Ouch!

My husband really hates pills. Especially pain medication but he WILL take Goody's. I don't have any idea why. "What if I stomped on an Advil? Would you eat the darn thing then?" Nope. I called the doctor to make sure he could have it (I can't.) and was on a Goody's hunt. Here's a tip heart buddies! Goody's has Aspirin, Acetaminophen, and caffeine. It's not our kind of thing. If you love it as much as my husband does, call your doctor first. He may say yes or recommend an alternative for you.

What brought on the Goody's hunt? Our boat finally bit one of us. Of course it was Corey, was there ever any doubt? The poor guy can't seem to make it 6 months without a dust up of some kind. He fell down into the engine room hatch and landed hard on his foot. Ouch! The swelling and bruising were immediate and he couldn't put any weight on it. The problem? This happened Sunday and the doctor's office is closed. Sorry blog friends. This is why I've been absent for a bit. Corey and I had a quick conference and decided that we weren't heading to the ER. We're both crazy impressed with our local hospital but what a way to ruin your Sunday! We'd wait till Monday morning and visit his own orthopedic surgeon then. Crazy huh? He's been through this so often we have our own favorite surgeon. Really, this is the kind of injury that calls for an urgent care visit and not the ER. At worst, it was a small fracture. Why clog up the ER with this kind of problem? As one of those busy doctors saved my life, I'm on Corey's side of the argument now. If it can wait, go to urgent care or your own doctor. This obviously does NOT apply to chest pain! I'm talking busted feet and sprained ankles. The ER is built for emergencies. Car accidents, heart attacks, and severe injuries. It's NOT built for a bad case of the flu. Sorry.

Corey and I settle in and I made him an ice pack. Pretty soon it was evident that one pack wasn't going to cut it. It was swollen everywhere! No problem...

Like my solution? I dragged over an old ice chest dunked his foot. The leftover beer and Diet Coke floating from our last boat ride just cracks me up! The swelling went way down so at least that was helpful.

Monday morning Corey was visiting his ortho surgeon. That giant paw of his is bashed up but not broken. He'll have some wicked bruising and swelling but it should heal just fine. He got fitted for a brace that looks like a shoe and sent on his way with a warning to check back if he's still hobbling in a week or two. There may be a small fracture the x-ray missed.

We've spent the last few days watching our insanely giant DVD collection and alternately icing and propping up his banged up paw. A sunny deck in a beautiful marina isn't exactly a hardship even if the ice was. He's BACK at work today! The man is tough! Hmm, I'm thinking tomorrow I may post on bruising first aid. As heart patients we get a lot of them huh? Might as well know how to fix them!

Victory!!!

Meet Big Ugly. He's a muskogee that showed up last year and turned our swim platform into his own private bathroom. Corey discouraged this by spraying the platform with water everyday. We don't want to hurt him, but the dude had to go. Big Ugly retaliated by being personally offended by, not Corey, but me. I spent all of last summer being chased down the dock by a giant flapping bird that sits in it's own poo. Lovely.

Skip forward a year. I walk outside one morning to be greeted by a big pile of poo on my snow white boat and none other then Big Ugly. He saw me, I saw him, then fast as a snake, he cracked me with his beak. OWWW!!! Are you kidding me with this?!? Between the bird and the Plavix I had one heck of a bruise. That sucker will raise a knot that will last a month!

I love animals so I STILL defended Big Ugly and have spent the last month being chased again. He's always on our boat! He hisses, he flaps, and when he catches you he leaves big bruises. At least I'm getting a heart workout right? All this running is good for something!

I was on the beach yesterday for my daily walk when Big Ugly popped up. That dude landed and let out a sinister hiss right in front of me. "Shoo Big Ugly. Shoo! I'm not having it! Go away you dumb duck!" He started flapping, I started running. I've never done ANYTHING to this nasty thing! Now here I am sprinting down the beach with a giant, mutant, flapping duck hot in pursuit. I survived a heart attack and can't escape a dumb bird. Wait a minute.

