Thursday, July 11, 2013

Once Again, Proceed

This arrived today, finally!  It is the heart monitor I have been waiting on.  To my surprise this one looks much different than the one I wore in 2011.  No wonder they are calling me tonight to help me with instructions and getting this thing going. I may need to review knowledge of any if anything I know of technology. Well, that's done....my knowledge is not vast.  So for the next thirty days I will have all this attached to me.  It is exciting because to me this means I am nearing the end of this season of life and crossing over to the next season.  I am watching with great interest and prayer the journey Randy Travis is just starting.  Good old viral cardiomyopathy many times triggered by a respiratory illness.  That is how mine began.  

Cardiomyopathy "means a pathetic heart muscle.  "With good treatment, many people with cardiomyopathy may go on to have a normally functioning life. But this is serious and could be life-threatening.   If a person has a cardiomyopathy, I tell them to stop drinking alcohol completely, make sure they have a healthy diet, avoid taking any herbal supplements, avoid intense exercise and do more low to moderate exercise and get plenty of rest.  Many people will recover from this, but some never do, so they may need to be considered for a heart transplant.   Some of the signs and symptoms include shortness of breath or trouble breathing, especially with physical exertion; fatigue, and swelling in the ankles, feet, legs, abdomen and veins in the neck, the heart association says.
Other signs and symptoms may include dizziness, lightheadedness, fainting during physical activity, arrhythmias (irregular heartbeats), chest pain (especially after physical exertion or heavy meals) and heart murmurs. Heart murmurs are extra or unusual sounds during a heartbeat.
Treatments for cardiomyopathy include lifestyle changes, medicines, surgery, implanted devices to correct arrhythmias, and other nonsurgical procedures. The treatments can control symptoms, reduce complications and stop the disease from getting worse, the heart association says.

The above are quotes from an article about cardiomyopathy. 

Unlike Randy I did have a minor heart attack and the doctors also think I had a mild stroke because of my loss of coordination and balance and I did physical therapy to help regain everything.  Doing that helped tremendously but I still do not have my full range of balance back.  Uneven pavement or ground, mixed colors and shades of colors whack me out totally and sometimes for no reason at all, I begin to fall forward or to the right.  Just the old balance clock seeing if I am attentive.   This is a huge reason why I have not returned to the choir and the choir loft.  Not to mention all the different carpet styles and textures at church.  That alone sends me over the edge...you know the balance thing.  Since the ablation in March I have not experienced fatigue or as Daffy Duck says it, fat-it-gued and I have a lot more energy. 

And to celebrate the coming of the monitor I registered for a conference on joint inflammation and the options to keep me pain free at Methodist West Hospital in a few weeks.  Truly I am trying to live out my One Word for this year.  The word I chose is proceed.  Now, I am going to proceed to eat my sliced peach and continue reading my book. 

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