I got through the left heart cath with minimal trauma.  The prep and procedure itself went much better than I could have hoped.  When you’ve logged as much hospital time as I have you learn to read the staff and situation pretty quickly.  The two nurses that were assigned to take care of me were so kind and caring.  Thankfully 95% of the staff and nurses I’ve encountered at UC have been nothing but wonderful, but it only takes that one terrible experience to truly appreciate the great ones.

The doctor said that a part of my heart was thicker than normal, but that I shouldn’t be concerned.  I don’t remember the exact details as I was hopped up on memory-fuzzing-I-don’t-care drugs, but I have no blocked anything and overall my heart looks good.  They were able to go through my wrist instead of my thigh to access my artery.  The upside of this is that the laying still and not moving time was cut by half, and frankly the thought of going through the thigh just seems so much worse than the wrist for some reason.  The downside is that afterward my right arm hurt… a lot, and I wasn’t allowed to use my dominant hand for three days.

Obviously knitting was out, so I decided to color.  Elizabeth got me a colored pencil set for Christmas, and I had ordered some coloring books online.  To pass time, I colored with my left hand while listening to audio books.  This is what I have done so far.  Not too shabby, right?  Perhaps I can practice to be ambidextrous.

A couple of weeks ago I finally finished a pair of socks that I’ve been promising Carol since December.  Pattern: Angie from Sock Innovations.  Yarn: Blue Moon Fiber Arts Socks That Rock Lightweight in Sunstone.


Now, onto exceptionally good news – they are starting me on oral antibiotics!  I don’t have to get a PICC put in… well, at least not immediately! The plan is for me to take Minocycline for a minimum of 4 weeks, and follow up with a CT and clinic to see how my lungs are doing.  At that point I’ll have to go on iv meds if there isn’t any improvement.  The other piece of good news is that my student loans are being conditionally forgiven.  If I become able within three years I have to pay it back.

It feels like I’m waiting for the other shoe to drop because there is an unusual amount of good news going on at once.  How sad is that?