Holy Heart

Where do I begin?  I really have no idea.  I've been debating back and forth whether I should post about my most recent hospital experience.  I decided to post in case someone who reads our blog has what I did and they can get well too.

I've always felt like a pretty healthy person.  Little did I know the last three years would suggest otherwise.  Now I can truly say I'm healthy and better than ever.  Well, as soon as I get back in my exercise routine. ;) 

I've had odd migraines since I was in six grade.  They happen very rarely, but when they hit they were horrible.  Symptoms included...Loss of memory, loss of feeling, unable to understand other people, talking and writing in gibberish, and on top of everything I had the normal migraine signs. Ya know, losing vision, excruciating pain, sensitivity to light-sound-smell.  They lasted about 6hrs and would fade into just a pounding headache for a few days.  Well, guess what?  Apparently these are NOT normal migraines.  They mimic mini strokes and little did I know I was a ticking time bomb.

The night we moved out of our townhouse I got one of these awesome migraines.  In fact, I had been getting them closer and closer together.  While washing one of my cousin's hair at work a few days after I brought up my horrible migraine which I rarely do.  I don't usually talk about how crummy I feel.  Who wants to hear about that when they're getting their hair done?  Another lady getting her hair washed overheard me talking.  Her stylist came up to me a little later and asked if her client could talk to me.  I said of course, but had no clue why.  Little did I know she would potentially save my life.  She told me she had overheard me talking and couldn't keep still until she talked to me.  She explained what I had was a hole in my heart.  This causes the kind of migraines I was having because of dirty blood escaping through the heart and going straight to my brain.  How did she know?  She had the same thing, but didn't learn what is what until she herself had a stroke.  She kept saying over and over that I needed to go get checked and how serious she was.  She scared me enough that a few days later I was in the doctors office.  They sent me to a cardiologist.  I had tests done over about a month and sure enough, I had a hole.  One of the tests shows levels of potential "dirty" blood getting to your brain.  On a scale of 1-5 I was a 3 holding still and a 5+ while bearing down.  No wonder I had dizzy spells all the time.  The doctor said I was at huge risk for having a stroke if I didn't have surgery.  He also told me if I had gotten pregnant and not known it could have been deadly.  Many women have died during labor due to stroke.  Even if we knew about it I would be on blood thinners during pregnancy, but it wouldn't help the risk during labor or right after.  Huh, who knew I'd been so protected. 

Surgery was supposed to be simple.  They went through a vein in my groin and inserted a little device that blocked the hole in my heart.  We found out the size of my hole was 10mm which is almost a 1/2inch.  Cause for concern of a clot getting through starts at 2mm.  Pretty scary!  Everything went great, but I ended up getting "red man face" and they had issues getting the vein to stop bleeding.  After a full day of endless blood, pain, and two shots in the incision I was finally good to go home.  Let's just say numerous people have seen my privates and I now know what it's like to use a bed pan.   I've also decided there are some nurses who need more training.  I've had a few echos since surgery and my heart is doing awesome.  Because of my age it has been healing fast and I have no restrictions.  My odds of having a stroke are very very low now. 

In a way I feel very blessed that this happened when it did.  I felt like Heavenly Father was telling me "You've had this your whole life, but NOW is the time you need to know about it and get it fixed,"  Gregg has given me many beautiful blessings that tell me of His plan for me.  Most of the things he said were sacred to me, but one I wanted to share was when he told me I would be healthy and now ready to be a mother.  I'm so thankful I have followed the sweet quiet promptings of the spirit.  I'm also thankful for a husband that has always been by my side and taken care of me through the downer times. 

*This is pre-surgery even though I already look like I've been through the ringer.