What I’ve been up too

Well mom is still in the hospital, we had hoped she’d come on on Monday but that didn’t happen.  Her heart was still out of rhythm and the meds weren’t correcting it.  So they put her under and shocked her heart.  The good news is her heart is back in rhythm and her pulse is back down in the 60-70 range where it belongs.  The bad news is,  it didn’t help the breathing issues.  So her cardiologist,  Dr.  Jessen has set up a meeting with her pulmonologist to see what they can figure out. 

The pulmonologist (super doc), Dr. Torres came in to see her this afternoon and he said his advice was to let her go home tomorrow and then have her come into his office.  We don’t know if Dr. Jessen will discharger her or not, but we’re hoping and praying he will soon.

I on the other hand seem to be getting inspired to get us on a budget.  I think I have it figured out so I can get our credit cards paid off, actually it’s just one that needs help. Some how we managed to let this one get out of hand.

I’m trying to do what is called pantry shopping, which is planning menus from the food you have on hand.  So far so good, but I have to wonder what on earth I was thinking when I bought some of the food in there.

This week we bought a few fresh veggies, eggs of course, and a few house hold things like laundry powder and toilet paper.  Not too bad.

I’ve also, decided that I’ll continue with my recipe blog.  I’ve found the whole time I’m cooking I’m telling myself how to make it lower carb.  So maybe I can post recipes with both versions.  Anyway, I think I’ll give it a try.

So that’s what I’ve been up to.  I hope once mom is back home I can post more regularly.

How my doctors visit went.

Well as some of you may know, I had a doctors visit today. It took over a month to get the darn appointment and I've been dealing with a cold and allergies so long my poor eyes look like I'm at the end of a year long binder. Thankfully I don't drink but you couldn't tell it by looking at me.

We discussed the fact that while I love her being my doctor, I can never get in to see her when I need too. So we decided on another doctor in the same system and building, that she can confer with, that's new and doesn't have as busy a practice.

We discussed the allergies and she prescribed a couple new meds to try and see if either of them worked better than the Allegra or Claritin (neither of which works for me any more) and she told me the Nasonex doesn't work if I don't remember to take it...giggle I know I know but who remembers to use nasal spray every darn day?

We discuss the possibility of me having PCOS and she ordered a bucket load of test. Granted I really don't want to have a chronic illness without a cure, but to have a name to why I feel and my body reacts the way it does would be wonderful. I've been suffering with most of these problems for more than 10 years.

She's also testing for Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, and I didn't even mention how tired I am to her. I guess she wants to rule everything out. I've not done any research into CFS but I don't really thing that's why I'm so tired. I do need to get in and see the rheumatologist because the arthritis in my hands is getting worse and that might very well explain the tiredness.

Anyway, after taking 5 huge vials of blood and leaving me with barely enough to function on... I feel like I was attacked by a vampire, except the puncture mark is in the back of my hand instead of my neck, I was told that it would be at least a week before I get the results. I'm guessing more like two since the lab tech said one of the vials had to be frozen and shipped off to Utah. It takes a week when they do the darn blood work in their own lab.

Anyway, just thought I'd let you know how it went. I'm hoping for only good news.

Update on Mom

We'll we finally got some answers for mom. But they sure we're what we were looking for. As most of you know, she's slowly suffocating because she has a heart valve that's just given out. It needs to be replaced.

When they were running all the tests to find out if she were healthy enough for the surgery, they found she has Pulmonary Hypertension. So the search for the cause began. First of, did she have sleep apnea, one of the major causes of P H. So off she goes to see an specialist in sleep disorders. They found she had a slight case and gave her a cpap. But the PH didn't improve. So then it was blood work, an echo,cat scan, and and a few other things. The only thing they found was that she really needed to get the valve replaced soon.
Next they sent her off for an MRI and more blood work. She got all the tests down except the MRI, they bruised her up pretty good trying to get her in, but it was too small. They finally got it reschedule at a different place last week, and she saw a rheumatologist to see check for lupus.
This week she saw the number one Pulmonary Specialist in Texas. Well all the test were in and after 6 months the answer is.... the weak valve is what is causing the PH and they will not do the surgery because of the PH and her weight.
This latest super specialist ( that's what her Cardiologist and Pulmonologist call him) says he thinks he can get her through it. It will be very risky, but if he can find a doctor that will do the surgery, he thinks he can help her pull through.
He had a meeting with the doctor he has in mind this evening, and mom is suppose to call him back again tomorrow. All prayers, will definitely be welcomed and deeply appreciated.
He told her not to exercise too much, nothing that would exert her to the point of panting or gasping. Of course at this point just going to the bathroom can cause that. But she needs to keep moving as much as she can.
Anyway, that's where we are right now. Thank you for all the prayers up to this point and any your willing to send up on her behalf now.

I just got home from my Dr. appointment. It went very well. He gave me a prescription for Trazodone (?) I think is what it's called. Dropped it off, will pick it up tomorrow. He said I needed get a little sun light, drink less caffine in the afternoon and never let myself sleep more than 8-9 hours no matter how many hours I've been awake. He says sleeping more than that will add the insomnia. So I'm supposed to take the new script everynight, no caffine after 2pm and set my alarm so I don't sleep more than 8 hours.
As far as my apnea, I have a sleep study set for next Friday night. But I was able to rent a machine until I can get my new one. Yeah!!!!! I'm so sleepy now I can hardly keep my eyes open. I'm just afraid by bed time I will have pushed past the sleepiness and be up all night. Guess we will see.

Well just thought I would update you, so far so good.

Sleep study

Finally my appointment with the sleep specialist is tomorrow afternoon. I can not wait to get in see the dr. and get my sleep study set up. I'm hoping and praying for this Friday night, but I don't know if I can get it that quickly. I didn't sleep well today and only managed about 5 hours at that. Maybe if I fall asleep in the waiting room he will schedule it quicker...giggle

Not sleeping doesn't do well for low carbing or any other kind of weightloss plan. I don't have the energy to do any of the things I need to be doing, such as cooking, laundry, are any prep work. Grrrr I hate this.