Thursday Thinks: An Update

As you guys found out last summer, I have a pretty intense heart issue. A heart attack, multiple surgeries, and a flat-line on the table have all been things that have happened since 2012, and now I'm here to tell you some more fun info.

Something else you know is that I've been pretty absent due to school. Last semester literally gave me no time to do anything fun or book-related, and so I took a break from blogging. 

Obviously, I'm back *Insert sunglasses emoji*

BUT

Some medical stuff also happened last semester, so I figured I should tell you that I had another heart attack in September. I was fine, had just parked my mower and was texting with one hand and taking a drink with the other, and the next thing I knew I woke up on the ground. We went to the ER (standard procedure for if I pass out) and found out that it wasn't because of low blood sugar, or because I'd gotten dizzy, but because my heart had gotten up to 333 beats per minute. As my heart had gotten out of control, I passed out, and then my defibrillator swooped in to save the day.

Once we knew this, they med-evac'ed me to my hospital (hours away) and when I got there, I was totally fine. They sent me home a couple days later, and it was about three weeks before we heard back from the hospital. They wanted to send me a little monitor and have me wear it for 24 hours so they could see if I was having any issues.

I did, and turned out... I was.

So they pulled me back into the hospital, started me on this new medication that could have some rather unpleasant side effects, and made me stay for a few days so they could make sure my body could handle the med. 

Spoiler Alert: It did.

I went home on Halloween, and went back to school after a few days.

Fast forward to December. First day of Christmas Break and I'm in the hospital getting the battery replaced on my pacemaker. We were supposed to go to Disney over break, but the doctors didn't think it was a smart idea. Apparently my battery was so low that if I needed it in Florida (so many hours away from my doctor) that it may not have a juice to keep me alive until we got to my hospital.

So I had it replaced, and it took me a little over a month to recoup from that. Just in case you wondered, they slit me open on my old incision, pulled the device away from the pluggy things that lead to my heart, scraped out all of the scar tissue from where it had formed around my old pacemaker, put a new one in, and sewed me back up.

Suffice it to say, that was some terrible bed-ridden recouperation right there-- I even still have two stitches that really need to dissolve already because I'd like to be able to wear shirts without being like, "hm, I wonder if this will rub on my stitch enough to pull it out today." 

But yeah.

So.

I'm all good now. Just thought I'd keep you guys updated!

Happily,

Stephanie