Ahhh recovery

Tuesday's procedure couldn't have gone more perfect. The doctor was worried that he wouldn't find good heart tissue to place one of the leads for my atrium but he said he found a small island of good tissue and was able to attach the lead. He was also able to find a good spot in the ventricle for the other lead. I was back up to my recovery room in a few hours. I woke up hours later and my pacemaker was working great.

The next morning I had a chest x-ray and someone from the pacemaker company came and tested my pacemaker. This guy who came and tested it left the room pretty quickly to go look at my x-rays' and I could tell things weren't right. He went to go talk to my doctor and show him the results. Pretty quickly one of the nurses came in and took my food and drinks away. I immediately knew what that meant. I could tell on her face the disappointment and it was hard for her to tell me that I was not allowed to eat because I needed surgery. Soon my doctor was in the room and told me that the lead for my ventricle had moved 2 cm and they needed to go back in and fix it immediately. Within a half hour I was asleep on the table. My doctor fixed it and stitched me up nicely. I was worried that I could have moved my arm too much, but he said something else could have caused it to move. We had to stay an extra day in the hospital. But the next morning I had the same tests on my heart and the pacemaker looked good, and in the right spot.

I get to keep my left arm at my side in a "swath" for a month, which makes getting ready for the day interesting. Joe has been great and has helped every minute along the way. He is also working on his beautician skills. He is trying really hard, but I'm going to the salon to get it washed and styled today.

So everything turned out well and my heart is cooperating. The doctors have been able to give me large amounts of medication to make it so that my heart does not race. We couldn't do this before because I would just pass out. We are hoping that my heart will calm down from the back to back surgery and that in time I will need less medication and that I will be able to get off the unsafe medication for a baby.

Thanks for your prayers!!! So far everything has been good!

Tomorrow is the big day!!!

Tomorrow is the big day! Sunday I walked through my last metal detector! Yep bright and early Tuesday morning we go in and I am getting a pacemaker! Joe and I are hoping and praying that this will be the answer and that I will wake up with a heart that beats to the same rhythm as everyone else.

Please keep us in your prayers. Not only my heart but Joe seems to have picked up the flu and is pretty miserable. I am hoping that he will be well enough to be by my side tomorrow.

Goodbye old friend

Saturday was possibly the saddest day of my life and I am not exaggerating. I know 2 of my friends who had the same car and loved it, so I know I'm not crazy for being too attached. I sold my Audi and bought a new to me car.We found the car we wanted to buy and when it came to talking trade in value and everything for the Audi I completely lost control of my emotions and started bawling uncontrollably at the dealership. The dealer even suggested to us to take the new car for the night and come back in the morning. I told him I didn't want to drive that car and that I wanted to drive the Audi. We backed out of the deal because I was not ready to say goodbye to my car even though I could tell it was dying a fast death. A week later we came back to the same dealership and I felt more ready, until again it came to saying goodbye. The tears started pouring out and I could not be stopped. I honestly have never cried so hard in my life. Is it really possible to get attached to a piece of metal? Yes

It was in this car were I was able to bond with my Dad as he drove me to my friends places when I was young.

This Audi was my first big purchase ever.

Good memories galore here in the Audi.

And perhaps my favorite memory of all is the thoughtful first Christmas gift from Joe. At the time the Audi had only a tape player and Joe thought it was ridiculous. So for our first Christmas dating he got an awesome CD player installed. It even had a connection to be able to use my I-pod.

Joe did promise me that someday he would buy me a new Audi to make more memories in.

Just writing this post about my Audi is making me cry. I hope I made the right decision to sell.

RIP Audi A4, you will be missed.

His new t-shift

I love Joe. He is so competitive and athletic. He has had many goals at BYU. The greatest goal was achieved when he got married to me. The second thing on his list was to win an intramural championship. He has been close so many times. When he was recently returned from his mission, he was on an intramural Flag Football team with Jason Deelstra, Tyler Unsicker, Dave Kimball, John Gochnour, his brother Tom, and some others. They played in the highest division and did very well. This was back in the day when the Daily Universe ranked the top intramural teams in the Daily Universe every Wednesday. Joe and his buddies would hang out in the Wilk and talk with people and tell them that they played on an intramural flag football team, that they were in the highest division, and were undefeated. They would then invite these people to come watch them play. The team played very well but lost in the semi-final game of the tournament. He made it to the semi-final game 3 other times but never won it all. This year he signed up a team for co-ed basketball. Their team name was Brothers and Sisters because a lot of the members of the team were related to each other. There was Joe, his brothers John, Tom, and sister Cheri. Mike and Teresa Wayment, Casey and Savannah Wassom, Tara Amos, and Hanna Picard. They played well all season and tonight they became intramural champions. Part of winning the tournament is receiving the coveted Intramural Championship T-shirt, which Joe proudly now has. I'm sure he won't ever take it off and I might have to cut it off in his sleep at some point. Here are the Preston Brothers and Sister.
Here is the Team in their matching Championship T-shirts.
Way to go you guys!!!