I...survived...a heart...attack. And I'm running. From a bird. I skidded to a stop and wheeled around to take a defensive stance. Against a duck. "Bring it Big Ugly! Get over here you mean thing!" I got thumped on the hand, he got thumped on the head and the battle went like that for a bit. I finally gave up, I didn't want to hurt him, and drop kicked Big Ugly right in the butt. He lost a few tail feathers and backed up! "YEAH! That's what's up! Get over here! I'll kick your fuzzy butt down the beach you dumb, mean bird!!!" I took off after him and he ran away!!! Victory!

This morning I stepped outside and there was my nemesis. On the dock not the boat!!! He gave me stink eye but kept the hissing to himself. Finally. Respect! Now I'm going to leave him alone and he better do the same. Big Ugly 10. Gillian 1. But it's a big 1! And for all of you that worry... he's fine. I think I have more battle wounds then he does.

Dew Drop Day!

To the tune of I'm a Little Teapot...
I'm a little Dew Drop short and stout.
Here is my chili dog with sauerkraut.
When I'm really hungry hear me shout
TAKE me to Dew Drop and roll me out!

I really, really love the Dew Drop. When I wear my hot pink Drop tshirt I actually get stopped and people yell Deeew Drop! I think it's the only time wearing a tshirt with a hot dog on the back is cool. I ate here with my family as a child and as a teenager I had lunch here with my grandfather. The Dew Drop was an after church treat or a chance to catch up with friends. Even though I have to be careful with what I eat, I still love them and go a few times a year. What do I order?


A chili dog of course! Good grief you would have thought that someone that refuses to eat beef would be a little pickier with their mega treat. You'd be wrong! That hot pink hot dog is a tradition!

Unfortunately, after a really great visit with a good friend, I just had to go home and Goggle. What's IN a hot dog? O.M.G. You really don't want to know. It's the most disgusting thing I've ever read. We're not even going there because I'd likely be scarred for life for repeating what I found. It's just wrong on so many levels.

To add insult to injury, my lunch packed over 2,400 mg of sodium. That's more then one day's worth and it's loaded with fat and calories. A chili dog is NOT healthy. This I knew but I didn't realise how unhealthy it really was. Sadly, I have one of two options. I still really love the Dew Drop but I either have to go as a very special treat or not at all. Sorry Dew Drop. You'll be sorely missed. Do any of my heart buddies have a special, bad for you treat? What's your kryptonite guys?

Moving!!!

I've got the most awesome problem! There's too many emails! I built a fan page on facebook so that I could post my blog updates there. Really, all I wanted was to update my friends and family all at once and avoid being on the phone all day when I had heart news. What did I get for my efforts? I'm on the computer all day. There's over 200 of you just on the fan page! Add in random facebook emails from non followers and drop ins just from this blog and I've got a mess!

Yay!!! I love a mess and this is just too cool for school! I never, never expected this but I love it! Thanks so much guys. Really. I'm more touched then you'll ever know. As a thank you here's a picture of me as a peanut. It's one of my favorites. I was in Disney World and was about as hysterically happy as I've ever been. I'm having so much fuuunnnn!!! Who would have thought about 20 years later I'd be having a blast worthy of the Disney picture? Not I!

But what to do now?!? My fan page is seriously eating into my facebook goofing around time and clogging up my inbox. I almost missed a message from my mother in law. I then FORGOT about said message so I've got to jump on that first thing in the morning. This mess has reached a point where some sweeping up is needed. If I want to keep blogging (And I do!) I need to get organized.

So here we go! Click here for my new friend page!http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/profile.php?ref=profile&id=100000944810918
My blog is officially it's own deal. We now have an inbox and comment wall all our own! Cool! I promise to answer every email you send and now I can do that at a faster pace. It also makes sure that I never have to hunt for the link my sister sends of youtube videos of my niece and nephew. Now break out the bubble wrap and MOVE with me fan friends! The fan page will be gone by the end of the month but I promise nothing will be broken in the process. We can never have enough facebook friends right?

