What's Happening

Hello, my friends. It's been longer than what I intended between posts. This summer has had its ups and downs and I'm afraid I haven't been coping very well.

For quite a while now, I've been experiencing fatigue each and every day. Some days were better than others but I still tired very easily and couldn't seem to get anything done. It's really hard to do anything when after only a few minutes, I was so tired, all I could think of was sitting in my recliner or taking a nap. Now I love to sleep. I am known for my naps in the middle of the day and for sleeping in most days. I'm a night owl to the nth degree and since I no longer work, I had not been bothered by staying up until 1 or 2 AM and then sleeping until 9 or 10. However, the amount I have been sleeping this summer is out of control.

Over the past month, the fatigue and sleepiness has increased to the point where I have been doing nothing. I have fallen asleep in the recliner more days than I can count and have barely been able to do laundry or load the dishwasher without feeling drained.

Everything came to a head on Friday, July 28. I was reaching for a dish in the cabinet and I got incredibly dizzy, so dizzy that I had to hold onto the counter top to keep from falling. My first thought was that my blood pressure was elevated so I took it to see if that was what was going on. My blood pressure was fine but my heart rate was in the upper 40's.  I've always had a pretty high heart rate in the upper 80's most of the time so this scared me. I kept checking it over the weekend and it ranged from a low of 38 to a high of 70.

Monday morning I called my primary doctor and asked for an appointment. I thought this was something I needed to get checked. It turns out I was right. She did an ECG and blood work and scheduled an appointment with a Cardiac electrophysiologist (or eps) on Wednesday. My ECG showed skipped beats and probable heart block. Thankfully all my blood work was fine. I was concerned that my thyroid was acting up which can cause this issue but that was not the case. As you age, your heart will slow down and sometimes go into heart block so that's my problem. I'm just old.

Anyway, I saw the Cardiac Eps on Wednesday; a very nice man who is new to this area and one who my primary is very impressed with. I was impressed also. He looked over my ECG and blood work and listened to me. I also have a heart murmur which I've probably had most of my life. It became more prevalent after my children were born but has never caused me any problems. To double check that the aortic valve wasn't an issue, I had to have an Echocardiogram before I left the hospital.

I am having a pacemaker implanted on Monday, 8/14. I will have to stay in the hospital overnight just to make sure everything is working correctly. I'm a little nervous about this but I am trying to be positive and think about how much better I will feel once this is in place.

My son, who was 38 on Sunday, 8/6, has had a pacemaker and artificial mitral valve since he was 14. He is almost totally dependent on his pacemaker and just last year, had a larger one implanted and a new mitral valve as the original one was leaking around it quite a bit.  When I called to tell him about the surgery, he told me it would be fine but that I would be SORE. Then he described what has to be done to make the pocket for the pacemaker and then how painful the incision will be. I'm not sure I needed to hear all that but I've always been one who wants to know all the details up front so I'm ready for what happens. He laughingly said, "You just had to be like me, didn't you?"  UH, nope, son, I would pass on that if I could.

So there you have it, my big excuse for not writing a blog post. I've thought several times about sitting down and doing one but I just didn't have the energy or the thought process to put words in order.

I'll be back after the surgery to let you know how things went. Getting old ain't for sissies but I sure wish it would ease up on me a little.   :)

Thank you for being there, my bloggy friends.  I'm getting in a lot of stitching and crocheting time, so maybe I'll have some progress to show you next time. Until then, take care and enjoy life!

Hugs,
Sharon