour. The doctor is pleased with the progress so far. We will call in for another update around 1:30.
St. John of God, patron of heart patients, pray for us.
We made it to Indianapolis (Siberia?). Todd arrived on Tuesday and I came in on Wednesday night. There are several inches of ice and snow packed on most roads. Schools are still closed here but we made it! Here’s the sight when I landed last night.
We had a great dinner at St. Elmo’s. I had the most amazing shrimp cocktail with very spicy sauce. Normally that is my dinner but I was cajoled into some seared tuna. Todd had a great dry-aged steak – Kansas City strip – I think. Since we are praying a Novena to St. John of God – patron of heart patients, I found this window at St. Elmo’s prescient.
As for Todd, we got to the hospital at 5:45 AM after a cab ride where we literally felt a large piece of ice roll under the car. The floor of the cab actually rolled. Odd feeling. We were able to say day 9 of this Novena in the chapel before heading to the Cath Lab waiting area. We met Jim who is our “patient flow coordinator”. I think that would be a good job for me. He gave me a pager (hello PAGENET peeps) It’s quite large and looks more like a taser. I heard Jim describe it as one of those things you get at a restaurant.
After all of the prep including answering the same questions five times, they took him off to surgery at about 7:40. He was a little anxious as you would expect. He was relieved however when the anesthesiologist, Dr. “Call me Andrew”, told him the would use a general anesthesia. His first ablation they sedated him and he woke up several times. He was very sick following that procedure so glad to be put under.
This will take 5-7 hours. The success rate with this new procedure is about 70%. According to the one of Dr. Miller’s fellows, Dr Miller’s success rate is much higher – he is having the most success of the 10 hospitals using this new approach. (Love the humility) They described the device as the “rooter” and a “cage” and spoke about all of the holes they were going to put in his legs.
Will let you know when I get an update on how he is doing and how the procedure is going.
St. John of God, patron of heart patients, pray for us.
Today we start our Novena to St. John of God for the success of Todd’s heart surgery on January 9, 2014. Would you please join us? You don’t need to be Catholic to say these prayers. If you can’t start today, that’s okay, start any time.
St. John of God is the patron saint of those suffering from heart ailments, booksellers (have you ever seen Todd’s religious book collection?), hospitals, nurses and fire fighters. According to Catholic.org from the time he was 8 (Todd had his first open heart at age 8) until he died, he was very impulsive and always stayed with his decision no matter what others thought. And, as Todd points out, everyone thought he was a madman.
If you haven’t prayed a novena before it’s easy. For nine days (novena = nine-fold) begin with the Sign of the Cross and then read the prayer below aloud or to yourself. At the end of the prayer you repeat the closing prayer three times (3*3=9) which includes the Our Father, Hail Mary and Glory Be.
NOVENA PRAYER TO SAINT JOHN OF GOD FOR A CURE
Saint John of God, heavenly Patron of the Sick, I come to you in prayer to seek your help in Todd’s present sickness. Through the love which Jesus had for you in choosing you for the sublime vocation of serving the sick, and through the tender affection with which the Blessed Virgin Mary placed upon your head a crown of thorns as a symbol of the sufferings you would undergo in the service of the sick to attain to your crown of glory, I beg you to intercede for Todd to Jesus and Mary that They may grant him a cure, if this should be according to the Will of God.
How patiently you bore the sufferings of your own disease! Teach me and Todd to carry with cheerful resignation the cross that God has given us. Let us never complain or lose courage. Help us to understand that suffering is a very important means of sanctifying my soul, of atoning for our many sins, and of reaping a plentiful harvest of merit for Heaven. I trust in your great love for the sick and in the power of your intercession to help them. Help Todd, good St. John, and beg the God whose name you bear to touch him as He touched the sick while on earth, that through His almighty power health may return to Todd’s body. And as you derived strength in your own sufferings from the crucifix, so may Todd be able to say what you did to Jesus Crucified: “Lord, Thy thorns are my roses and Thy sufferings my paradise.”
Good Saint John, lover of those who suffer and special Patron of the Sick, I confidently place before you my earnest petition.
That Todd’s doctors are able to successfully complete his ablation procedure and he is healed of the atrial fibrillation.
I beg you to recommend my request to Mary, the Mother of Sorrows and Health of the Sick that both Mary and you may present it to Jesus, the Divine Physician.
Saint John of God, patron of the Sick and beloved of Jesus and Mary, pray to Them for me and obtain my request.
(Three times.)
In honor of Saint John of God:
Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory Be.
Saint John of God, Patron of the Sick, pray for us.
Say this novena nine times in a row for nine days in a row.
We are back on schedule. The girls have been busy cooking in between camps, visits to Six Flags and spontaneous trips with friends. They are really doing well. Claire has made a roasted potato recipe two nights in a row. She is a great cook!
Today Claire and Dana made Palmiers which are delish and couldn’t be easier to prepare.
Impromptu gathering last night and the girls made the dessert. Jello watermelon pops. Took a while to make but they were cute and tasty (the Popsicles…)
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