40 Years!

Happy 40th wedding anniversary to my Mom and Dad! I love you two!!!

(remember how much fun I was to be with on this trip to Italy! Imagine how much fun you would have reliving it with me and Joe! We are free anytime!!)




40 years is a huge milestone! I look up to you both in so many ways!

If it looks like they are wearing the same thing in every picture it is because they are. My Dad's suitcase got stuck in London for basically the whole trip, my Mom has no excuse. Thanks for putting up with me!

Date is set

Yesterday we met again with my doctor to discuss questions that I have about getting a pacemaker.

Here are some of the questions that kept me up at night

Can I sleep on my stomach with a pacemaker?

Yes

Will I be able to breastfeed when we one day get to be parents?

Yes

What type of a pacemaker will it be?

A pediatric pacemaker, he said the leads will last longer, and that I probably won't have to get new leads until I am 50ish. But I will still need to get my battery changed every 10-15 years.

How long will I be on medication?

Most likely my whole life.

and the most important question...

Will I be able to possibly someday try to have a baby?

Yes, maybe in time, but I will have more frequent checks with my heart doctor and a high risk OB, and a neonatologist if I do become pregnant in the future.

So it looks like my pacemaker will be coming right before Christmas!! December 20th! I am really hoping for a miracle for Christmas

Lavell Edward Stadium

A few weeks ago Joe and I got to cross something off our bucket list. One of Joe's friends won tickets to the coaches show by KSL's Greg Wrubell and invited us to come along. With this we were able to go on a tour of the west side of the stadium. Someday we hope to have season tickets on this side of the stadium. I am happy that I once was a Cougar!

Updates updates

Yesterday I had an appointment with one of my heart doctors and even though it was Halloween it was no treat. Joe and I were expecting that we would talk with our doctor about what was going to be different with my upcoming heart procedure, we had heard 3 weeks ago the plan was to do another ablation. I was completely caught off guard when the doctor said that I would be getting a pacemaker.

He explained that the reason I suddenly needed a pacemaker was because my lazy SA node is not showing any signs that it is going to start working. I wore a monitor for 24 hours and during that time my SA node didn't work at all. My heart also stopped for 10.5 seconds (thank goodness it started working again!) We had known that my heart was still stopping every now and then, but it has not been recorded for as long as 10.5 seconds yet. It scares me because when it stopped for 10.5 seconds I was conscious, and now I wonder how long my heart has stopped when I have passed out in the past.

The doctors said that it is possible that it could also fix my heart because they think in a way my heart is trying to overcompensate once my heart rate gets so low in the 30's-50's that it starts to race. I don't really understand it even though I am a nurse.

I have a really good friend also named Sarah, who got a pacemaker when she was 14 years old. I have known her since we were both 12. She has been so great to answer my questions. She has really helped me to know that this is not the end of the world and that it is okay to live with a pacemaker.

I am waiting to hear back from the doctors on when this will all go down. Maybe they will change their minds again and want to try an ablation again. I will keep you updated.

What should I do?

Today I drove my car for the first time in 2 weeks, and it did not go well. Let me first tell you how much I love my car...

I always loved my Dad's 1998 Audi A4. When I was in Jr High he would bribe me by saying that if I washed his car he would drive me and pick me up during the weekends. I loved this idea and I washed that car by hand weekly until I could drive myself.

This was one of the smartest things I could have done, because I eventually bought this car from my Dad and because I had taken such great care of it when I was a teen I was getting a beauty of a car.

The day I bought my car from my Dad he had it fully detailed for me!
This picture is when he handed over the keys to me maybe about 5 years ago.

Today started out with me trying to start my car and it not starting. Dead battery. I got it replaced and drove on, but the car was switching gears like I was driving a stick for the first time (it is an automatic, so I knew something was wrong). I drove it to the Audi dealership to get it looked at. Hours later the Audi grim reaper called me with the worst news I have heard, he told me my transmission was bad and that it would cost $6000 for a new transmission. After more research and calling around I have more options.

1. New transmission-this will never happen, We are broke.

2. Sell it for parts- I can't believe he even suggested this option to me

3. Used transmission- ($2800, 6 month parts and labor guarantee)

4. Trade it in (we are broke)

5. Drive it until it gives up the ghost

6. Become a one car family, or let Joe buy that motorcycle he always talks about (this will never happen, as a nurse I call them "donorcycles")

Did I mention my car has 171,000 miles on it and normally every time I take it in for a check up the mechanic is always shocked by how awesome my car is. And my car has heated seats, tinted windows and all wheel drive. I seriously love this car.

