It was sure nice to get on here and see all the kind comments, and concern expressed on my behalf. I am home now. It was a tough week. This started as me not being able to get my breath, fatigued, couldn't lay down and get to sleep without breating issues, swollen ankles-all textbook symptoms of Congestive Heart Failure.
'Went in last week on Tuesday to the ER at Fairview Ridges-Burnsville. Kinda got the feeling it was serious when they immediately went to work on me and had me hooked up to about every monitoring device they had in emergency. Admitted me Tuesday afternoon, and by Tuesday night was told it was Congestive Heart Failure. Started in with meds, and got an angiogram. Angio showed no blockages. It appears a viral infection I had about a month ago led to this. 'Got an ambulance ride to Fairview Southdale the day before yesterday for an MRI of my heart. MRI revealed my heart was pumping at 11% of capacity, while normal capacity is 50-55%. CHF causes fluid to accumulate because the heart can't move enough of it around to be processed by the organs. They've had me on a diuretic to make me pizz more, and more often, and blood pressure meds which help heart function. The scary side of everything here, is I've been fitted with a vest-mounted defibrillator. I have to wear this thing 24 hours a day for at least the next two weeks, and probably longer, depending on how my heart function improves. I am feeling better now-I can get up and move around a bit without getting winded. All I know for sure is, I'm glad to be home. My wife's been a true saint. I can't correctly put into words what her care for me the last week even means. No work, no driving until we get me back on track, so she's stuck with me for a while. I've got a whole bag full of meds, and about 10 appointments with the doctors and specialists in the next few weeks. It's truly a blessing to know you guys were thinking about me. I will be aggressively looking for chances to return the favor, guys. Special thanks to T-Zone for passing along info to you guys. For those who haven't had a chance to meet Tom, he's top shelf all the way.
