From Plan A to Plan B

So way back when I was in the hospital (the 3rd time, not the 1st or 2nd), it took forever for the medical team to come up with a plan on how to treat me. My sarcoid was very very angry and my heart was inflamed. I was loaded up on steroids to reduce the inflammation. Once that was all under control and the VT was happening on a less frequent basis, it could be determined what to do with me. Since there are not a lot of cases like mine out there, there is not a prescribed course of action. After much debate, and I can imagine that that is an understatement, it was decided, collectively by said medical team, that the course of action, heretofore known as Plan A, would be to give me a medication that had antiarrhythmic properties. That is to say, give him a pill to stop the VT from happening.

Plan A worked. They gave me the drug and followed me for a couple of days in the hospital to make sure it suppressed the VT and didn't present any harmful side effects. It all seemed good and that's when they booted me from the hospital after eleven long days.

So, Gina and I our on our way to the Heart Failure Clinic for a check up to see how I have been doing since I left the hospital. Its about 9:10 when we park the car and start walking to the Anschutz Inpatient Medical Pavilion. I get a little winded and dizzy during that short walk. I chalk it up to my meds kicking in (I just took all my medications an hour or so before). The new drug they gave me, the antiarrhythmic, is also a beta-blocker which can lower the blood pressure so that what I think is going on, my BP is just low. I saw that it was low in the hospital and just assumed it was low still and that's whats making me a little dizzy. It surely did not feel like I was having any VT.

So we check in and shortly get called to go to the device clinic where they interrogate the implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD). They put some EKG stickers on you and hook you up to the portable computer, then put a plastic doughnut looking thing over the ICD and start the download of info from the ICD to the computer. At this point the Tech leaves the room to go get some adhesive remover because she see all the EKG glue still all over my chest and wanted me to have some stuff to get it off later. That was very nice because I have a lot of that crap still on me and it doesn't come off easy. While she is gone the computer starts spewing out paper of whats been going on in my device since it was last interrogated. The last date of interrogation was that fateful day the eve of Halloween 2008. So needless to say there is a lot of stuff being printed. Gina and I are both pretty knowledgeable about how to read these print outs. I kinda want to wait and have the tech or doc tell us whats up but we look anyway.

And what do you think we see? We see that I had about 4 episodes of VT walking into the mother loving hospital that morning! Can you believe that? There were a couple other VT episodes a couple days earlier too. Holy Cow! Plan A is not working...

Next we meet with the good Dr B and he doesn't look too happy to tell me Plan A is not working. But we still have Plan B. We are going to continue Plan A but now we are also gonna do Plan B.

Plan B is Ablation. Ablation is a regular old word that you can use in you day to day life when you want to say that you are going to remove material from on object by means of chipping, vaporization or some other erosive processes. However, in my particular case it means that a week from today I will have 3 EP doctors standing over me for 8 to 10 hours, mapping out my hearts electrical system, looking for areas where the VT is propagating from, by actually getting the VT to happen and ablating those areas by burning them. Yeah that's Plan B. That's whats next.

Anger Management

Today is a big day for me and my angry sarcoid. We, along with my lovely wife who I cannot say enough good things about, are off to visit, once again, the University of Colorado Hospital. However, this time we are visiting as out patients. I am scheduled to see my cardiologist at the Heart Failure Clinic.

The sarcoid has basically remodeled my heart, making it larger and less efficient. The less efficient part is the part that labels me as a heart failure patient. I just don't pump enough blood out of my left ventricular to the rest of my body. But I pump enough that my life is good and I can really do a lot like work, and play with my kid, and bike a little and ski a little and all those other good things. Life is good! It is not the heart failure that is my real problem right now its the VT.

So today the first thing they are gonna do is a device interrogation. That means they hook a computer up to my pacemaker and see whats been going on since they lasted looked at it. What they won't find is that the defibrillator did not fire. I would have know that. What we will find out if I have had any VT. Thats the big question. I haven't felt any so I don't think they are gonna find any but it is a "we'll see." If they find some I can't speculate on what that will mean for me.

Once they do that and draw some blood it is off to see Dr. B, the cardiologist who has been following me the closest and and making most of my health care decisions. He will discuss with me, my angry sarcoid and Gina the results of the device interrogation and what it means and what next course of action is going to be.