Football

So the wife of the year award came out and I won!!! Yep, what sealed the deal is when I let Joe go away last month for the BYU vs Texas game for the weekend, and then I blogged about it. I really wish I could have been at the game even though BYU ended up losing. Joe was able to go and spend time with his close "Burley friends" as I call them, aka John and Elliot.

Stumbling block

I have to say that the first week following my surgery was great. I had more energy than I ever had following any other procedure. I felt good enough to go to the football game (I'm grateful I have a temporary handicap pass, and BYU traded our seats so I could sit the whole game!)

But early this morning I woke up to my heart racing. At some point in the night my heart decided it would misbehave. Before bed time I felt great! I had a heart rate of 55. I even told Joe that before when I had a freaky fast and irregular heart rate it would keep me awake, but now my perfect sounding heart kept me awake because I loved listening to it and feeling it.

I am a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and it is our conference weekend where for 2 days we get to hear from the leaders of our church. In the early morning hours I was reminded of an old talk from 2004 entitled "But If Not" from 2004 that really touched my life at the time. I'm sure I was facing a difficult challenge (what person on this earth isn't) and this message stuck with me. I searched for the talk and found it and it brought comfort to be again 7 years later.

Hours passed and my heart was still racing. I called my doctor and told him what was up. He put me back on heart medication for the time being and I will go to the office tomorrow for an EKG. My heart is still racing.

I know I ask you all the time to pray for my heart, but will you all please continue to pray. I am very touched that I have people who read my blog and care about me and Joe.

I'm hoping that this increased heart rate is just a fluke and is from the irritation from what they did to it, and that it will calm down... but if not I will be strong and I will get through this.

Jimmer's all-stars

Last Thursday before I went in for surgery it was Jimmer time! I was so excited to go to Jimmer's All-star game. I was excited to see Jimmer and actually for once cheer for people that I hated last season (#! Kawhi Leonard). Jimmer was not a ball hog at all and there were some pretty sweet dunks and plays. It also helped that we had sweet seats (thanks JB and Mary!)

The most horrible part of the night was when TJ Fredette did his half time rap. (ride Jimmer's coat tail as long as possible man) It was good for quite a few laughs.

I realize a lot of you girls don't like sports, and I'm sorry but I do, as long as it has anything to do with any BYU team or former BYU player.

Happy Birthday to me!

Okay, not really. My birthday isn't until January. But my clever nurse at the hospital got me these balloons. I remember waking up and being very groggy still and reading the balloons and it made me giggle. I hope that every year on September 23rd I will celebrate the birthday of my new heart. I know it's not really new (it's 27 years old). We are trying to be very positive that my 5th procedure actually fixed my heart.

I am feeling really well. I do feel like I was stabbed in the chest , but I kinda was (with a really really small knife), but the pain gets lighter and lighter. My heart is behaving, except that my SA node is still lazy, so my heart rate is low, but I can handle that for now. I am just waiting for my SA node to wake up. My doctor says I will be feeling great when that happens.

Thanks for your prayers!

Day #1 Post op

First off I want to say thanks to all my friends and family and people I don't even know who have found our blog and having been praying for us. I had my 5th ablation yesterday and it seems like things couldn't have gone smoother, well except that my SA node is still lazy, but it seems to be waking up. I am increadibly happy with the results.

My heart rate has been great, 50-70's beats per minute I have not been in normal sinus rhythm but something called a junctional rhythm with is fine with me. I seriously don't remember the last time I felt this good.

There has been some pain with breathing, but the medications have made it smoother for me as long as I take shallow breaths.

Both my doctors have been in to see me and it appears that I will actually be out of the best hospital in the world this afternoon!

Oh and the best part is that I am not going home on heart medication. Hopefully from here on out it will just be up to my heart to stay in rhythm!

I love you all and I appreciate your prayers and thoughts!

Procedure #5 coming up!

I am excited to say that my next heart procedure is only 9 days away!!! I am scheduled for September 23rd! My doctors will be doing something a little different that has never been attempted on my stubborn heart. They will still plan on making the small incisions in my groin area for my veins and arteries to gain access to the inside of my heart (aka endocardial ablation). What they are differently is including what is called an epicardial ablation, which is very new. (very very small incision below by breastbone). I find the process of what they will be doing fascinating and I am completely amazed that such things are even possible,(seriously I can talk for hours about it) but I won't bore you with the details.

Please pray for my doctors that they will be able to know how to fix my heart, and please pray for Joe and I.

B-town

A few weekends ago Joe had his 10 year high school reunion, so we headed up to B town (Burley, Idaho) for the event. We were also happy because it fell on the same weekend as the Cassia county fair, which is a big deal in this small town....a really big deal. Joe actually refers to it as the social event of the year. I enjoyed the fair because they had cheap and delicious scones that were amazing as well as maple donuts.

