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I'm in the paper!

15/01/01


Just a little catch up as I never wrote a post when I was discharged!

I was only in over night at Liverpool, my heart rate was stable and I felt much better by the morning so I was all good to go home. I had 80mg of Furesomide when I got to the ward on the Wednesday night and it was amazing. I felt like I had new lungs! Granted, I had to go to the toilet 7 times in an hour (which wasn't the easiest task considering I was on a drip!) but it was so good, I felt better really quickly. I was very excited to have a good sleep because the previous nights I'd not been able to breath at home so I was shattered.

But being in a hospital is grim, I feel like once you've been in for one night it's much better as you're settled and you've worked out the temperature etc. but the first night is always awful. Because I was on a ward with the older ladies, the lights were off at 9:30 (it was much more relaxed on the transplant ward) and I'd only just eaten dinner! Haha. So I lay in bed and watched some TV and then switched my light off about 11:30, but I was still awake about 1:30 when I checked my watch. I had an IV cannula in my arm and was on telepathy (a heart rate machine) so I had wires all over me and was plugged into the wall, so it wasn't easy to get comfortable. I had my eye mask on and my ear plugs in which was great because it kept the light out and the noise out but I was so paranoid about a nurse coming to check on me that I woke up about 5 times and sat up and lifted up my mask! But I did eventually get to sleep... then I was woken up at 6am. I was far from impressed as you can imagine. I was given another 40mg of furesomide through my IV, so I couldn't even go back to sleep because I needed a wee then. And the lights were on at 7am anyway! and breakfast came round at 8. I was a walking zombie.

I just sat on the ward until about 1 when the doctor from the day before came to see me. He said my bloods are all fine (including kidneys-furesomide hurts your kidneys so that's always good to hear) and I was weighed and I'd lost 2kg! So it was definitely the fluid causing the problem. Your natural pace maker is in your atrium and because mine are so large there is the worry that I'll lose what is called my 'atrial kick' basically your ability to beat your heart in rhythm. So whenever I am much more tired and breathless they like to do a 24 hour monitor to check there are no abnormalities in my heart beat, but it was fine while I was in which is good!

So, I couldn't write my blog when I came home because I was so tired! I had a two hour nap and woke up when Ciaran came home and then I slept for 12 hours through the night! The next day I felt amazing, I have so much more energy now and I can concentrate on my uni work again. I've deferred a couple of essays until August which is nice, I have to send off a form but it should be accepted. I just couldn't do any work the last couple of weeks.

As of today I am now in the yellow book club! For anyone that doesn't know, you get a yellow book when you start on Warfarin with your doses in, because your doses change all the time based on your INR (your blood thinning level). I started taking Warfarin on Saturday at the same time as my Apixiban and I had my blood tested today (Monday) and my INR was only 1.3 and it needs to get to about 2.5, so I have to go back on Wednesday to have my blood done again and they'll take me off Apixiban then. I have to wait a week after starting on Warfarin before I can be listed so hopefully I'll be listed next Monday! But I'm not getting too excited.

In other news, on Thursday morning I was in the Northwich Guardian! Here's the link to the website, it's not the full article but hopefully it'll spread the message for people to go and have their hearts tested! And hopefully they'll come to my blog and see what the transplant journey is like.

http://www.northwichguardian.co.uk/news/15819844.Northwich_student__39_s_wait_for_a_new_heart_moves_a_step_closer/












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