Lazy Week!

I have been really tired this week.
I was really wanting to go ahead and get started on all the testing, however I think that GOD thought that I needed to rest first!
I have been trying to sleep quite a bit. I do not sleep all the time, cause sometimes it is just hard to sleep, breathe, and relax....
The Lord has wonderful timing so I still give all to him and I will get rest (hopefully) while I wait on them to let me know when to come in.

The receptionist at the Heart Failure Clinic called me today and told me that they have talked to the transplant team and they have all of my information, and they have submitted it to the insurance (finally)..so now we are just waiting on them to authorize everything.

That is really all that I have for now...I will let you know when I know something!!

Whats Next?

Well I had my appointment today, I do not know what made me think that it was even possible to walk in there and here the dr say..."you know we think that actually your heart is doing better than we thought, so for now we are just going to stick to the meds". That did not happen! BUMMER!!!!!!!

So last year when I had the stress test done the dr said that he was looking for a certain number. (I guess the test takes into considerations a lot of things about me and then they run the test and see how my heart reacts to all of it).
So last year he told me that if the test came back with a 14 or below we would look at doing something... it came back at 15-17...this was fairly good. He said that he was hoping that we could get a year or two out of this heart without having to do anything just yet.

So this year I take the test and he tells me that my level was 11. So my heart has deteriorated a lot faster than what he was hoping for. He said that the test is actually forcing him to go ahead and do SOMETHING.

They have already submitted the info to the insurance co. and we are just waiting to hear back from them to get started. So next week I will begin a battery of tests so that they can place me on the transplant list, and then about the 3rd week in October he is going to be putting in the pump as long as all of my pressures are in the right range. (he will check this the day before the surgery, so we will not know for sure until that day).

I know that this is a lot of information, believe me I am feeling a little overwhelmed myself!!!!!
I am trusting that the Lord has a purpose in this and that I am obedient to his calling! I ask him for strength, as this is really hard and scary to be facing.
Talk to you all soon!

Dinner

Travis and I are going to dinner tonight with Allyssa Babineaux (bionic bride). She is meeting us with her mother.
She has already helped me so much. She has given me all kinds of information and support, and that has only been through texts and over the phone. God has amazing plans for her!
I am sure that it will go well, I am so looking forward to meeting her.

My mom will be here today to help with the sleep over for Becca on Friday night.. she will also be going with me to my appointment tomorrow.

So I guess that I am going to ask for courage as we face another dr appointment to find out when and what is next.
Like I told you in an earlier post I have made up my mind on the pump, however I am not sure what he has to say about the stress test. I leave it in God's hands.

2.The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer,
my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge.
He is my shield and the horn of my salvation,
my stronghold.
3.I call to the Lord, who is worthy of praise,
and I am saved from my enemies.
4.The cords of death entangled me;
the torrents of destruction overwhelmed me.
5.The cords of the grave coiled around me;
the snares of death confronted me.
6.In my distress I called to the Lord;
I cried to my God for help.
From his temple he heard my voice;
my cry came before him, into his ears.
7. The earth trembled and quaked,
and the foundations of the mountains shook;
they trembled because He was angry.
8.Smoke rose from his nostrils;
consuming fire came from his mouth,
burning coals blazed out of it.
9.He parted the heavens and came down;
dark clouds were under his feet.
10.He mounted the cherubim and flew;
he soared on the wings of the wind.
11.He made darkness his covering,
his canopy around him-
the dark rain clouds of the sky.
12.Out of the brightness of his presence clouds advanced,
with hailstones and bolts of lightning.
13.The Lord thundered from heaven;
the voice of the Most High resounded.
14.He shot his arrows and scattered the enemies,
great bolts of lightning and routed them.
15.The valleys of the sea were exposed
and the foundations of the earth laid bare
at your rebuke, O Lord, at the blast of breath from your nostrils.
16.He reached down from on high and took hold of me;
He drew me out of deep waters.
17.He rescued me from my powerful enemy,
from my foes, who were too strong for me.
18.They confronted me in the day of my disaster,
but the Lord was my support.
19.He brought me out into a spacious place;
He rescued me because he delighted in me.
Psalm 18:2-19

I only intended to put 18:2
but for some reason the Lord told me to put all of this. I pray for all of you today and I hope that the Lord speaks to you just as much as he has to me this morning.
He has once again reminded me that he is delighted with me, and I am his!!!!!!