They had an event at the Rodeo that was called, "The wild cow ride" that goes against all human instincts. Seriously it is messed up. 3 people are on a team and they saddle a cow and ride it between cones. It's harder than it sounds, because they cows are crazy. I was super worried that the announcer would ask for a nurse to come tend to the injured. Go here to watch it on Youtube.

It was good to see some of Joe's best friends that he keeps in touch with, and it was fun to meet new people who meant a lot to Joe.
I think it is crazy that his whole class could fit in a photo. He had around 180 people in his class.


The class also sponsored a 5k fun run. Did I mention that Joe beat everyone! He even won a prize.
One more thing I love about Burley is that I have never met a person from there that I didn't like. Seriously everyone in this town is great! This made me really excited for my 10 year that is coming up next summer!

First day of school

Today Joe started his last first day of Law school. That's right my hubby only has one more year left in law school! I am so proud of you Joe!!!

Joe

Did I mention that I get Joe back tomorrow! We will no longer have to spend days and days apart! Well we still might have to spend days and days apart but he will only be as far away as the law school. (Only 1 more year left!!! Wahoo!)

I have the best husband ever!

Joe has taken up running this summer and has entered a few 5K's and has actually done quite well. His best time this season for a 5K was 21 minutes and 27 seconds. He has won a ribbon and some other prizes too!

I love you Joe and I hope that someday soon I'll be able to join you for long runs!

updates... again

I am counting down the time until Joe is back from St. George and done with his internship. I am really excited that he has had this opportunity to be there, but I can't wait to live in the same place again. It would be really cool if Joe got a job offer to go down there after graduation. It would be really nice to be able to have more time to explore that part of the state since neither of us had time to go on adventures down there this summer.

It has been a more than a week since my last post and I realized I needed to update you all on the good things with my heart that have happened since then.

Last Monday I was having way too many near fainting episodes, too many to count. My doctor made a lot of changes to my medication routine and it has worked really well. The day after I was released from the hospital I only had 2 near fainting episodes which was a complete miracle! The next day I didn't have a single episode, but the following day I had three. Since then I have not had any fainting episodes since then and I have been feeling so much better.

I met with one of my doctors on Monday and he gave me permission to return to work!! I was able to work for a little bit today and it felt great to be back to work. I am still not allowed to drive, so my mom has been in town to chauffeur me around.

We did set a date to do another ablation...September 23! I am grateful to all of you who have kept us in your prayers. Unfortunately this looks like it will be a long road to recovery, so I may be asking for your thoughts and prayers for a while.

I promise I will have a non-heart normal life post soon.

Home

I made it home from the hospital! I love all of my nurses who took such great care of me! Thank you very much ladies. I am now resting at home!

Life is like a box of chocolates

I think Forest Gump said it best, "Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you are gonna get."

Friday was one of those mornings that I didn't expect. I was actually feeling well that morning and got in the shower. My mom has been great and stays in the bathroom when I am in the shower in case I feel faint or anything else. Things were fine and I got out of the shower and went to get dressed and my mom left to take the dog on a quick walk. I suddenly felt tired and so I sat down in the chair, next thing I knew I woke up and was totally confused about where I was, and I had no idea how long I was out, I felt weak so I went for the bed, but was incredibly short of breath. I knew something was wrong, I tried to take my pulse but it was very slow, I guessed in the 30's or 40's. I was able to call out for my mom, and when she heard me she came in the room. We immediately called my doctor and he told us to come in immediately. So off my mom sped to Provo. I had no idea she had it in her to drive like that. After discussing with my doctor the decision was made to have me admitted to the hospital for monitoring. That is where I have been since. We are trying to figure out my medications and what works best for me. The problem is that my heart rate is variable ranging from 36-140 at times, also I am having pauses where my heart isn't beating, sometimes for as much as 8 seconds. My doctors are trying to decide if a pacemaker is needed or if my lazy SA node will wake up and do it's job, and then maybe I will have a normal heart.

Joe came up from St. George and has been here with me at the hospital. Can I just tell you all what an amazing husband I have! I love him and don't know how I got so lucky.

Achy breaky heart

One of my favorite songs when I was in elementary school was "Achy breaky heart" by Billy Ray Cyrus, it was even the first CD I ever owned. Maybe this was my body trying to tell me something. Isn't it ironic?

It's been almost 3 weeks since by last cardiac ablation and I thought I should inform you all on the events of the last 3 weeks. For those of you who have no idea what I am talking about click here and this will catch you up.

The first week after the procedure I felt good and it seemed like a normal recovery. After a week my heart started racing and I fainted. I have never fainted before, so this was a new experience. I was staying at Aunt Cheryl's condo in Snowbird and I thought that the high altitude and all the irritation on my heart was the cause.