Don't worry though! I'm still a baby blip on the blogosphere. I haven't gotten a puffy head... just a puffy inbox. The only thing I take seriously is the subject matter. The rest is just pretty darn hilarious! Thanks again guys. This is too much fun! I'd blog anyway but you make it worth it. Really. I'll try my best to make you proud. Now get off this thing and go be my friend of facebook! I do a happy dance for every new buddy! Go go go!!!

What's under the hood.

Call me crazy, but from the minute I found out I had a stent put in I wanted to know what it looked like. I know, I know. As long as it works who cares right? Well if you had something poked in your body you'd want to take a peek to. The more I learn, the more impressed I become. Meet the Xience V drug eluting stent. It was approved by the FDA for use in July 2008 and just 13 months later one found it's way into my heart.

Can you believe something so tiny could save so many lives? Welcome to the world of modern medical innovation! This thing is groundbreaking. My stent is made medical grade cobalt chromium and is coated with a drug called everolimus. Everolimus seeps into my artery wall and keeps it from growing over the stent. But how does it get there? You're sedated but awake for the surgery. Jeez. Be careful what you ask for. I got knocked into next Tuesday by that sedation while Bill Clinton didn't get any. Anyway, moving on.

An incision is made in your femoral artery at the inside of your upper left thigh. Yes ladies, that's a polite way to say bikini line. All I can say is take comfort in the fact that 9 months later my scar is gone. A catheter is threaded up into your heart from the hole in your leg and guided up to the blockage in your heart. Once it's reached, they inflate a balloon with the stent around it. The balloon deflates and leaves the stent behind.

This is a pretty good picture of the catheter and stent. Pretty nifty huh? You can really see how the stent acts as a support beam for your artery and holds it open.

So there you go! That is the ultra short, ultra fast definition of a stent. Frankly, I'm very, very, grateful that such a thing was available at a time when I needed it. This kind of medical advancement directly stands on the shoulders of balloon angioplasty without stents and bypass surgeries. How do I feel about being given something only a year old? Willing. My life is prolonged and better because of this little guy. It only seems fair to have someone stand on my shoulders now and learn more. Now that's a trade off I can live with!

Leftovers!

So what are all of you going to do with all your left over Easter eggs? If I were you I'd pitch them. Did you know eggs aren't really on the heart healthy list? Sure, if you listen the the Incredible Edible Egg campaign they'll tell you eggs have never been -specifically- linked to heart disease. Hmmm, sounds reassuring. So let's break this down a bit shall we?

1 large egg DOES give you these good things...
Riboflavin
Vitamin B12
Phosphorus
Protein
Selenium
Choline
Vitamin D

Unfortunately, that egg also has...
Lots of saturated fat
70 mg of sodium - salt is a no no.
And is LOADED in cholesterol - the lethal thing you're most trying to avoid.

So what to do? If you listen to my cardiac rehab professionals you'll just throw them out. A good goal to shoot for is no more then 2 whole eggs a week. Personally, I now buy egg whites in a carton and avoid whole eggs altogether. They tasted great and make one mean omelet! Sure, eggs have some good points but everything they promote can be found in other, healthier foods. When it's YOUR heart and YOUR arteries on the line why take the risk? Go forth and find protein elsewhere is my advice.

A sunny Easter

I hope you guys had a great Easter weekend! Corey and I spent ours together in the marina. We're getting ready for fishing/hurricane season! The sun was out so we took advantage of it to work on our to do list. It's a biiig list. This is Corey planning our new electronic setup. Garmin, radar, radio... how do we want them rearranged? It's harder then it looks because everything has to be rewired.