The Great Idea

So last week my husband posts on his facebook page that he has this great idea. Well of course I as his wife want to know what is this great idea, so I message him "what is it".
He tells me after work that it was just something for a job that he was working on. I thought OK, why would you post THAT on facebook...oh well

So then the next morning I get a text from him telling me to check my email. He never does this unless he has sent me something of importance that he wants tended to right away!
I go and check and this is what I see!

Here’s my Great Idea.

There is a Heart Walk on November 6th, I’m making a team to walk on your behalf. I wasn’t going to tell you but Shauna below is interested in meeting you and may be able to help or answer some more questions. I think Allyssa Smith is the same person you’ve been talking to, maybe it’
s her maiden name. Anyway, if you want to call her and meet I think it would be a good idea.

We need to come up with a Team Name for you. Any suggestions? I was going to list Elliott Electric as the company.


Travis

So of course I was very surprised!
Since then HE has come up with the name Heart-n-Soles...here is the link:

http://heartwalk.kintera.org/houstontx/elliottelectric

He always finds ways to amaze me!!!!
In all of this it has given me a new found LOVE for my wonderful MAN that GOD has given me..We just never knew exactly that the words "in sickness and in health" would come to be used so soon.
I love him more and more every day!!!!

So if you would like to join this team, or donate to the American Heart Association, or both.....PLEASE don't hesitate to contact us.

I have another Dr. appointment on Friday. I will let everyone know how it goes!!
It is to go over my stress test and possibly schedule the surgery.

The name of the LORD is a strong tower;
the righteous run to it and are safe.
Proverbs 18:10

The angel of the LORD encamps around those who fear him,
and he delivers them.
Psalm 34:7

New Appointment

I got a call from the doctor's office and they said that Dr Kar had my stress test results, and that he would be calling me. I told the receptionist to let him know that we had made the decision to go with the pump....
He never called, instead she called and said that she told him our decision and he also looked at the results from the stress test..and that he wanted me to come back in next Friday so that we could talk.

I am not sure if he is just wanting to go over the pump surgery and make sure that this is the right decision, or what.
So we wait until next Friday to find out.

In the mean time, we are going on a little road trip this weekend to East Texas. Doctor Kar said that as long as we stop every hour or so and let me stretch, and not sit in the same position too long that I could go.. if I start to feel bad, we have to come back immediately.

So I pray that I feel fine enough to take the trip.
I will talk to you all on the flip side of the weekend!!

Decision made!

Well today went well, I was able to talk to 7-8 patients and see what they all thought. All but one had good things to say about the pump, however I think the poor lady was more of a glass half empty instead of a glass half full kind of personality.

Even though I have made up my mind I am still quite nervous and scared, and worried, and whatever else you could put in that category. I am continuing to pray about this decision even though I have made up my mind I still want to look to my Father for re-assurance.

So the scariest thing that I found out today was that I could have quite a long hospital stay. Anywhere from 3 weeks to a few months, depending on how well my body reacts with the surgery and the pump itself. About half of the patients that I talked to have had a stroke due to the pump. However they will have me on medicine for this, actually I am currently already on that medication.

I will not be able to drive for a while, and honestly they would not want me driving at all, because of the airbag, if I where to get in a wreck, and the airbag deployed it would kill me instantly. If I ride in the passenger seat, we have to be able to turn the airbag off. I talked to another lady Allie (the bionic bride) and she said that she does drive, however not all the time, and not on long trips.

