Prayers.....

[Gina]

Diana I will say a prayer for Patty, I hope that alll goes well for her ... Gayle your a sweetheart.

[DianaB]

Feyn went out to Wichita today and he called to let us know that Patty did well with her stint and will be coming home tomorrow. I'll probably know more when I see Tammy.

[Janet]

Sounds good Diana. I'm glad she's able to come home so soon. Please keep us updated and let her know she is in our prayers.

[DianaB]

Gayle, I was wrong about Patty's output. When she got to the hospital she was a 8% and since they've done the stint she's at 20%. The doctors are hoping that with medicine to get her up to 40%. She's home but not able to do much at all. Tammy said that she's very bored. She's been such an active woman that I can image how bored she is. She goes back later this month to the doctor and it's going to be decided if she needs a pacemaker.

Please continue to remember Patty in your prayers. She is in such a fragil state that if she catches anything it could be really serious.

[gja1000]

Yes, those numbers are really low - but the docs are right, with meds, they will probably get higher and she will feel better. I know she doesn't feel like doing much at all with a 20, but I think she will improve and if not, she'll learn to live a very quiet lifestyle - which may be hard at first - but she can adjust! Gary felt awful the first year, but gradually began to feel better.

[DianaB]

Oh, I hope that it's not a year before she's better. When she goes in to see the doctor they'll tell her what kind of virus she has. Patty's always been in shape and exercised. It's just so hard to think that this could hit a person and change their life so much.

I have an ex-BIL that went to the hospital because he wasn't feeling well. He was about 43 years old or so. He was put in a room and not checked on at all. The next morning he was dead. His wife got a nice settlement from the hospital. It ended up he had a virus in his heart too.

My DIL, Tammy, said that it was because of this that her doctor even recognized her problem in the first place.

[gja1000]

I'm sorry to say that it might be a few months before she feels better. Right now her heart muscle is stretched out and her heart is very big and not pumping as much blood as it should. That's why she feels so tired and wrung out right now. Medications can help the heart to shrink back toward a more normal size, although it will never be back the way it was. The smaller it is (or more normal size) the better the heart pumps and the better you feel. It takes a few months for the heart to shrink back. Unfortunately, some hearts do not shrink back to a more normal size - and those are people who need transplants. But you have to take the medicine first to see what will happen. Also, the medicine lowers the blood pressure to reduce the work of the heart. When the pressure is lower, the heart doesn't have to work as hard to pump blood throughout the body. This is a good thing and will help the heart shrink back to a more normal size (although it will never be normal size again). But lower blood pressure makes you feel very tired - and so does the heart problem, so it is a double whammy. But a necessary whammy to eventually feel better. Also, tell her to eat when she takes her heart meds - unless she has been instructed to not eat with them. Eating helps to blunt the effect of the lower blood pressure which happens a couple of hours after you take them. And eating is not just a few bites, but should be taken with a meal, if possible.

It will not be easy, but in time, she will probably feel lots better than she does right now.