A few days later I kept getting that same feeling and came close to passing out. Soon I was fainting daily and almost fainting another 10 times. I was in denial that anything was wrong. I had 2 weeks off work to recover from my procedure. I love my job and was really excited to be back to work. I was having a tough morning at work, but I tried to keep it to myself. One of my coworkers Rick came and asked me about my procedure. While I was talking to him I fainted. I was only out for a few seconds. Rick has the hook ups with telemetry and put me on so that he could monitor my heart. Soon enough my doctor was on the phone and I was leaving work.

We found out the reason why I am passing out is that my SA node (the pacemaker of the heart) is a bit lazy and slow to react. We have it recorded that my heart didn't beat for about 4 seconds because my SA node wasn't working appropriately. Another problem is that my heart doesn't know what to do and one of the areas that they ablated is slowly coming back.

Today I met with my doctor and we discussed my achy breaky heart. Hopefully my SA node will decide to not be so lazy (he said this sometimes happens). If the arrhythmia comes back it looks like in about 10 weeks I will have another ablation.

I'm hoping that the fainting will stop once we get me under control and that I can return to work.

Please keep praying for my heart, also pray for Joe. My doctor didn't let me recover in St. George with Joe and so we have been spending a lot of time apart. I know it has been hard for him to have me recovering 300 miles away, even though he has been able to come see me on the weekends.

Oldies

These are all old pictures from May, but better late than never to document them right?

St. George has been fun for Joe, While visiting him one weekend we even were able to go to Snow Canyon and do some exploring.
Joe explored caves, I opted for fresh air.
It is no secret that we love Las Vegas, so when we celebrated our 3 year anniversary May 22 we went to Las Vegas for the night and we were able to see The Lion King! I loved it and I am so sad that no one has ever expressed how awesome it actually is. The actors were amazing, I wanted to take little Simba home. The costumes were surprising I was not expecting them to be that fabulous. And it helped that our seats were awesome, we literally couldn't be closer to the stage.

Recovery

So far this recovery from the ablation has gone really well. We did have to stay in the hospital an extra night because my heart rate was high and would not come down after my first time up. But Sunday morning we were able to leave and I went right home and went to bed, my doctor decided to start me on an anti-arrhythmic medication after all to help my heart calm down. It kicked in fast and before I knew it my heart rate went from 130 beats per minute (bpm) to 60. I was looking forward to recovering in St. George so that I could be with Joe when he got home from work, but when Dr. Wang found out about that he told me I needed to stay close and now I am staying at hotel Richards where my mom is taking excellent are of me.

I feel like I have been so blessed! I actually had to call my doctor because my heart rate was in the high 40's to 50's at times. And I am now off my anti-arrhythmic medication and he decreased the dose of one of my other medications already! He said that I would need to be on one of them to help my heart calm down from all of the irritation that it went through. These are all very good signs that my heart is doing well, and that just maybe this power house team of doctors were able to get the areas of my heart causing the problems and fix me.

Many of you have expressed that you have been praying for me and I really appreciate your prayers more than you know. When I thanked one of my doctors for fixing my heart he even said that it wasn't him, but that it was someone upstairs who helped. I am very grateful for my religion and the strength that it has given me and Joe during this trial in our life.

I will try to keep you updated on my continued recovery, but basically my day goes a little something like this.
9:00-wake up and watch the price is right
10:00-12:00 Nap
12:00 Eat
2:00-4:00 Nap
6:00 Eat
7:00 Watch TV with my Dad
9:30 Out sleeping for the night :)

It is a nice relaxing life at this time, I can't complain. It is just crazy how much sleep I need. Thanks again for all your prayers!!! I appreciate all of you!

Recovery

Well we are here in recovery after (crossing our fingers) the first successful ablation. Sarah checked into the hospital yesterday at 10:45. They took her almost immediately to the cath lab. She was smiling and kept saying, "I am so excited." The nurses and others looked at her funny because they had never had a patient be excited about an ablation. The doctors started the procedure sometime between 11:00 and 11:30. We heard word at a little after 7:00 pm that they were done. The doctors were very persistent. One of the doctors said this morning that they wanted to keep going until they got her arrhythmeas because he knew that he wouldn't be able to come to work and see Sarah everyday with an arrhymea still persistent.

Sarah was taken up to her room on the Cardiac floor at about 8:00 pm last night. We got to get in and see her around 8:30. The nurses that she works with all wanted to come see her and check up on her. It has been really nice to have so many caring friends looking after her.

Sarah was pretty sleepy and doped out until about midnight. They gave her a lot of medicine to make her sleep because her procedure lasted 8 hours. It took her a long time before she was really awake. She kept saying, "I am trying so hard to open my eyes," and "I just can't open my eyes right now." Everyone said, that it was ok and she just had to rest.

Sarah had to lay flat on her back and could not bend her legs until 7 am this morning. It was a miserable night for her as she was very discomfortable from being on her back for such a long time. The reason that she could not bend her legs is because they did not want the sites on her leg where they went into her veins to start bleeding again. At 7:30 this morning she was able to get up and get out of bed. Her heart was a little irritated during this time when she was up and walking around but this is kind of to be expected because of all the work that was done yesterday.

