Medical nightmare…
Maybe my medical nightmare of the last year is over. Maybe. Mom passed away just before COVID hit. The emotionally draining stress was much more wearisome than physically caring for her. She was hospitalized four times in eight months. Her heart was strong but that last stay in the hospital was complicated by a lung problem, and that was too much for her. I put off grieving… that’s not a good idea… then my body gave out. The physical caught up and passed the emotional. First, a serious case of the flu. I usually just tough out colds and the occasional flu or go with over-the-counter meds… not this time. The crazy thing was… I could not see a doctor. I mean actually “see” a doctor. Due to COVID, only video consultations were allowed. The flu was quickly followed by a sinus infection and burst eardrum… more video visits. Then, I suffered an IT band failure. I didn’t know what an IT band was until it failed. The large tendon running down my right thigh was on FIRE! I’m not joking. The pain was immeasurably worse than gout. I literally could not walk. I would hold onto a piece of furniture while putting weight on my “good” foot… reach for more furniture then shift my weight. Rinse and repeat. That lasted for days. More video visits… my doctor prescribed opiates. They didn’t work. The pain eventually subsided but I had to use a hiking stick for balance and support while walking for more than a week.
When COVID protocols relaxed, I actually saw my doctor. She told me that I needed a check-up. It was not a suggestion. My thyroid was swollen (again), I had multiple hernias, and I had AFib something fierce.
While I was getting diagnosed and treated for my thyroid and cardio issues, three gout flares showed up and it was back to the hiking stick. In a ten-month period, I was sedated in the hospital for a colonoscopy (no polyps… yay!) and two interventional radiology biopsies. I was sedated five more times with a general anesthetic during that same period. Once for surgery to remove the left side of my thyroid along with a very large malignant tumor and four more times for cardioversions.
The left half of my thyroid is gone, but with any luck, it won’t be necessary to surgically remove the right half. However, the cardio problem… AFib… has been worrisome. I am in AFib 100% of the time, but I’m asymptomatic. I have no sensations like chest pains or palpitations that my heart is beating irregularly. During the first cardioversion attempt… a procedure where a cardiologist attempts to electrically shock your heart back into rhythm… a clot was found in my heart. That shuts down the procedure. I received stronger doses of anticoagulants prior to the second cardioversion attempt. It’s rare when such meds don’t dissolve a clot, but that’s what happened to me. The clot was still there. More anticoagulant therapy in preparation for a third attempt… the clot was still there and the procedure was stopped.
Today, May 25, 2021, was the fourth attempt, I needed prayers and got them. I had friends tell me they were praying for me, and a couple of prayer groups… folks I did not know… were praying, too. Clots, of course, are dangerous but when a cardiologist finds one during a cardioversion, he or she will stop the procedure. The concern is that the electrical shock will break the clot free and cause a stroke. This time, no clot… the shock worked and my AFib was gone. Halleluiah! Prayer works. I realize the AFib can return but knowing a follow up cardioversion can hopefully make it go away is comforting.
I had the same team of wonderful nurses for most of the cardioversions and of course the same cardiologist… that was comforting, too. I had a post-procedure follow up visit five weeks later to check if my AFib was gone for good. This all sounds pretty serious… and it is… but I had the advantage of having a nurse at home… my wife. For the past six months she has tended to my needs. This was during the worst of the COVID lockdown, but she was there and that made all the difference. When I started to feel better, Debbie made me start walking with her… every day. She gave me the best medicine for my ailments… big doses of caring.
The AFib came back. For the month prior to my fifth and last cardioversion, I have been taking a shot of olive oil every day. Olive oil is a natural blood thinner. Did it help? I don’t know, but the AFib stopped. So, it looks like after a year of treatment, my thyroid and heart problems are on the mend. Oh, yeah… those three hernias that needed repairing? They’ll have to wait until next year.
Prayer works. I am a believer. It helped to get me through my medical nightmare.
Here is the postscript added since I first penned this story… it looks like the medical nightmare was not quite over after the left side of my thyroid was removed. I ultimately had two heart surgeries in late 2021 to finally cure my AFib. That prayer was answered. Abdominal surgery followed in the spring of 2022… another success. Those issues are resolved. Then, a renal tumor was discovered when I had a chest scan in early 2023… that led to my left kidney and the large tumor on that kidney being surgically removed. Shortly after the kidney surgery, cancer was found on the right side of my thyroid. My surgeon scheduled surgery to remove the rest of my thyroid and that tumor in July 2023. That will be six surgeries in just under two and half years. Bitter or angry? No. Scared? Well, yes… but without a doubt, prayer has been my companion each and every time I needed surgery. It’s always part of my pre-op prep. Prayer works.
Copyright © 2023 by Ray Fowler
