Heart Ache

 

Well...I'm feeling like I've spent more time in the hospital lately than at home!  Not fun...
I had my mom take me to the ER on Tuesday morning with chest pain.  Now with being in complete heart block last week and needing a pacemaker, I wasn't going to take any chances!  As we waited for the results from many tests, the pain escalated to a breaking point just to find out that everything looked fine!  What? Are you telling me this pain isn't real?  Thanks to the Lord's intervention He had my cardiologist call me on my cell phone while in the ER just to see how I was doing and I mentioned I was in the ER and they couldn't find anything wrong with me.  He had me explain my symptoms/pain and he said, "sounds to me like you have pericarditis!"  Pericarditis is often found in people who have had recent heart surgery, chemotherapy, radiation to chest, stress and viruses.  I can check yes to most of these causes!  I am so sorry my mom had to see me in such discomfort, but thankful she was here to be with me.  I am thankful for Julie Mitchell, RN who came in and "took charge" when I was in great need.  Tuesday night and Wednesday I don't much remember thanks to medicine!  I was finally released from the hospital on Thursday evening.  Through all of this I just want to say my heart so yearns for Tom...this is why it (my heart) is struggling.  Wednesday was Tom's six month eternal home anniversary.  I don't remember much of Wednesday...my longing to "go home" increases with each ache my body experiences.

I'm so thankful that God brought Janice into my life.  She was at church with me last Sunday and is planning to be there again tomorrow!  She gave me a small devotional book...as I read today's writing I was hit with a ton of bricks:  "Hope in Suffering" was the title and while I was in the hospital a verse kept coming to my head:

"But I have this against you, that you have left your first love."

Revelation 2:4

Because of all I have been through I have used excuses not to be in the Word like I used to when "life was normal".  God keeps reminding me that He is my first love and not Tom.  This is so hard for me because Tom was so Christ-like and Tom had flesh!  I can't describe the pain...and this pain effects my heart.  The devotion ended with:

"I know your tribulation and your poverty (but you are rich)...do not fear what you are about to suffer...Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life."

Revelation 2:9-10

Thank You, Janice!

I can't begin to express my thankfulness for my faithful family and friends who continue to support me through each trial.  Tuesday night mom slept in a recliner by my bedside at the hospital (with an over zealous air-conditioning unit) she is still trying to get over a sore throat, cold & cough.  On Wednesday I was moved to another room (I really don't remember any of this!) where my sister slept (or tried to sleep) on a recliner while another patient was admitted to my room and was up most of the night!  These women get the "woman of the year award"!  Also, Carylee and Ginny provided their own form of comfort, care and visited...even though I barely remember their presence...God knows their tender hearts!  Carylee brought beautiful daffodils from her yard:

Thank You, Carylee!

Prior to all this heart "drama" I was able to enjoy a Chick-fil-A lunch with Kelly, Brittany and Declan!

"Mr. Blue Eyes"...Declan John

On Good Friday we were able to have Zac's parents down for dinner and then join us for our Good Friday service.  Sarah made a delicious dinner and the service was heart touching.  Elaine always comes bearing gifts:

Thank You, Elaine!



Easter Sunday...He is Risen!

Matt, Lisa, Sarah & Zac

A delicious carrot cake from Betsy Berlin!

Easter peeps from Ginny!

A "pick me up gift" from Mary Gum Dilworth!

Thank You, Stomps Family!

Thank You, Anonymous Friend!

Thank You, Tracie Romanelli, Lisa Raikes & Lori Snedecor!

Thank You, Gayla Coldren!

I am SO excited for my niece Leah who had been in Madagascar for 4 months visiting her brother, Ben and his family, who serve as missionaries there.  What an incredible experience for her to have, BUT what an amazing SURPRISE on her return trip home on April 3rd...a young man by the name of Pete Cavanaugh surprised her in Paris to ask her hand in marriage!!!  Another Anglea wedding later this summer!  It doesn't get any more romantic than that!