We also fixed our leaky hatch! When we got the boat we discovered the plexi had warped and was leaking. This is my husband employing his handy skills. As I'm peeling caulk and "helping" I had to ask. "Have you done this before?" Nope. "Then how do you know what you're DOING?!?" He says he just knows. Smarty pants. As always, when it comes to fixing things, he's right. The plexi is replaced and is ready for some rain and waves. The man has mad skills.

Corey also got me a "happy." A kiddie step for my co-pilot chair. Jeez. Thanks. Not ALL of us can be 6'3 and have our feet touch. He didn't listen to me complain about the "baby" chair and pulled the whole thing out to give me my custom fit. At 5'2, that's a whole lot of custom. Complaints aside...

He was right. I love it. I have a step and my feet now touch. It makes a world of difference. Isn't he thoughtful? I never would have thought of that. A custom fit pilot seat! Thanks Handsome for the Easter gift and the productive weekend! A few more days like this and we'll be all set! I see Gulf fishing in our near future...

As for the heart stuff, the bunny did NOT visit us this year. Not one egg, candy or boiled, in sight. No unhealthy food anywhere. The hard boiled part was easy. Can you believe it? Neither of us can remember how to hard boil an egg. We're an utter failure as adults. After a discussion on our childhood egg dying days we almost broke down and called Corey's mom for instructions. HOW do we not know this?!? I guess there's always next year...

The Widowmaker

I think one of the most terrifying things about heart disease is the medical language. If you've never had anything wrong with you, congrats. If you have, then you know what I'm talking about. All of the sudden you find yourself on a crash course of anatomy and medical lingo. Doctors tend to have a rapid fire way of speaking over your head. Lucky for you I'm a blogger, not a medical professional. I like to break things down in my head into easy to understand language. I fully understand the "big words" and research everything that relates to what I'm told. I just don't speak that way. Very few of us do right?

When it's cold outside I have chest pain. I asked, and was told I was having "arterial spasms related to the environment." Yeah... So you're telling me I'm cold and shivering and it hurts. Why can't they they just say that? Lots of reasons. I can say it though and I try to. So let's start shall we? I'm going for the Widowmaker first. Let's go!

I think this is the worst nickname of all time. Congratulations artery, you get the grand prize. The Widowmaker is what doctors call the left anterior descending artery or LAD for short. Can you guess why it has such a grim name? Yeah, I'll bet you can.

My husband blanched white when my cardiologist explained it to him in the hospital. If you're going to have a heart attack, this little guy isn't the place to do it. The Widowmaker is the artery that powers the pumping part of your heart. That's the left side just in case you didn't know. It's the side that's bigger and hangs lower. No pump, no person. As if this wasn't bad enough, the LAD is twisty, bendy, and hard to get to. It also, they don't really know why, seems to block up very easily. A small amount of plaque in the LAD can rupture and cause a catastrophic heart attack. Once it's totally blocked you have a precious 5 minutes before heart damage starts and the heart stops beating.

An example of a devastating LAD attack is Tim Russert the news anchor who passed away so suddenly. An example of a LAD survivor is, well, me. See how lucky I am? I was rushed to the hospital, having a heart attack, and was medicated and monitored. My LAD was only partially blocked at the time. It wasn't until I was on the table and the cathe was already threaded to my heart that the blockage reached 99%. My precious 5 minutes began and ended in my surgeon's tender care. It doesn't get any better then that. I was patched up and sent home.

Here's a picture of your arteries. See that red wiggly one on the right? That's the bad guy. The 2D picture doesn't do it justice but you can get the idea of how it wraps around and branches out. Tomorrow may be a good time to go into how to fix such a thing but for now, do me two favors. Be impressed. Be very impressed with cardiac surgeons and what they can do. Also, if you could take care of your own arteries I'd appreciate it. Now that you know you have a body part called the Widowmaker I hope you'll treat it with a bit more respect then I did mine.

Well. well!

