Skip to main content

annual exams

I had my annual exam this past week, but before my annual exam I flew to St. George to meet Boggs Irvin Gardner aka BIG. He is a little nugget. It is amazing how precious he is and his faces are priceless. All you mom's out there ya'll are incredible. My sister in law, Kate showed me all what you guys do. That is work, but, what a gift it is to love so much you would do anything. It was so great to visit and spending time with my in laws.


BIG showing off his biceps


Irvin American Gothic


Kate & I being goofs

On Easter Sunday I took the shuttle to Salt Lake to spend some time with my family and for my annual exams. On the way up I listened to the past General Priesthood session and what a reminder it was to remember what Jesus did for each in every one of us. Being around all of my family over the Easter weekend was something special I never really realized how much I have missed everyone in my family and Steve's family.

On Monday after Easter, I went in for my echo, chest x-ray and EKG. During the echo the tech said, "Your heart takes really good pictures" and during my doctor's appointment one of my favorite nurse practitioners said, "You have a strong heart." It makes me happy to hear those things and how blessed I am for my donor saying yes to be a donor.  All my blood work and tests came back good. Tuesday, I had to go back in for my angiogram to check my vessels surrounding my heart and that looked good too. Every time I go back to do my annuals I feel so very grateful for all the work, sacrifices and long night's everyone put in for me. There is no word to express what I feel for my doctors, nurse practitioners and nurses. Great news, I am off lovenox injections and back on eliquis, my belly is very happy about it. I am also back on pravastatin, which helps control my cholesterol and reduces heart attacks and strokes.


 W & I hanging around


Boggs is 1 month today!! :)  








Comments

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...

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 :)

A Set-Back

I was hoping by now Ashley would be writing you, telling you how wonderful she is doing, but you get to hear from me again. Ashley had a major set back early Friday morning her new heart was failing her. It started with her getting nauseated and then by a couple of weird readings on the telepromter . She was sent back to the operating room to see what could be done. She has been placed on full bypass and full support so her new heart can rest. There are no signs of rejection and the doctors are in a conundrum, they don't know what happened. Ashley is sedated completely , she will not remember any of this. The hope is her heart will rest and come Monday or Tuesday they will begin to see what kind of load her heart can hold. Ashley needs your prayers and thoughts more now than ever, she is so strong and has the will to overcome anything throwing her way. We all believe in miracles and pray that one is happening for Ashley.