Heart Journey: Unexpected Turns

To tell you the truth, I struggle with how much to share here, but I'm told in a variety of ways that these blogs are somehow helpful, so I continue to write them.

On Thursday, I had my heart catheterization. It's only the second one I've ever had in my life, and I remember very little of the actual proceedings then or now. It was a cold room, a hard table, and I drifted in and out of what was going on depending on the amount of medication they had given me at the time. Cathy said the actual procedure didn't take too long, but when it was all over, I was hungry, groggy and tired.

Then began the waiting game. We waited for the clamp to be taken off the wound site. Then we waited on my lunch to be delivered. Apparently, there was a glut of raisins in the cafeteria, because both I and the guy next to me got about five pounds of raisins each as a part of our lunch. (I might be exaggerating, but not by much!) I don't like raisins, so I ate the chips, pickle, ham and turkey sandwich, and guzzled a Coke.

And then we waited again for the doctor to come in and talk to me about the procedure. He had other patients, so we waited for quite a while. It's a bit concerning when the nurse says, "He wants to talk to you himself." When he did come in, he showed me the pictures of my heart he had taken. The good news is...my heart has no blockages. I'm clean there. There is, however, clear evidence that the valve is leaking significantly, but we already knew that. What he really wanted me to see is a large unexpected area around the aortic valve itself. It might be, he said, something the original surgeon did to make room for the valve, or it could be an aneurism that has developed in the last eighteen years. Will it break free and cause problems? I asked. No, he doesn't think so, at least not right now.

So a week from today, I am to have a CAT scan to determine exactly what the large unexpected area is. (As I've told several people, thankfully I am not allergic to cats!) Then I will take all those reports, pictures and findings to one of my surgeons on October 9 and a plan will be put in place.

As I've said before, I don't lose sleep over these things. I am not worried. My life is in God's hands, and so I have no reason to worry. That said, I do so much appreciate the prayers, thoughts and well wishes sent our way. We cannot begin to tell you how much that means. While these things may be unexpected to me, they are not a surprise to a God who has the very hairs on my head numbered (Luke 12:7). He knows me inside and out (Psalm 139), and he holds my heart. And so we move forward with confidence in our surgical team, those who are and will be caring for me, and most of all, confidence in a God who is over all.