I RECEIVED GOOD NEWS TODAY.

I RECEIVED GOOD NEWS TODAY!

 I put this picture of a human heart here, because that is the topic of this posting. I had an appointment with my cardiologist yesterday as a follow up to my latest heart cath where 2 additional stents have been installed. This makes 22 stents for me so far. I think this may some kind of record. Shown below are scans of the x-rays of my latest 2 stents.

Before stents were installed.                                            After stents were installed.


The four very dark ovals are the wire ties that hold my rib cage together.
If you look closely you can see 2 areas circled with a pen showing the artery with no blood flow, notice that it is the same artery clogged in two places. On the right you can now see the blood flowing after the stents have been installed. This particular artery supplies blood to the a.coronaria sinistra(see the heart pictured above). Imagine if you can the heart not having the necessary blood flow to keep it pumping. Yes! it damn well hurts when the blood doesn't flow, and if allowed to go on too long, it will kill you.

Now, too the good news, my Doctor told me that the 30 to 40 percent loss of function that I incurred in my heart a little over ten years ago is now working. It seems that when I underwent the experimental surgery to open my front main ascending artery, which had been closed off for over ten years, caused that part of my heart that had not been working to start beating again. This means my heart is now functioning at almost 100% efficiency. The Doctor said, my heart apparently had not died, it had been stunned into stopping. While they were testing my hearts response to the new stents, is when they found the heart fully functional. Believe me when I tell you, I was stunned to find this out. I asked the Doctor if has happened before, and he said he didn't know of anybody having it happen.

In other news I am to stop taking two other medications used in controlling blood pressure. Since my blood pressure has been under control and on the low side, we are giving it a go.

I hope this has been as enlightening for my readers as it has been for me.

God Bless us all. from the gahillbilly.


"(C) Copyright by Victor Winebrenner"

Couldn't Sleep a wink last night.

 Couldn't sleep a wink last night.

I'll bet you have nights like this, where, no matter how much you want to sleep you can't. You lay there trying to calm your mind, say a mantra, say a few prayers, do relaxation exercises, but nothing works, you toss you turn, you turn over your pillow, you drink water, go to the bathroom and do it all over again.

I have a friend, that I swear can fall asleep sitting up in a chair, or he can lay down on the floor with his legs and feet up on the couch and fall asleep while petting the dog.

I didn't used to have a problem going to sleep and I really can't figure out why I can't do so right now. Although about 2 years ago I could go to sleep alright, but I dream t I was awake all night. I would wake up so tired and cranky it wasn't funny. I finally had to ask my Doctor for something to help me sleep without the dreaming. He gave me a prescription that did indeed help. I took that medication for about 6 months when I was finally able to wean myself off of it.

Part of what was keeping me awake was the way my heart was beating. It actually is beating a lot harder and a lot faster then it was. Normally my heartbeat is only about 60 bpm. This at first glance appears to be a normal healthy heartbeat of a male at rest, but that would be incorrect. My heart beat is actually very erratic and actually appears to be beating in reverse. You see about 12 years ago I had a heart attack that reduced my heart function by about 30%. So my heart beat is only about 65 to 70% of normal. I can walk and do mild exercise that will raise my heart beat to about 70bpm, but if I push any harder I start having angina pain, in other words a heart attack.

If you are wondering, no I don't drink or smoke or even eat poorly. I have always been an active, busy person. The thing that brought me down with heart problems was extreme stress from my work environment. The last job I had was extremely stressful, and I could never really relax and allow myself get rid of the stress, so my heart said enough is enough.

Anyway, after having 6 bypasses and 20 stents, I am considered a walking miracle. In addition, to the heart trouble I also have rheumatoid arthritis, for which I am being treated with medication which does help to reduce the pain in my joints and allows me type this message. I have had to have a full hip replacement and a full knee replacement because those joints had deteriorated so badly I could no longer walk without aid and support.

Happily I can now walk and even run a bit with no pain. I can even go up and down stairs unassisted and without holding on if I have to.

I guess my point in writing this is to try and put it into perspective for myself, and also for anybody who might be interested, I'd be willing to answer any questions you might have.

Oh yes, while I'm thinking about it, for those of use that have to take a lot of medications and/or vitamin supplements, there is a free web site available, where you can generate your own lists of medications either in full page form or in wallet size form. I use it because I can never remember all the meds, their dosage and number of times a day taken. My doctors all love it because I bring the list in every time I go see them. It makes life simple. Here is a link   https://secure.medactionplan.com/mymedschedule/stb/

Try it you'll like it.
I reckon that's all from the gahillbilly.

God Bless us all.


"(C) Copyright by Victor Winebrenner"