Saturna

during the week before Thanksgiving a little over four years ago, my mom had a devastating heart attack and then a triple bypass and mitral valve replacement. since then, she is no longer allowed to work and her entire life has changed - for the better, in my opinion. i love not having to see and hear the immense stress that my mom carried due to her job, and as a result of her caring so much, even about people who were sometimes rude, and a company that was so large that it viewed her as a number in many ways.

she is very precariously balanced. between having bi-polar disorder (which she has tackled with grace and hard work, and maintained her wonderful personality throughout) and congestive heart failure which ravages her body, her daily life is a series of adjustments and readjustments that are much more apparent and risky than those of us who are blessed with good health. despite what seems like a scary list of meds and my natural inclination to clinch at the sheer number of variables involved in that, i understand the purpose of each and commend mom and her doctors for how well they have kept her balanced and alive. the other sad fact is that no amount of meds really repair the damage done to her heart, which was extensive. they really just help her maintain.

to look at mom, you would never know how fragile she is. she would be hard pressed to admit it, but if you are observant, you can see it in her eyes. but to the normal, less-than-observant person walking around, she appears to be at least ten years younger than her 59, and in robust health. the unfortunate reality is that her heart pumps about half of the volume of blood per minute than it should. her blood is constantly fluctuating in thickness. she is constantly being checked and pricked and her meds adjusted for that, from pills to shots that leave her sweet stomach bruised, and the occasional permission to eat some spinach, which she is typically not permitted.

yesterday mom told me after her annual physical that she must go see her heart doctor tomorrow to set up a likely heart catheterization. apparently she has had an increase in chest pains, to the tune of having to use her nitroglycerin tabs at least twice a week, they key being that her chest pains come when she is in a static state - sitting down. not good.

it is normal for someone who has had open heart surgery to have a cath test done about every five years or so after, to check things out and such. it is not very invasive as compared to the open heart surgery she had years ago. they will feed a tube through her groin up into her heart and take a look at her heart. if there is blockage that can be repaired with a stent, they can go ahead and do that while they are in there.

there are, of course, dangers. my mom has to take a couple of meds that are contraindicated during surgery, namely Plavix and Coumadin. Plavix flattens out her red blood cells so that they slide through the veins and arteries more easily, and prevent strokes. Coumadin thins her blood, so that clots do not form and cause issues with blood flow through her titanium valve. in order for her to have this catheterization, they have to take her off of those things. this makes her nervous, and me too. she had some mini-strokes before starting Plavix, and it has done her well since she began taking it, preventing any further damage to her brain. and of course, it is just dangerous to go messing with the body.

so here i am, home-birthing, vegetarian, hates-to-even-take-tylenol, and thanking maude for the advancements of modern medicine. her doctors are amazing and they have done a wonderful job.

please send some good thoughts and prayers, however you pray, for my mom. she has a lot more hanging out with her grandson to do, and a lot more learning about her new computer and the internet to do, and a lot more keeping me calm in my challenge of motherhood (which she does on a daily basis).

This entry was posted on Tuesday, February 7th, 2006 at 9:16 am and is filed under Family. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.