Once we are done with Dr B we are off to see Dr K, one of the electrophysiologist or EP docs. These are the electricians of the heart. Not to sure what they want to talk to me about but I always welcome talking to them as, if you might recall, I have some electrical issues with my ticker.

So, big day for us and I have great hopes that it is all going to work at well.

Day 2 at Home

Well its day 2 at home and things are going well: I am still at home, I could be somehwere where I would rather not be. Feel a bit run down. Having a hard time sleeping and want to do more than I can but it is really tiring doing stuff.

We went to WalMart. I hate WalMart but that's where we went today. We needed some juice and stuff for Anna for her basketball team/practice that starts tomorrow. That was just a little too much; the lights, the shoppers, the christams music, all of it. I was glad to leave. I had to sit down twice, had to keep my sunglasses on the whole time.

Went home and had a tuna melt, a bowl of chili and then a nap. I am eating a ton. It could be the prednisone or me just burning calories but I am eating a lot.

Hopefully tonight will be filled with lots of sleep. And tomorrow I have some energy to do some stuff because there is stuff I want and need to do and that would make me feel useful again.

Day 11 Part 2

Its about 5:45 and I just got out of the shower. I took a 45 minute shower. I am still not clean. I had 27 EKG patches stuck to my chest and belly and legs and arms. I a still have glue stuck to my chest. I am going to keep my chest shaved just on the outside chance I have to have these on me again. They hurt coming off. There were a bunch pulled of during the stay too. I also had a defibrillator patches stuck to my back and chest the first 2 days as well.

Both doctors came by and gave me good news and sent me on my way. I was happy but it took a long time to get out of there. But I told them I would rather wait around getting everything strait to get out of there as opposed to waiting around when I got there.

Gina and I left at 3:00. We went to Chilis and I ate a big old hamburger with cheese and fries. I needed some real food. There is funny story about controlling my blood clotting but I'm too tired to write it now so look for it at a later date. No really there can be and is a funny story about blood clotting.

Now I have to figure out my medications (and eat them) and then to sleep.

Hospital Stay 3, Day 11, Year 2008

Just woke up from the 10th night in the hospital to day 11. I better be going home today! One more dose of the medication, a normal EKG and they better boot me outta here. I told the nurses to give me my medications first. The sooner I get the meds the sooner I get the EKG (2 hour delay between the meds and EKG), the sooner the docs can read it and say its normal and then sign the pluthera of paperwork to get me outta here.

Can it really be day 11?

I have had visits from friends from AZ, Aspen, and Denver, couple guys from work and a couple guys from the neighborhood But nothings better than the visits from Family. My parents came out, Brother Bill came from Vero Beach, uncle BoBBy was here all the time, Aunt Jacqui visited, as did Dee-Dub and Meredith. Shauna and Rob were here. Were there others? Things are kinda hazy after 10 nights. But of course the best and most faithful visitor was my lovely wife Gina, without her I don't know what I would do? And I can't forget Anna. I know its hard for her to be here but I am thankful for every moment we are together.

3 Hospital stays, 3 emergency room visits, 2 ambulance drives, 2 911 calls, 6 or 7 defibrillator shocks, 1 shower, 0 cups of coffee, numerous blood draws and IVs, a million different beeps and sounds from all the monitors, a couple laps around the floor, PET scans, chest x-rays, a boat load of pills, a bunch of EKGs, a ton of Cardiac Diet breakfast lunch and dinners, and on and on and on... What a crazy couple of months we have had?

Oh and the WetzelFamily.net web site needs to be registered again and today is the last day. I deferred doing it thinking that I would be home in time to do it but I'm still in the hospital. Once I get out its gonna be a shower nap and then bed time with food between all of them.

Ok I am now cleaned my self up, cleaned up room 1027, up, ordered breakfast, and seen the first of 3 or 4 doctors. He just comes in and gives a general overall health exam and says it looks good. Now a cardiac surgeon just came in and I don't know why? Maybe because it sunday and he is the one stuck working. I told him I was expecting him and that he was the one to sign all the paper work to get me outta here and he just stared at me. I said I just made that all up but am feeling fine and ready to go home. He said they will see me later and let me know. I am really waiting for either or both Dr B and Dr S (Plumber and Electrician respectively) to give me the official go ahead. Breakfast is here. I must eat my last veggie omelet with salsa (forgot to order the turkey sausage)...

Done eating and am back to waiting. I got up at about 3:00 am so I have be waiting for 5 hours now...