TWO FORWARD, ONE BACK

Somewhat better than one forward and two back, none the less it is somewhat frustrating to get a set back at this point when we were feeling so good, exercising and in general getting back to normal. But now I am in the hospital trying to recover from a bad fall that I experienced two weeks ago this coming Sunday. At first we thought the fall was not too bad but the bruises began to appear and the soreness was progressively worse. So I went to my GP a week ago yesterday and it was his judgement that I had bruised ribs so prescribed some pain medicine and sent me home. Our fear, of course, was that I had some internal injuries. I have been on a heavy dose of blood thinners, so internal bleeding could be very critical. However, the x-ray and the doctor’s examination seemed to indicate that I had not suffered any internal damage. The soreness continued to get worse so in the middle of the night this past Thursday the pain became intolerable and I was convinced that I had something much more serious than bruised ribs so we went to the ER. I had every kind of test you can imagine, a chest scan, a tummy scan, a brain scan and blood tests. The upshot is that I have a severely bruised liver that has bled some. We think the active bleeding has stopped, but my blood count is quite low. At the moment we are observing. Surgery is still a possibility but we are hoping that won’t be necessary.The blood count will be the determining factor. I am having blood transfusions so if we can get the blood count under control we can avoid surgery. So quite the adventure. It’s 2 p.m. on Saturday as I write this so I should have some news in the morning

UPDATE

Not a lot new to report other than that I am feeling good, have gone back to work on a somewhat limited basis and in general am getting life back to normal. Let's hope it can stay that way, at least for awhile. I have slowly gotten used to the mask. I kept it on one night for a total of seven hours which is the record. Usually I can handle it for about four hours and then my nose and face start to itch and I have to take it off. I don't know if it is doing any good or not and I guess I will have to have another all night sleep test to find out. I'll let you know. The heart situation is a pain in the neck and the drugs are really a drag. I want to get off of them ASAP. I meet with the cardiologist one week from today.

UPDATE

Well, once again the doctor decided that my blood is too thick and prone to clotting to safely do the shock treatment so we are still where we were. I am not sure what comes next. I have been on blood thinner for a long time so don't how or when my blood might get thinner. I will be talking to the doc tomorrow and if I learn anything new I will post the information.

UPDATE

The transesophageal echocardiogram will take place at 1 p.m. Wednesday and if all goes well the zap will follow.

UPDATE

I met with my cardiologist yesterday and we have scheduled a transesophageal echocardiogram for either Tuesday or Wednesday next week. I will update this when I know for sure which day the procedure will take place. If everything looks good they will then give me the shock treatment to get my heart back in rhythm. That’s really the only new thing to report. I am feeling good, walking everyday, except when doctors’ appointments get in the way, and in general doing well.