the day after

what a different experience than mexico!! when they said my procedure was 9, they meant 10 to!! none of this mexican time! i was in and out in about half an hour. i slept through most of it. the nurse would tap me to hold my breath at certain times but other than that i was in lala land. i was very awake in mexico and had a lot of pressure and discomfort in comparison. afterward i did have the anesthesia hangover though! that sucked. eventually they gave a magic hangover pill. my only complaint is how they dress the wound. in mexico, they used a dense gauze cylinder on the puncture wound and taped it down crazy tight. these guys put a little bit of gauze on it with some tape. every time i move, i am to put good pressure on it. well, when i was getting off the bed to get dressed, i couldn't get myself up and hold pressure. oops! i gushed blood everywhere. needless to say i wasn't leaving. they got the bleeding stopped with pressure, pressure, pressure! it's all good. i guess i didn't quite understand the importance of pressure! i just slept on and off for the rest of the day at the hotel.

today, saturday, i'm doing alright. haven't done anything yet. we are just taking it easy. i'm still a bit wiped. ricardo has been awesome, of course!! he's been at my beck and call. he holds pressure for me while i heave myself out of bed. then he walks behind me still holding pressure so my hands are free to hold the wall, the chair, etc, on the way to the bathroom. i'm sure it looks ridiculous!! the doctor warned me that i wouldn't have the same exhilarated feeling i had after the first procedure. he doesn't know why that is the case, but it seems consistent. and i have to agree with him. i'm tired and not really feeling exhilarated at all. very weird. so far the first improvement i have noticed is having warm feet. they were freezing yesterday till about 5ish and then all of a sudden they were warm! i guess it's a start. :)

i was able to do a bit of shopping on thursday to replace some of my stolen items. westjet is being great about it. i had to file a police report with a very unfriendly officer at the airport and then westjet gave the go ahead to shop! i did the fastest bathing suit shopping trip ever and got a smokin' deal. (who steals used bathing suites anyway??? gross!!!) i'm not sure if sears in canada has land's end in store but if they do, you should check it out! i'm hoping to do some more replacement shopping before coming home. maybe hit the roxy store and the hurley store! ;)

thanks for all the love!!

xo

Round 2 is in the books

There was very little waiting around this morning. We arrived at the clinic at 7:30 and the admission process began right away. After a couple signatures they took Azure-Dee in and prepared her for the procedure. Around 8:45 they sent me out to the waiting lounge and wheeled Azure-Dee away. I'm told that procedure lasted just over a half hour.

The doctor said that the procedure went well. Both the left and right jugulars had minor narrowing but nothing overly significant. The azygos on the other hand was again the culprit. This time the issue was a built up of scar tissue at the location of the stent. He said that it was 90% blocked and that the blood flow was reduced to a trickle. They used a balloon to treat the area and he said it responded well to the treatment. There is no way to know if the problem will return. All we can do is hope, pray, and keep her on blood thinners.

Right now we are just hanging 10 in the hotel room as she rests up. I guess we will see over the next couple days if she will see any improvements. Let's hope she does.

California.

Yesterday we arrived at LAX on schedule but we didn't leave the airport on schedule. Someone decided to help themselves to half of the contents of Azure-Dee's bag. That took some time to sort through but it looks like Westjet is gonna go good for it. Among items taken, her bathing suits. Who steals a used bathing suit? We got to my brothers place downtown around 7:30 and grabbed some food from Danny's Taco truck parked out on the street. Pretty good for a trailer with a "B" rating on the window from the health inspector. 'Even went back for seconds.

We met with Dr. Arata this afternoon to talk about the procedure. He says they have observed 2 basic valve issues common in the jugulars. One being a malfunctioning valve and the other being a valve that works just fine but is to small. The latter being more difficult to treat effectively for long term results. He says that from the scans it appears that Azure-Dee has the valves that are too small. Not the greatest news but good to know. They are going to treat both sides and we'll see what we get. There are a few potential issues with the azygos. It could be a valve issue, a scar tissue problem from the stent, or some sort of kinking issue. He doubt's its a clotting problem. Realistically there is also a chance that there isn't much wrong at all. That would be horrible news but news we have to be ready to accept should that be the case. The only way to know is to get in there and check it out. So that's what's gonna happen. The procedure is scheduled to start Friday morning around 9:00.

Gonna be a big day.

Almost time to go!

over the last while, i have been asked numerous times if i am excited about this second procedure... i am excited, of course, but i think anxious is more like it. maybe nervous, a bit stressed... i mean what if it doesn't work? or what if it does work and doesn't last again? that would be really hard! i am trying not to worry about it too much as i have no control over it. trying to keep positive thoughts!!
i spoke with one of the doctors at the clinic last week. he was looking at my scans from mexico while we were on the phone. he walked me through what he saw and what would likely happen in my procedure. my left jugular would be treated - it wasn't in mexico. my right jugular would be treated again but with a larger balloon. and the stent in my azygos vein looked to be placed in the wrong spot, possibly a little low. he figured they would have to add 2 to 3 cm of stent to my existing stent. all in all, nothing too complicated or abnormal. works for me!!
we leave for la on wednesday morning, visit with ricardo's brother and wife that night. on thursday we head to costa mesa, have a consultation at the clinic that afternoon and then friday is the big day!! we, probably ricardo, will keep the blog updated so that my mom doesn't have a heart attack from all the worrying that she is sure to be doing!!
thanks for all the love and support! i so appreciate it!!
xo