Welcome to the new year. 2019 is already kicking us in the behind. That’s OK. We all need that from time to time.
Our health insurance through Camino changed to a different provider and policy this year, and for the first time since we’ve had it through Camino, our policy is an “expatriate” policy which means the coverage is designed to meet our needs overseas more so than in the USA. That is fine, but it basically means if we want medical attention in the USA, the deductible and out-of-pocket is somewhere in the high-rent district, whereas we are basically covered at 100% and no deductible here in Mexico which is great. We still have to pay up-front for our medical expenses, but supposedly we will be reimbursed after submitting it. We will see.
So, given I haven’t been feeling well for awhile it seemed like a good excuse to go ahead and find a new cardiologist and see if I can also locate a sleep specialist since I’ve had some problems sleeping and also with my ASV machine lately.
Last week, I had my first cardiologist visit. He did a thorough job of checking me out. My EKG looked completely abnormal which is exactly how it always looks.
The ECG though showed some issues unseen before. He said I have a “heavy heart.” For a moment I thought he was getting spiritual on me, but then he explained that my heart is literally too heavy. This means it is holding blood when it should be pumping it. It isn’t pumping all of it out, and thus when one of the chambers should be empty, it isn’t empty. It still has blood in it. He said this also means that some of the blood is then flowing backward out of the heart and into the lungs. In medical terms this is what is known as “no good.”
So, he changed up some my betablocker medications, and he is hopeful that this will help the heart do a better job of pumping. If so, then I guess all will be well again.
Almost all. He also said that he believes my heart is not pumping correctly mostly at night. This would indicate that I am probably not sleeping well. That is something I already knew. It could mean the central sleep apnea has changed and/or my ASV machine is not working correctly. In either case, I need to have my sleep situation and machine checked out. He gave me a referral to a specialist who is actually a pneumologist but apparently is good with sleep apnea as well. I have no idea if that is the case, but tomorrow I will find out.
At least at this point, I now know why I have not been feeling well. Hopefully, I will notice improvement as the new medication regiment kicks in. I hate to say anything definitive at this point, but I do think I might already be feeling somewhat better though I am noticing an increase in chest pains which is probably to be expected.
In the meantime, Bethie has to establish herself with a new neurologist for her essential tremors. She is in that appointment right now as I thumb-type this post on my phone in the hospital lobby. Hopefully, this doctor will not try to mess with her medications as a neurologist once did in San Juan del Río. That one put her on a medication that set off something in her body to begin becoming allergic to a growing list of things that she was never allergic to before, such as, all citrus, strawberries, bananas and plantains, all sorts of flowers, trees, and plants. And the list just continues to grow as the years go by even though she hasn’t taken that medicine for years now. Crazy.
That’s pretty much the state of our union at this point, physically-speaking, and I guess it is none too exciting for a blog post.
Ironically, our younger teammates from Michigan are somewhere above me in this same hospital trying to induce their first-born to want to be born. Sounds like the doctor is aiming for a delivery around 10 pm (4 hours from now).
So, you can pray for my heart and sleep to improve, Beth’s tremors and allergies to not got any worse if not improve, and for Chris and Sarah Collins and their bambino Michael (aka Mikey, Miguelcito, and any other cute and/or annoying name or nickname we can come up with) to end the day happy, healthy, and together all on the outside.
Oh yes, when the cardiologist tried to gag me with a wooden tongue depressor and have me say “Ahhhh,” he eventually was able to note that my uvula is swollen. He concluded that I am consuming too much sodium. So, I gotta go back to paying attention to such things and my diet in general. My friends can tell you, I’ve been a little salty lately. I will work on that.
Knowing Your ABCDs 