Once again, I'm surprised! I post about not sleeping and you guys speak up. My little community fan page and my inbox all say one thing. NONE of us are sleeping. I tend to get a too big for my britches attitude. "I'm only 31 so I'm in better shape. I won't get that right?" Wrong. One thing I keep seeing over and over again is that heart disease and recovery affects all of us exactly the same. No matter what race, gender, lifestyle, or age, we all seem to be complaining about the same things. Fatigue, bruising, nosebleeds, insomnia, pain. Welcome to the club. It sucks, but at least if you're reading this you're not the only one with a paper towel in your pocket and nitro pills in your keychain.

Here's a new one for you. Have any of you non sleepers changed your sleeping positions? I've got a few in my inbox and I have as well. Drives my husband nuts! I've been a side sleeper my whole life. I tend to curl up, make a nest out of my covers, and stay that way all night. In the last 9 months I've turned into the Fort Knox of sleep. I've started to only be able to fall asleep on my stomach with my arms tucked in tight. Elbows in, hands under my pillow. Strange huh? I never slept like this before! It seems like an awfully defensive gesture doesn't it? Keep your chest in and protect it. Once I'm asleep I'll roll over but I'm guarded in the beginning. Poor Corey. We tend to curl up together and fall asleep. Now it's like a football meeting. Reeaaady, break! Once it's sleep time, even his pinky toe better stay on his side of the bed. It was funny at first but it's getting a little old now. Anybody? Did you guys roll over like turtles to?

Also, you guys tend to like pictures so here you go. I woke up last night at 2am, rolled over, and saw this thing looking at me. I bought it for by brother's dog to kill the next time I visit. Creepy huh? Those beady little eyes and stubby feet pointing at you in the middle of the night. That's okay though dude. I've got a good friend I want you to meet and her name is Scout. I'll bet she'll wipe that smirk off your face!

Is anyone else having trouble sleeping?

I'm not sleeping. I've always been a night person but this is extreme even for me. I've got my theories on this but I'm wondering if my many heart buddies out there are having the same problem. Here's what I'm assuming is going on.

Medication - I'm on a ton of pills (like most of us are) to control my heart and prevent clots from forming. Almost every bottle has fatigue as a side effect. Great. I wake up at 6am and take my pills everyday. I swear when they start to wear off I perk up. I have hard, slow mornings but by the time the sun goes down I'm wired. It doesn't go away either. At 4am I can easily still be up and productive.

Heart events - I had my heart attack in the evening. Twice I've woken up to severe chest pain and had to take nitroglycerin. Corey managed to corner me and get a blood pressure reading once. 176 over 120. Scary. My blood pressure is always higher at night along with my pulse rate. It's like I'm a car stuck revving. Statistically, most heart attacks occur late at night or first thing in the morning. I wonder why that is?

Anxiety? - I hate to admit this one but hey, anyone else anxious? I lost my mother, far to young, while she was sleeping. Add to that my own heart issues and I don't seem really inclined to lay down. Will I wake up sick, will I wake up at all?!? I'm not going down like that if I can help it. I have more chest pain at night so why not be awake and prepared for it?

The chicken or the egg - If you're getting an average of 4 hours of sleep at night what do you do? Take a nap! I tend to sleep off the worse effects of the pills. By midday, when they've really kicked in, I'm crashed out for about 2 hours. By the time Corey is home from work I'm perky and bouncing all over the place again. Crashing during the day = up all night.

Any ideas? Anybody? Are you guys running into any of this? I've tried not napping and making myself lay down. No TV, no internet. Nothing. Still awake. I don't like taking pills so I haven't tried sleep aids. I'm seriously considering taking my required medications in the evening instead of first thing in the morning. How do you switch though?!? The next time I go to the cardiologist I'll have to ask. I know to never miss a dose but is it safe to take them at a 12 hour interval once?

Just like with all posts, I'm JUST a blogger. Ask your doctor before making your own decisions. You can bet your bottom that's what I'll be doing!