from the heart

Back to the doctor. This time it was a trip to my cardiologist... to the doctor who made my initial diagnosis - finding the narrowing of my aorta and high cholesterol. Two weeks ago, I did some extensive blood work, called the Berkeley Blood test again and I was going to hear the results of the test. Since the first test in August, I have started the Berkeley Heart Diet and have started taking fish oil every day. I was curious what the results would be, as I didn't feel I had been as diligent with the diet as I could have been. But, was happy to find that all levels had improved! There are still two levels that need to improve further, but he thinks I'm too young to start medication and would rather see me continue with the diet, start exercising and increase my fish oil intake. I'm excited to know that all the changes and effort that I've made in my diet has made a difference. I was also pleased to announce to Peter, who also has had to eat most the things on my diet,...

Somehow it's taken me a whole month+ to sit down and write again. Yesterday I had a Doppler test done and it revealed that I have had an increase in blood flow/pressure to my legs as a result of the surgery. It is not at a perfectly normal level, but my surgeon says that it may take a year or two before that happens. He has seen patients recover to normal levels in their legs. I was pleased to have that good news, especially because I really haven't been feeling that great pain-wise. The first week in January I felt 99% better--- had more energy than I have in years and was so excited for a fresh start, but since that week, I've been experience more soreness and pain. At my appointment yesterday, the Dr. informed me that it could be 1-2 years of intermittent pain, soreness and nerve sensitivity. AH! I'm fighting the idea of a longer recovery... I don't want to whine... but, I just want to be well again. I'm finding that it is hard to share with people what I...

I mentioned in my last blog that the stomach bug got our family bad and sabatoged all efforts for an on time Christmas card. I regret having to give up on this fun project. I was really looking forward to sending out cards to all our family and friends. I love this time of year for the good old fashion snailmail correspondence. I thought I'd send it anyway via the world wide web. On the bright side, I saved some stress and cents on stamps (?) Oh well, next year I'll try again... ~Merry Christmas from the Longorias~

It's 12:45am and I can't sleep. The last couple weeks have brought about nights of insomnia and days of tiredness . No fun! I thought I'd make the best of it tonight and finally do some blogging. Exactly a week ago Elena finished up her antibiotics for her sinus infection. We were so thankful to finally see her back to her normal self. Peter was gone all week on a business trip, so Elena and I camped out at my parents. It was great to have Uncle Mark back in town from college for the holidays. My mom and I had made all sorts of plans --- shopping, baking and Mark even started designing our Christmas card. We ventured to Pottery Barn Kids on Tuesday to pick up a present from Elena's great grandparents... which Elena is going to love (I'm not spoiling the surprise!) All plans came to halt on Tuesday evening ---- Elena had got the bug! The stomach virus that has been going around our area had attacked with full force. She vomited over 15 times in a 12 hour period. Po...

It's hard to believe over three weeks have past since my surgery. This past week I had my follow up appointment with my surgeon. He said my wound was healing well and that I have very little risk of wound infection or complications at this point. What great words to hear! He has asked to see me again in two months. At that time he will do doppler testing on my legs and feet to see how my blood pressure and circulation has improved since the surgery. I also went to see my cardiologist. He was excited to tell me that the pulses in my groin are normal! Before surgery they were very faint, so this is a good indicator that my blood is flowing to the southern half of my body with no problems! I had been keeping track of my blood pressure over the two weeks after my surgery and I was able to share those readings with him. He said that at this point, I can continue to go without my blood pressure medicine. Great news!!! I still have high cholesterol, so I'll continue taking fish ...

I've been been sitting here for quite awhile... just waiting for the right words to express the depth of thankfulness and joy I feel for being able to simply write on this blog just a week into my recovery. God has been and continues to be my Great Physician. There is no other explanation for what great progress I've made in the last week. God has been with me... I've felt His presence like no other time in my life. There is so much I want to share with you all about this last week, but I'm finding it hard to sit down and express it all. So, I'll probably be giving tidbits over next several weeks of my recovery, sharing what God is doing in my life and the life of my family. Presently, I'm managing the pain with V icodin every four hours. I'm not nauseous anymore (praise God!!!!) and I finally feel like myself. There is an 9 inch incision on my back, following the curve of my shoulder blade. According to my sweet nurse who visits daily, the inci...

It's been exactly one week today since I took over Katie's blog to keep everyone updated on what was going on. It's been a good day. The addition of the advil seems to be helping to relieve that last bit of pain the Vicodin wasn't getting and the generic Zofran seems to be helping with the nausea. We're trying to use it sparingly/as needed only because of how much it will cost to replace. Our home care nurse, Shirley, came by this morning and she re-dressed Katie's bandages and poked a little fun at how over the top my bandage job was :) All I had to go by was all the war movies I've seen and they were pretty liberal with bandaging as far as I can remember! Shirley is going to order up some physical therapy on top of the nursing care she's providing. Though we're supposed to deal with pain and nausea over then next several weeks I'm believing that God is with us, guiding us, putting people in our path to help us and is using it all for his Gl...