Going forward things look very optimistic for the following reasons. In every other ablation that Sarah has had the doctors have gotten close to getting all the areas of her heart that have been causing arrhythmias gone but not completely. Because they could not get all of the areas completely irradicated the doctor would then cardiovert her and put her on anti-arrhythmia medicine. This time, the doctors completely eliminated the arrhythmias through ablation. Once the arrhythmias were gone then they tried to reinduce the arrhythmias through addrenilen and other other drugs. When they tried with Sarah her heart did not go back out of rhythm, and her heart rate only reached about 120-140, which is very normal. This is the first time, coming out of an ablation that she has not been cardioverted. The second thing is that she usually comes out of the ablation on anti-arrhythmia drugs. This time, she is not on any anti-arrhythmia drugs and her heart has been in normal sinus rhythm, except for the brief time that she was up and walking around this morning.

We should be out of the hospital later this afternoon or early this evening. Sarah has two weeks off of work and will be taking it easy. We appreciate all the kind words and prayers in our behalf. We hope that we are finally done with this journey.

Friday is the day to fix my heart!

Tomorrow is the day that we have patiently been waiting for! I get to finally have my 4th cardiac ablation, and I am hoping that the 4th time is the charm. I have some jitters, but I am really excited. The past few days I have had to be completely off my medication and it has not been a pleasant experience but today I was able to rest and I feel ready for tomorrow! I am also really happy that I get to have my procedure at the hospital where I work and I feel like I will be in great hands with all the wonderful nurses and my two experienced doctors.

So please keep me in your prayers that everything will be okay and that my doctors will be able to fix me, and pray for my amazing husband Joe that he will be comforted during the procedure.

Little Reunions

Last week one of my really good friends from high school got married. Congratulations James! And we were able to go and see friends and have a mini 9 year high school reunion for me! I really think that my good friends in high school were the best and helped me make good decisions and didn't pressure me to do anything crazy. Most of them are married or are planning weddings of their own. It was fun to get to know their new spouses better. It makes me really excited for my 10 year reunion next summer!
It was also such a fun surprise to see one of my old roommates! My old roommate Emilie served a mission with the bride. It was fun to catch up with her and meet her new little cute baby. It is just crazy how time flies.

We have a date!!

I had my appointment with my doctor today and it looked like my tests were all helpful and he said I have an incredibly healthy heart (all the valves, and structure look great), but that my heart truly does not know how to beat. I also got an answer to why I always get the hiccups, turns out my heart is responsible for that too!

The big day is Friday July 8th!!! I am so excited for this. Thanks for all of your prayers!!

No longer homeless and other things

I can breathe a big sigh of relief...We found a place to live! It is about 5 minutes away from where we are now. We looked into buying a condo, and we almost put an offer in, but it turns out it sold the day before we were going to put an offer in. We will be basement dwellers once again. This house has a beautiful backyard and the house has some character to it. We move in next Saturday!

Heart update: So this past week I had a lot of tests for my heart. The first was a tilt table test. aka: torture or worst test ever. Keep in mind I had to go off my medication for 3 days before the test, and I get symptomatic if I am 2 hours late for my medication. This is how the test works. The patient lays flat and they are strapped to a table that tilts to 70 degrees so that the patient is almost standing. Every minute blood pressure, heart rate and rhythm are being monitored. The patient has 40 minutes to pass out in the standing position. If they don't pass out in the allotted 40 minutes then they are then brought back to the lying position and medication that is designed to stress the heart out is injected, and the nurse is waiting the whole time for the patient to pass out. If the patient is still unable to pass out the table it tilted to 70 degrees which stresses the heart. The goal of the test is to have the patient pass out...fun right? I did not pass out, but I was eventually given the medication and my heart reacted. My heart rate shot up to 270 which I do believe is an all time high for me. It was miserable, but my doctor was in the room and I had a handful of nurses. Before I knew it my doctor was getting my consent to cardiovert (shock) my heart, which I eagerly agreed to. But I guess it was worth it because my doctor said he learned a lot about my heart. I get to meet with my doctor on Monday and that is the day we get to set a date for my ablation.

Did I mention that Joe is up here for the weekend? I am so happy!

Moving on...

So much is going to happen in June that it is overwhelming! Yesterday we found out that we need to be out of the basement of the house where we have enjoyed living for the past 3 years because the home has sold. This has been our first apartment together so it is a bit sad. But now I am on the hunt for a new apartment and a hunt it has been.

I always hear stories from older people about how when they were at BYU their kitchen and bathroom were in the same room. I thought that those places have been torn down, but oh boy was I wrong. I got to see one yesterday, and it was scary. Maybe I'm just picky...but we will not be renting that place. The place we live now is amazing and so our bar it seems has been set high. So I am still on the search to find a place.

