Skip to main content

Finally, time for myself

What a week it has been. Last Tuesday guess who went on a walk/little jog all be herself like a big girl? Yup I did! And my oh, oh my did it feel good to be all by myself. I mean I love my husband to death, but it was time for me and myself to be alone it's been almost 6 weeks! Everybody needs there alone time and I finally got mine. Anywho, I jogged! I felt good afterwards too, I went the same distance I could jog before getting my LVAD Gus. And today, I went on a walk/jog again and felt great! I am so glad the my ticker is doing so well. I hope one day I will be able to meet the donors family and say thank you so very much and hear all the stories about their daughter. A lot of people have asked me if its weird to have someone else heart in me and yes it is, but if I think of it as a gift of life its not weird at all. Now I am not going to be a table tennis and walk around the block lady. I am going to be that young lady that can do whatever she puts her mind too. To me that is more than I could ever ask for and even more!


Lil G and I looking in an old stump at City Creek Park :)

I am so blessed with all the support from all ya'll's and know I would give each of you a huge hug for your generosity.

Comments

  1. UnknownApril 25, 2015 at 5:41 PM

    Yay! So glad you were able to jog, I bet it felt amaaazzziinngg!

    ReplyDelete
  2. UnknownApril 25, 2015 at 8:24 PM

    Hi Ashley!

    I just wanted to send you a quick message to let you know what an inspiration you have been to me as I have followed your journey. I was introduced to your blog through a friend and have been keeping up with your story ever since! I am a 25 yr old female from Boston and was diagnosed with cardiomyopathy about 5 years ago. It wasn't until about 6 months ago that I started presenting with symptoms of heart failure. Fast forward to now, I am learning everyday to accept the IV antibiotics, the ICD, and the LVAD as a part of my reality. I have yet to come up with a name as cool as Gus for my constant companion :) but the strength and positivity that you have shown throughout your journey is truly something that I aspire to; your spirit has helped to keep me confident, hopeful, and grateful on days where I am feeling lost, frustrated, and discouraged. I'm sure you hear it all the time from family, friends and strangers alike, but you are clearly a very, very special person. I look forward to keeping up with your amazing progress and will continue to wish for all the best in your recovery! :)

    Taylor MacLean

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. ashley irvinApril 26, 2015 at 12:36 PM

      Hey Taylor,
      Wow, I would never guess that there was someone like me out there. How did you become diagnosed 5 years ago? How active were you before you were diagnosed? It is crazy to think about all the stuff in your body, but hey its making you stronger. I am so blessed for Gus because before I was so weak and he made me stronger and healthier. Its pretty amazing where technology has come. What kind of LVAD do you have? Heartware? Are you listed on the transplant list? Thanks so much for telling your story, honestly you don't know how much it means to me. Best of luck to you as well.

      Delete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Chalk It Up as a Miracle.........

Some of you may know, but Ashley went through another Heart Transplant yesterday. After her first first new heart started to fail, we re-listed on the her on the transplant list immediately. We knew getting another heart would be a long shot, but we wanted the option to be there if a heart came available. Sure enough 18 hours on the list a second heart came available that was a perfect match for Ashley. Ironically, it took 4.5 months and then 2 hearts in the same week. We, including the doctors, are all chalking it up as a miracle. It was decided not to wait to see if the first heart would handle the load she would need but rather to move forward with the new donor heart. Going through a transplant a second time makes you really feel for the family who lost their daughter, sister, spouse and friend. We are grateful again for the family and the individual who choose to give life. We were in quite a predicament and feel only divine intervention could hav...
7 comments
Read more

Stinking INR

Another day in this lovely hospital because my stinking INR will not get were in needs to be. INR means International Normalized Ratio, its a number that describes your bloods clotting factor. Doctors want my INR to be around 2.0 but I am stuck at 1.5, a normal person should be below 1.0. So the higher the INR the thinner the blood. Because I have an LVAD they are very picky about my INR because they don't want a clot to form in my LVAD. But, if my INR gets too high I bleed, so it's a fine line we are walking until I get my new heart. On a higher note, my mom and I did some crafts.... getting ready for Christmas and my baby boy Wrigley came and visited me, some of you are thinking Wrigley is a terrible child's name but he is actually my French Bulldog :)
5 comments
Read more

New Day, New Chapter, New....????

After the other days SHOCKing experience, I had to go into the clinic today to have my device interrogated.   Basically find out why I got shocked…. Was it warranted?? My device is set to SHOCK me if my heart gets beating too fast, like 180bpm or higher. Which I guess I excreted myself too much yesterday. This is a little bit upsetting, I was hardly up the trail and I got shocked. How am I supposed to do anything physical and not get shocked? Think about trying to exercise but also having to worry about a horse kicking you in the chest at any time.   Leaving the clinic I was pretty bummed… Is my heart just getting worse? Anyway, I went to work at straws and about an hour into work the clinic was calling me. I didn’t want to answer because I had a feeling my INR would be too low again and I would have to be admitted to the hospital. Anyway, I answered and Dr. Kia was on the line. He said “I heard you left upset from the clinic today?” I figured he was about to give me a pe...
5 comments
Read more