Heart to Heart

An unforgettable birthday! I must admit I really wasn't prepared for what I experienced that day. I told myself that everything was fine, and the cardiologist wasn't going to find anything wrong with my arteries as he threaded a catheter from my groin to the heart. It was only heartburn, right? WRONG! What did he mean? 90% blockage, and he put a stent in! This was serious, I told myself, and in a way, hard for me to comprehend. I didn't think it was that big a deal to have heartburn now and then, though the pain radiating to my jaw was a little discerning. I must also admit that thoughts of my life ending sooner than I had envisioned became more of a possibility. Well, those thoughts did cross my mind as I laid still in a hospital bed for almost 12 hrs. waiting for my clotting factors to be low enough to reassure the nurses I wouldn't bleed from the site.
Of course, I didn't bring anything but my contact case, to spend the night in the hospital...no brush, no toothbrush, or toothpaste, no change of clothes. And then, I found out there are two other areas below the blockage that are forming plaque, and will have to be watched.
The blockage was in the upper part of the left coronary artery.
So it was home, to recover and take it easy for a few days. But the next day, I started having body aches, and chills, and increased pressure in my sinuses. Friday, I was determined to get out of the house for a little while, so Earl and I went grocery shopping. That's about as long as I could take being out, as I felt awful with body aches. Saturday, I ran a fever, and was all wrapped up in a blanket all day. By Sunday, I started feeling a little better, and as the day went by, I was baking cookies(low fat oatmeal-choc. chip), and went for a walk with Earl and the dogs. I've been reading a book about heart healthy living, and looking at recipes for both of us to follow. I've actually lost 3 lbs. since Tuesday. So begins my new life!
And my family...what a blessing to have a family that cares...thanks for all the phone calls.

June Bugs, continued

It was a nice ceremony, not too long, for having over 300 grads, and Raquel was beaming! She is such a neat, wonderful young lady, with the most beautiful smile, and loving person. She will attend St. Cloud University, maybe pursuing a nursing degree.
Friday, after making some food for the graduation party, I, also, made food for a potluck for the gathering of Chris and Chuck's friends at their neighbor's house, the Gundersons. It was a happy, sad affair! And it was hard on Chris, to say good-bye, as they move on to Colorado to start a new adventure, new job, new way of life. They gave them a beautiful framed saying about forever friends, and a photo of almost all of their friends as a memento.
Saturday, we headed to Elk River to celebrate Raquel's graduation. It turned out to be a beautiful day, 80 degrees.
What a great family we have. There is such love and caring for each other. We even were good sports and played volleyball, tho all were not in the best shape for it, and injuries occurred.

It was also Aidan's birthday, and we brought his gift with us, too. Happy 7th Anniversary, Danielle and Shawn.
Monday was spent helping the Johnsons get packed up, and loading the truck with all their belongings. I said my goodbyes, and vowed i wouldn't cry, but, gosh, it was hard to hold back the tears on my way to work. The next day, I went to Lorrie's and took care of her little munchkins. As i left her house @ 4:00pm, I thought about them on their way to Omaha, the first night's destination. I found out later that they didn't leave til 7:30 pm, and made it to Sioux City the first night. I think God was watching over them, as the next night, tornados, and severe storms hit Iowa, after they had headed west. They arrived Tuesday night.
So, Wednesday came, and I had my testing done, after trying three times to start an IV in my hand. They injected radioactive dye, and took pictures of the bloodflow in my heart, resting and after exercise. Also, I got my heartrate up by walking on a treadmill, and having it recorded. My doctor was there, and then showed me my tracing, and said it showed some abnormalities. During the activity phase, my heart showed signs of stress, poss. decreased oxygenation. She wanted me to see a cardiologist. Before I could think too much about it, I was handed an appointment card with a time to see the Doctor the next day.
Thursday morning, I greeted the little munchkins @ my house, and fed them breakfast. Then, Earl went with me, as Grandma Karen watched the kiddos, and we talked with the cardiologist. He suggested strongly that I have an angiogram as soon as possible. So, now I am spending my birthday, going to St Cloud for this catherization, and if there is a narrowing or blockage seen, he will put in a stent, and I'll have to stay overnight. I'm having a hard time dealing with all this at once, as I wonder to myself, is this serious or just precautionary. What a family history of heart disease....my mom, dad, her mom, and dad, her sister-Lorraine, my brother. I guess it was bound to affect me, too. Trust in the Lord, in all you do. I'll give Him all my worries, and trust in His care of me.

May Days & June Bugs

A month ago.....where did it go...Mother's Day, Tanner & Sharyn's birthdays, last of school, Memorial Day.
Here is how I celebrated Mother's Day with 2 of my daughters...we gathered @ Chris's and ate dessert! Cheesecake, chocolate covered strawberries, flavored coffee. What could be better! And phone calls from my other children.
We took Tanner out for breakfast after his birthday, and then let him pick out something he wanted for a present from us. Dad sent Sharyn a bouquet of lilies for her birthday. We bought flowers, and planted, and weeded, and plowed a garden. Besides work, we attended meetings we are a part of from Church. We attended Matt Onnen's graduation party from HS. My, how he's grown up. And lastly, we went to a Memorial service @ St. Pat's cemetery, and prayed, and honored our veterans who serviced our country.
June started with my annual physical, and mammogram. Fun, right? Besides changing my presciption from Vytorin to Zocor, it was uneventful, until I mentioned having occas. heartburn radiating to my jaw. So just to be thorough, she decided to schedule me for a Cariolite stress test, or nuclear scan of my heart to see blood flow @ rest and with exercise. They sceduled it on Wednesday, June 11th. Meanwhile, my sister, Sandie, finally had a hip replacement done after having a great once over health check-up. She came thru it with flying colors and is recuperating at home, while doing rehab. I found a new book by my sister, Barb's favorite author, and sent it to her for her birthday. She was surprised! Thursday, June 5th, we drove to Rogers to attend our oldest granddaughter, Raquel's HS Graduation. They were calling for severe storms, and luckily, we only had light to moderate showers to and from there.