My DH’s Journey

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Kaneohegirlinaz

Wannabe TV Chef
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Aug 2, 2014
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Central/Northern AZ, gateway to The Grand Canyon
I have posted a few times in regards to what is happening with my dear husband.

I look at this as a journey that we need to take, together. I know some of the DC community are concerned and would like an update.

I’m going to compile everything here on this thread for my future review … like I’m going to forget a single, solitary moment!

So, I already posted the start of this journey here, but let’s keep going forward, as life does.

We thought that once the last procedure was done, the Ablation and implanting the ICD in his chest, we’d be good to go... NO!
The Doctor wanted us to do a face-to-face follow up 2 weeks later back down in Phoenix.

Did I mention that I am NOT comfortable driving in the city and on Interstate Highways?
YEAH! So, I put my Big Girl Panties on once more and off we went back down to The Valley.
DH is not allowed to drive until Valentine's Day, at the earliest.

We had a late afternoon appointment and there was no way that I was going to drive the 2+ hours back in rush hour traffic and then the dark too. We booked a room again at our now favorite hotel and checked in long before our appointment. Good thing too boy! We got a phone call from the Doctor’s office asking us to come in earlier, no problem.
This appointment wasn’t with doctor, but rather with one of his Nurse Practitioners (he has two), love her by the way! One of the Medical Assistants also came in to do an EKG and wave her magic wand over his new ICD for results.
He’s still having VT events. In the previous two weeks since the implant he had EIGHTY events, 40 were resolved by the Pacemaker and 40 his body took care of on its own. Our new team wasn’t real happy with that.
A new prescription was sent over to our local pharmacy and DH was to start taking this new drug straight away!

The following evening, we still had not heard from our pharmacy, so I called in and was informed that it would possibly be available by the end of the week … not good.
I texted to our new team of medical warriors and told them what was going on,
“NO! He needs this drug STAT!”
They made some phone calls and I picked the new drug up an hour later.

DH has had three doses of this new medication and is doing so much better.

I can’t tell you all how very fortunate we feel to have this team behind us. We were given their personal phone numbers and at any time that we need them, they asked us to simply text and one of them would get back with us.

We have to go back for another face-to-face appointment next week Friday... I already booked our room and know what I want to have for dinner across the street at our new favorite restaurant.
 
I can wholly understand how you feel. We spent most of this year trying to manage a health issue with my husband. It was like a yo yo adventure that we didn't want to experience. Doctor after doctor, test after test, procedure after procedure and, in the beginning, no reason for his discomfort. Ya think?!

After 8 months plus of being put through the wringer and, of all people, a PA put her finger on the cause and, now, he's recovering. He won't ever be back to 100% but he's getting better every day.

Yep, I understand completely!
 
I experienced the a similar situation with SO's health around 5 years ago and I felt so helpless. Ran from doctor to doctor and finally saw one who put her finger on the issue right away.
 
Thank you all for your kind words!

I forgot to say earlier that DH was diagnosed with V-Tach 22 years ago back in Hawaii while going under anesthesia for ACL repair. All these years his VT had been under control with medication, well, not anymore.
The medication that he was given just the other day, Anti-Arrythmia drug, seems to be doing the trick, but he is still having a few here and there. These “events” as he calls them are not as upsetting to him any longer, but he can feel his heart race, go back into rhythm and then he’s so tired he has to lay down and winds up sleep for at least two hours, very out of character for him.
Can’t wait to go back to see the Cario EP doctor and more answers.
 
We had a small victory today.

DH was told no more than 1-2 cups of coffee a day, that he’s to limit his caffeine intake.

One of my Neighborhood Gal Pals dropped off what we call a “Door Dash Delivery” of some of her homemade Biscotti and a small box of Decaffeinated Dark Roast Coffee.
We had just been talking about whether or not he’d be able to drink decafe, so I texted to our “Team” and was told no problem!
YAY!

My poor dear husband loves his coffee and I had cut him back from probably 8-10 cups a day to 5 when this all first started out and now, he can only have 2? OH MAN!
He’s never tried decafe before so wish him luck!
 
I’m not sure if I should post this here or in Petty Vents?
But here goes:

One of the tests that my DH’s Cario EP doc did was a Genetic testing. They wanted to see if there is any sort of mutations that could be a root cause of his issues. It did come back with two genes outta whack, but not the type that we should be concerned about.

