Alex and I went to a device check at Christ hospital on Wednesday, September 24th. These checks are usually only about 5 minutes long, so I didn't take anyone along to help with Alex. Well, when the Medtronic rep (Bill) put the interrogating device over my defibrillator, it made a sound like a siren. I didn't even really notice it, as I was trying to keep Alex from pulling on the electrodes on my hands. Bill asked if I had heard that noise recently, and I said "No," but didn't really think anything of it. He proceeded to interrogate the device and told me that I had a high lead impedance. I asked "What does that mean?" and he said "Well, you probably have a lead fracture." At that point I started to panic. I had a broken wire back in 1996 and it was NOT a fun thing to experience.
Bill left to go talk to Melanie, the pacemaker nurse. While he was gone, I called my Dad. He left to come up to the hospital and help with Alex. At this point I had no idea what might happen, and if I might have to be admitted right then. I also called Grant (who was on lunch duty at the time). The poor guy had to wait around at school without a whole lot of information. Pretty soon, Bill, Melanie and the other EP doctor (not my guy) came in to explain everything. Within 24 hours of my appointment my lead impedance spiked. The timing was pretty incredible. The device was still able to function appropriately, but the static on the lead could cause the device to deliver inappropriate therapies (ie. shock me for no reason). They sent me home and told me that they would talk to my doctor the next morning and let me know the plan of action (most likely being surgery).
Well, I wasn't comfortable being alone with Alex not knowing if I was going to get shocked at any moment. Soo..Jeffrey (my dad) pretty much became glued to my side. I emailed my pediatric electrophysiologist to tell him about what was going on and see if he had any wisdom to offer. He called me about 20 minutes later! He is truly incredible. He had a lot of advice, the biggest of which was that I should go back to the hospital and request a magnet. (If you place a magnet over the device it will disable it and prevent it from delivering any more inappropriate shocks. Sometimes when a device starts shocking inappropriately, it will continue shocking up to 20 times....not something I wanted to experience!)
We (Dad, Grant, Alex and I) went back to the doctor on Friday. Dr. Burroughs examined me and determined that I definitely needed surgery. My wire had been in place for just over 2 years, and the extraction can be tricky, so he recommended I return to the OSU heart hospital to Dr. Love. He called Dr. Love's office, and found out that he was in Israel, but would be back on Saturday. He called Dr. Love's cell phone, and he answered from the Tel Aviv airport! He personally called the OSU scheduling and put me on the schedule for Monday. (Of course there was a problem with the scheduling and they wouldn't confirm it until Monday morning....)
So, Monday morning, after a confirmation call to the scheduling department, we loaded up the cars and were on our way! Sarah Smoker came along with Mom, Dad, Grant, Alex and I. Mom and Dad Anderson met us up in Columbus, and so did Danny Smoker. We found out that Dr. Love came in to do my procedure and just one other (it was rosh hashanah and he's Jewish). He is the best doctor internationally at doing lead extractions, so it was truly a blessing to have him do the surgery. (The end of the wire is a metal coil that is inserted in the heart. The heart tissue can grow around that coil, so taking out the wire can be very delicate.) Surgery started around 3:30pm and went very well!
My recovery has been incredible! Two years ago, when I had a very similar surgery, I was flat on my back in a pain stupor for a solid week and then it took at least another week for me to feel somewhat normal. This time, I was only taking Tylenol 4 days after surgery. Two weeks after this surgery, I am totally back to normal, and have been for a few days. I really don't have any pain, and I have to remember that I'm not allowed to do certain things, because I forget since I feel so good!
The biggest blessing through this whole thing has been Alex. I was really concerned about him, and especially about nursing him. I made a commitment to nurse him for a year, and I was really sad to think that this surgery could prevent me from following through on that. Thankfully, after talking to many doctors, nurses, pharmacists and lactation consultants, I was able to resume nursing him just about 16 hours after surgery. (Grant helped me pump during those 16 hours to keep my supply up.) He never missed a beat! I am so thankful!
I have learned alot through this process. First and foremost, to trust in God's goodness. We spent a lot of time worrying about the situation, but God had it in control the whole time. He put all the circumstances in place for it to work out perfectly; from Dr. Love coming in, to finding the break less than 24 hours after it happened, to Alex nursing, a SUPER quick recovery, and all of our family being able to support us (including my Dad unfortunately being out of work, but being able to be nanny/nurse for Alex and I).
Secondly, there are a lot of amazing people in my life! I could not have survived this experience without Grant's support. He is my sanity! My dad has been here for us every step of the way, as have my mom and Grant's parents. Dr. Knilans, Dr. Love, Dr. Burroughs and Melanie all were awesome! Melanie even gave us her cell phone number (which we did use several times-even over the weekend....) The Smoker clan took care of our house and our meals for a long time. We received a great package from Honey-Baked Ham from Kelly, and we are having meals twice a week from my Strategies for Moms group. We are surrounded by amazing people that show us love in practical ways.
Well, that's the loooong story! All in all, not a fun thing to go through, but God is good and, thankfully, it's over!
1 comment:
God is SO good!!!
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