I have girls camp June 13-15th. Need I say more??? I am feeling really overwhelmed at this time. Luckily the weather has been terrible so camp was cut 2 days short :)

Update on my heart: My insurance should win a gold medal in pushing me around. They

They told me for about a week and a half that my ablation at the Mayo clinic has been denied and denied and denied some more. So after discussing my options with my doctor I decided to have 2 doctors in Provo try (Dr Wang, and Dr Hwang). They are actually very good, and some say that one of them is among the best in the world at treating my heart condition. I also feel comfort knowing I will have 2 doctors working on me during the ablation. However I will be getting lots of tests done before the procedure, and that I am not excited about. Basically because they give you drugs to stress out your heart and make it beat fast and induce arrhythmia's. I am really not excited for how that will feel. So far we don't have a scheduled date set up for the ablation, but my doctor wants it about the 3rd week in June. So I will keep you posted.

3 Years!

Today we are celebrating our 3 year anniversary! I am so happy to be married to my best friend and the love of my life!

updates

This past weekend I went down to St. George and got moved into our apartment down there. I call it our vacation home since I will be living up in Provo when I am working. We got a great deal on a 3 bedroom 2 bath apartment that is downtown and in the middle of everything. We even have a small pool, so if you are passing through you will have a place to stay!


Joe started his internship at Bingham and Snow and is enjoying it. He works 3 days a week at the St. George office and then 2 days a week he travels to Mesquite to work in that office. I am so proud of him.


I have an appointment to get my "stubborn heart" worked on. My ablation is scheduled for June 20th, but I have appointments starting on June 16th. So I will be out in Minnesota for about a week and a half total. The insurance is giving me the run around and it has not been approved yet because it is out of network. So we have been praying a lot lately that the insurance will approve it. It has been a real headache and part of me wants to give up on the whole Minnesota thing and give another local doctor a chance to fix this broken heart. Why are insurances so difficult?

Laziness

So the past little bit I have not really had a lot of energy. Dinner time will roll around and I will be too tired to make anything, and so i find me and Joe eating out (I do have to eat Cafe Rio weekly or I will die). I remembered when my mother in-law Renae brought me all these frozen meals she had made and to put in my freezer for these lazy days and I loved it. (They didn't last in our freezer for a long time) Well the other day I found myself with a burst of energy and so I took advantage of it and made 7 meals in about 90 minutes.

This brought me to thinking....wouldn't it be great if I got a group of girls together in Utah County together and we could each make the same meal but triple or even quadruple our recipe or more, and then trade and so we would get lots and different meals for our freezers with not too much effort???? I know a lot of my friends can cook!

Do you guys have any good freezer meal recipes??? I am very interested.

Today I am having one of those lazy days and we are eating the chicken and dressing casserole.

Chicken and dressing casserole:
Chicken enchiladas and Lasagna
(not pictured pulled pork burritos)

The appointment

Friday I met with my cardiologist to discuss my heart (stupid Moab). The appointment went like I thought it would because of my incident on Wednesday being cardioverted and admitted to the hospital. My doctor put me back on all my medications, and we discussed that I need another cardiac ablation. For this next ablation he is sending me to Minnesota where I will have "the best in the world" try his hand at my heart, at the Mayo clinic. I feel at peace about this decision and I feel like it is the next step to get me better. I am hoping to make a vacation of this trip and visit Minneapolis. Do you have any ideas of some fun things to do? (please leave a comment with your ideas) It looks like we might be headed out there some time in the last half of May so the weather should be good!

Favorite author

This week wasn't a total bust! On Monday I got to meet my favorite author of all time with some of my favorite ladies! Any guesses on who he is? I will give you some hints .

1. Basically every book he writes gets made into a movie

2. I cry and cry reading all his books.

3. His books actually have a lot of truth to them (I did not know this until Monday and when he was telling us the stories behind the stories I was fascinated)

4. I follow him on Twitter, actually he is the only person I follow on Twitter, I may have even joined Twitter because he told me to.

5. Mandy Moore

Any guesses??

6. The notebook, A walk to Remember, Message in a bottle, Dear John etc. (Zac Efron will be starring in his next movie)

Answer: Nicholas Sparks!!!

He spoke Monday night at the University of Utah. I swallowed my pride and stepped on their campus only because he was there. It was amazing because he told all these great stories behind the books. And after he signed books and I was able to get 2 signed. My friend Rachel is one of his favorite Twitter followers and so when it was our turn to get our books signed he posed for a picture even though there were signs up to not ask Mr. Sparks to pose for pictures.

It was great. I have spent yesterday and today catching up on all my Nicholas Sparks movies since I have needed to rest. It has been great!