WELL!
Somehow this information got back to DH’s eldest Nephew’s wife and out of the clear blue sky, she’s now interested in us!!! We have heard from them in years, but now she’s all concerned for Uncle, mainly because she wants to know if there are Gene Mutations that her two boys need to be concerned about. GEE! REALLY?!

I’m beyond furious! :angry::furious::mad:

Now of course she has her answer and her qualms have been soothed, we’ll not hear from them for another who knows how long.
FINE BY ME!
 
I think you need to talk to that doctor's office and find out how that information got to your DH's eldest nephew's wife. That sounds like a serious violation of your DH's privacy.
 
I think you need to talk to that doctor's office and find out how that information got to your DH's eldest nephew's wife. That sounds like a serious violation of your DH's privacy.
taxy, what it is is DH's other family members that he does speak with aka his older brother who is Nephew's father, told her.
My BIL and niece-in-law are like two long-time girlfriends that talk on the phone several times through out the day. They gossip about everyone and thing. Not my style. On top of that I kinda don't appreciate him talking about DH to who ever will listen, ya know?
 
HOLLY COW!!!

We just left our follow up appointment with the Cario EP doc, and they are simply amazed at DH’s 360 turn around.

The last time we were here, and they look at a read out from his ICD, it wasn’t a pretty picture and put him on that new Anti-Arrhythmia medication – well it did the trick!

He had NO VT events whatsoever since then!!!!!

Everyone on our team was just smiling from ear to ear. So much so, we have a Tele-Visit for two weeks from now rather than having to drive back down into “The Valley”. If this next visit goes as well, we may be in the clear... fingers crossed.

So far, he’ll stay on this new medication and that should be it, no more procedures. Our team will continue to monitor his ICD remotely and see how it goes.

I had made plans, no matter the outcome of today's visit, that we needed to have a Pizza and Salad night. As we were checking out and making our next appointment, the receptionist asked us what we had planned for the rest of the evening … PIZZA! we both replied in unison :LOL: When we told her where we were eating, she wholeheartedly agreed with our choice.
 
So, I mentioned earlier that DH is to limit his caffeine intake from now on and he is a dyed in the wool coffee freak!! He loves his coffee and now we’ve got to figure out a decaf version for him that doesn’t cost an arm & a leg...
Our “Team” has said that DH can have decaf to his heart’s content, well, within reason of course.
The box of decaffeinated K-Cup coffee that my Neighborhood Gal Pal brought over for him is far too expensive for everyday consumption... gotta find an alternative.
I was in our local Safeway Supermarket and found Starbucks Verona decafe ground coffee … HMMMM.
I seem to recall that I have those doohickey thingamajig reusable cup thingies for Keurig Coffee makers!
DH is all over Starbucks Coffee, he loves the stuff, so there ya go!
It was half off for a 12-ounce bag of ground coffee, which I figured out is 30 cups of coffee per bag, or 23¢ per cup --- not bad at all!
 
Great! Happy for him!
I'm not crazy for coffee person, I can go several days without if I happen to be out and I don't notice it, but I do like it. I also just happen to like a more expensive brand, Nabob. Walmart has it the cheapest with 4/5$ off of regular store prices. I'm happy with that,
 
Poor Dear Husband is sick! This to me was inevitable, what with going in and out of hospitals and doctor’s office for the past month plus.

He’s been running a low-grade fever for a few days now and insists that he has Covid. He also has body aches and chills, but no cough or any congestion.
We made an appointment to have a rapid antigen test done this past Sunday and got the results on Monday – negative. The Pharmacist said that he's been seeing alot of this, it's called the good ole' Flu! He'll just need to ride it out at this point, because it's too late in the game to take Tamiflu.

He’s still running a temp, but Ibuprofen is keeping it in check. Of course, he has little to no appetite but has been getting a bowl of soup and some crackers down. I must keep an eye on him drinking enough fluids. He’s been sleeping a lot during the day and then very little at night, duh. :doh:
This is all making for a grumpy sick little boy.

I’m going to take some time to myself this evening. I’m going to linner (late lunch/early dinner) with my Neighborhood Gal Pals and then we’ll go play Bingo at the community next to ours. Thank goodness I have a solid group of friends that lift me up.
 
From what people online are saying, this year the flu is particularly unpleasant. Are you guys wearing respirator masks when you go out? It does cut down on catching contagious diseases.
 

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