Skip to main content

Heart Failure

September was Heart Failure Month


As we read through the hospital instructions for the heart cath it said to pack a small overnight bag...just in case. Mike did not want to do this. We drove to the hospital and they wheeled him back to the cath room. Shortly after, he came back and did well during the procedure. The Doctor came in and said some of the numbers were a little off and we may need to stay the night to do some tests...we should have packed that bag. He left and in came the PA from the Heart Center at the hospital, she gave us some honest words that I will never forget. 

"Rachel, you need to get a notebook and start taking notes, Mike is in heart failure and we need to talk about heart transplant down the road here. He is going to stay in the hospital for a few days and there is going to be a lot of doctors and people that you will be talking with." My heart sank and the tears started flowing, "Well I can see that I have upset the wife, I better get going." and she was gone. I am sure there were more words...but those are the ones that I heard. She was the first one to tell it to us straight, and she did that every time we saw her, and for that we are so grateful. Sometimes you just need the hard truth. John 8:32 'Than you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.' We can't see what is coming all we know is that God our Lord and Savior is our truth and he will set us free.

Well that started the journey to where we are now. Mike stayed in the hospital for the weekend while they gave him IV Lasix and monitored his heart. They adjusted his medication and released him that Sunday. Between August 8th and September 19th Mike lost 45 pounds and is now down to his dry weight. After the hospital he was able to walk up and down the street with no stopping and was down to 1 pillow on the bed. 

We did talk with several people and started the journey to the Spectrum Health Heart and Lung Transplant Clinic. We are so grateful for the doctors, nurses, and procedures that helped get Mike back to his normal self. However, his heart is not back to it's normal self and Covid did a number on it. Mike is on a low sodium diet for the rest of his life, has to watch his liquid intake including alcohol, and has a weight lifting limit. He goes 2 times a week for cardiac rehab and then lifts weights at home 3 days a week. He needs to build back his muscle mass and get as strong as possible. 

We are so happy to have our normal Mike back. His non-existent bubble, outgoing, always going, loud, mellow, happy, jovial, milk chugging, self. 




Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Miracles Do Happen

 It's been 3 days since Mike got his new heart, and I can hardly believe that it actually happened.  On Thursday September 5th Mike was told we had another match. Dr. Hooker said he was bound and determined to get Mike a new heart by the Michigan game that Saturday. At this point Mike was a level one on the Unos Heart Transplant List and basically top of the top. With both sides of his heart being supported he needed a new one badly. Mike, the boys, and I shared this little secret that Friday and went on about our day. The more we learned the more we became excited that this was actually the heart. This heart was a DBD heart (Donation after Brain Death). Througout the day we learned that it was a great match and Mike's OR time was set for Saturday, September 7th at 10am. We were confused that we were not given a donor OR time, and as time went on we realized there was no transport time for the heart...the heart was in the same hospital as Mike.  I got to spend time with Mike th
Post a Comment
Read more

Lub-Dub Lub-Dub

 A normal resting heart rate is between 60 to 100 beats per minute. If you listen to a heart it often is describe as if saying Lub-Dub Lub-Dub. Mike's heart rate is between 120-140.  If he laughs hard (which is often), gets agitated, or someones gets him on his favortie topic of finace it starts to soar about 140+. Every once in a while it will peak up to 180 when he gets into V Tach and it skips a few beats. The nurses watch him carefully as he walks on the treadmill and talks away or while he is working, and sometimes they have to shut him down for a bit. Except for some weight and muscle loss Mike's body and mind are in good working condition, but his heart is just failing him.  I had previously reported that on August 7th Mike recieved the Impella Pump to support the left side of his heart. Since then the left side has significantly decreased in function and is almost not moving at all on its own. Over the past few weeks they have been watching the right side of heart and s
Post a Comment
Read more

Free Ice Cream & A New Heart

 As we celebrated 7 months off the heart transplant list we quickly found ourselves back on the list. Many of you will be shocked by this news...and I won't lie...we were too Mike came down with the tiniest of colds and a little cough at the end of June 2024. His appetite dwindled and he just wasn't interested in being super active. By the devine grace of God and His perfect timing Mike's doctors office called and randomly wanted a blood panel completed. The results caused them to call and Mike expressed his concerns about his little cold and other small symptoms. They had him come into the office gave him an IV to help get some fluid off his body. He lost 10 pounds in less than 24 hours...and his cough went away. They set up a right heart cath for the next day to see what was going on. The results came in a bit worse than the previous November 2023 cath, but not too alarming and they released him to go home.  We took the boys to SpringHill, enjoyed some alone time, picked
Post a Comment
Read more