April heart update

It is time for another update about my " stubborn heart". I have been wearing a heart monitor for the past month because I have an appointment with my cardiologist scheduled for Friday. I have been having problems off and on for the past couple of weeks. Once I was walking a patient around at the hospital and I almost passed out. After talking with my doctors office the reason why was that my heart rate was 212 (way too high), and out of rhythm but they said my heart went back into rhythm so nothing to worry about. Fast forward 2 weeks when I am out running errands and I get a phone call from my doctors office telling me that my heart rate is 185 and has been all morning as well as it has been out of rhythm. I get orders to go home take some extra medicine and take it easy. My doctors nurse tells me to call back in the morning and if I am still out of rhythm then I will need to get cardioverted (they shock your heart and it resets it and it should go back in rhythm). I woke up and my heart was back in rhythm so I didn't need to get cardioverted. The next day I was working a day shift at the hospital and a little after 8 o'clock I started having symptoms with my heart. I talked to our telemetry tech at the hospital about it and he immediately set me up with a 5-lead heart monitor so he could just check up on me. My heart rate was 185 again, and out of rhythm. Before I knew it the house supervisor was by my side and the cardiac unit was warned that they might be getting a new patient on the unit. I called my doctors office and again they told me to take some extra medicine and if my heart rate didn't go down I would need to get cardioverted. Well my heart rate wouldn't go down and because it was so high I could not really do my job, before I knew it my supervisor had me in a wheelchair and I was being admitted to the cardiac unit to get cardioverted. Note: I hate getting cardioverted! Thank goodness they gave me lots of drugs to put me out, so at least I do not remember it. I woke up to the doctor telling me it was a success and that my heart rate was now 74!!! I was even able to leave the hospital that night!!!! This morning my heart still feels in rhythm and good. I am just taking it easy and will be laying in bed all day! Tomorrow morning I will meet with my cardiologist and I will get to hear what my treatment plan will be going forward. For now keep my heart in your prayers!

The job offer

We have been waiting so patiently to see if Joe would get a job offer to work for a law firm this summer as an intern. This week Joe got an offer for a place in China and....... St. George! Joe accepted the position in St. George and we are so excited! Joe will be working for Bingham and Snow. Joe will start May 2 and will be there all summer, and I will join him as often as possible because I will be commuting between Provo and St. George for my work. We now need a place to live for about 3 months. Do any of you know anyone who wants to rent us out there place for the summer? We are terrific tenants!

Beach resort

The other night we went to the Provo beach resort to do the ropes coarse. I have been dying to do it since this place opened. We brought Cheri (awesome sister in-law) along and we had so much fun. Seriously you all need to come do it, and when you go call us and we will come too! This ropes coarse was much harder than it looked. It was a bit of a workout and our hands hurt really bad afterwords. (Wear gloves when you go!)

Next time we will either do the wave rider or maybe the croquet. Seriously so much fun!!!

3 of my favs

So what are my 3 favorite things you ask?
1. Joe
2. BYU basketball
3. Las Vegas
Last weekend we were able to make a quick trip (left Saturday morning and came back bright and early on Sunday morning) to Las Vegas! It was beautiful 80 degree weather there! We were able to go down to the Mountain west conference championship game. Sadly my Cougars had a rough game and lost, but it was still worth it to go down and cheer! It was also fun to get to be in Vegas and reminisce with Joe about how he purposed there 3 years ago.

This is the first year I have really ever cared about March madness. I have my

bracket filled out and yes I have BYU to win it all! It is killing me that I am not in Denver cheering them on this weekend! Go Cougars!!!!

BYU Student Section Flash Mob 2011

One of the things that I have always wanted to do in my life is be in a flash mob. Saturday
I was able to cross it off my list. Check it out. I think it turned out pretty good! And BYU won so it was a great day!!!

Love it!!

I love, love, love my job. I've wanted to be a nurse for a while and getting to my goal seemed like almost impossible, but I have been a nurse for a year now and I absolutely love it. For the past 2 months I have worked all my shifts on the pediatrics unit which is my favorite!!! Yes it is hard to see sick babies and have to poke them and suck boogers out, but I love it. I love waking up and going to work, I love being at work, and sometimes I don't want to leave work because I love it so much. I love it!!!

where have we been?

We have been so busy with everything that pertains to basketball. Mainly BYU basketball. It has been so fun to go to all the home games. And Joe is playing on 3 different basketball teams. Thats right he is playing on a city team, a ward team and he is still in quest for a BYU intramural chapionship T-shirt by playing basketball intramurals. Go Jimmer!!!

I turned 27 in January!! And so to keep up with tradition we went to the Olive Garden which is where we met on my birthday 4 years ago! Joe's little brother John was our waiter and did a great job. I always order the Tour of Italy, it is soooo yummy!

Joe got me a great gift for my birthday!!! I love my new Ipod dock! It makes cooking in the kitchen so much better where I can jam as I pretend to cook.