Travis and I have also decided that when the time comes and we are going to have the surgery, we want the kids to be there. I will see them before I go in for surgery, but not after, as I do not want to terrify them by what I will look like after. Some adults have a hard time handling that, I would not want a child to. Rebecca is already very emotional lately and sensitive, so I do not want to make things worse for her.

I am supposed to talk to my Dr tomorrow, he has my stress test results in so he is going to call me, and I will ask him how the process of scheduling the surgery goes, but as for now this is what I do know..
He will schedule for me to have another right heart catheterization, so that he can go in and check some of the pressures in my heart. He said he could do the surgery the next day after that. So it could be very soon...not sure though.
Travis wants it sooner rather than later, so that if I do have a long hospital stay I would still hopefully be out for the holidays. But, it is my body, and I am truly scared!!!!!! Knowing that it could be soon is even scarier!!!!

So as I leave this post, I continue to ask for prayer. I ask for prayer for peace, strength, comfort, healing, and protection.
Thank you to all of my wonderful friends and family who continually support me!!!!!!

Decisions, Decisions....

Well I wanted to thank all of you for your prayers, as I had told you before, I had a dr visit on friday..to have a stress test and to see the dr to go over the test results, and decide what the next step would be.

I got there and the admissions office told me that I was not scheduled for a stress test that day and that I was supposed to have been there on Thurdsay at 11:45. If you know me you know that I was immediatley upset..butI prayed and calmed down, it was somehow a mix up with the app desk and my dr's office. But they where able to work me in at 9.

The test went fine, I was dissappointed in myself as the last time ( a year ago) when I took this same test I was able to complete the whole thing, but this time I could not even get 10 seconds into the 2nd phase.

On the way over to the dr appointment Travis reminded me that I was not trying to run a marathon, and that it was OK that I had not done the entire test...it made me feel better anyway.

When Dr. Kar got in there he asked me how long I was able to last on the test, and I told him and he said that he was not suprised.
So he told me that he was going to give us 2 options to think about...
1) Heart Transplant
2) LVAD Pump
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ventricular_assist_device
He told me that if I was older he would have already had me on the list...but given that I am so young he wants to prolong the transplant as long as he can.
He did not say which one he would "prefer" that we do, just that he would be behind us 100%.

So this is the decision we are now looking at...Travis has told me that he would like me to get the pump, but that it is my decision and I have to be the one to live with it...so therefore it is up to me and he will support me either way.

I am going to go to the clinic this Thursday and talk to some patients that currently have the pump and see what they like and what they do not like...just to get a little information from someone who has been through this.

Also I have been in contact with the Bionic Bride.. http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/37354143/ and she and I have been talking. I am going to meet with her on the following Thursday.. cause wouldn't you know it..GOD has an awesome way of bringing people together.. She and I both go to the same clinic!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I ask that everyone pray as we look for guidance in this decision.. I am leaning towards the pump, but this is still a very serious surgery, and I do not want to make the wrong decision.

Though my flesh and my heart may fail, God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. Psalm 72:26

Random fun stuff Cont...

This is my new friend and his mom..Christian (15)
and his mon Jeannie...He is on the transplant list
He iscurrently awaiting his new heart at TCH

Wendy and I at the Casting Crowns concert

Sarah, Jenny, and me at the comedy place

Connor and me getting ready for the UT vs. Rice game!

Me and the kids at a resturaunt inGalveston

they both had a wad of gum in thier mouth!!



I think that this is all for the fun stuff for now...

Life goes on!!!!!

First

day of school 4th & 1st This is me and the kids at the Aquarium when

we went a few months ago with my mom.

I wanted to let everyone know that even though I am constantly writing about my illness and all that that intales....life still goes on around here. After all the kids still need parents right?

So with this post I will update you on fun stuff that we have been doing and also adding pictures!!!

I will post more later...I am having issues with this thing, so I will give you more fun stuff soon!!