Congratulations to Pete & Leah!

God Moments...Pacing through Life

“My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.”

Psalm 73:26

I am writing on behalf of my sister-in-love, Lisa, to tell you about her recent admission to OSU’s Ross Heart Hospital.

On behalf of the family, I would first like to thank Lisa’s friend, Carylee Meyers, who listened to that little voice inside her that said “something’s not right” on Tuesday evening.  Through what appeared to be vague comments Lisa made to her through several texts, Carylee was moved to further investigate the situation by showing up at Lisa’s front door.  After a confirming phone call to nurse Lesley, Lisa was taken by Carylee to the ER. 

God moment:  A concerned friend was prompted to take action.

For those of you who don’t know, Lisa had been complaining of overall fatigue and feeling like her heart was “beating out of her chest” for some time now.  Several of her doctors had been trying to correct these symptoms by what they saw.  First treating dehydration with IV liters of fluid, then treating a clot found in one of the chambers of her heart with injectable blood thinners, then treating low blood counts with units of blood.  But Lisa’s symptoms persisted.  Feeling frustrated and discouraged, Lisa began to believe it was perhaps because she was just “out of shape”.

An EKG performed in the ER revealed that Lisa was in complete heart block, a very serious condition. Let me explain as best I can with easy terminology and for those of you who like details! 

The heart has an “electrical system” of operation.  Impulses that generate in the upper right chamber of the heart (the atrium) travel to a point called the AV node that then sends the signal to both lower chambers of the heart (the ventricles) in order for all heart chambers to pump in sync.  In complete heart block this pathway of impulses is broken at the AV node site.  Therefore the upper chamber of the heart sends signals to which the lower chambers of the heart do not respond to.  Lisa was told that her upper chamber heart rate was 120 while the lower chamber (acting on random cells trying to compensate from the broken pathway) was at 40.  Needless to say this was causing all sorts of symptoms!  If not corrected, her heart would have eventually stopped.

God moment:  Lisa was at the right place at the right time.

Many doctors, fellows, residents and medical students tried to figure out why this “pathway” was broken.  There was discussion that perhaps the previous radiation to her chest when she had lymphoma (Hodgkin's Disease 1989 & 1994) had caused this progressive heart block. Since a reversible cause was not discovered, Lisa was told that she would need a permanent pacemaker.    

“But you, O Sovereign Lord, deal well with me for your names sake; out of the goodness of your love, deliver me. For I am poor and needy, and my heart is wounded within me”

Psalm 109: 21-22

"In my distress I called to the Lord; I cried to my God for help. From his temple he heard my voice; my cry came before him, into his ears."

Psalm 18:6

The last cardiac physician to see Lisa was the Electrophysiologist….or EP for short.  This physician specializes in the “electrical” system of the heart and performs pacemaker surgery. He came into the room with a nurse (Janice) trailing him, who proceeded to begin writing on her tablet as he spoke to those in the room. 

Within minutes Janice and I made eye contact and I immediately thought to myself “I know her from somewhere” just as she said to me “I know you from somewhere!”  After the EP visit and confirmation of a pacemaker need, Janice and I talked in the hallway and realized where we knew each other from.  Janice was also employed at the TLC Laser Eye Center in Columbus, where I would occasionally come down to work for other nurses that were on vacation. We had worked together on two occasions. Then it dawned on me.  I remembered how Janice told me she also worked for the biggest EP group at OSU and was their “right hand girl”!  How could I have forgotten this piece of valuable information?! Nurse to nurse connections for the best of the best!

God moment: God remembered.

I believe God sent Janice in to Lisa’s room to assist her in getting not only the best EP doctor to place the pacemaker, but the best doctor to perform the heart catheterization being requested prior to the pacemaker insertion. She went to work making phone calls to these key physicians and quickly getting Lisa on their schedules.

I told Janice that she was part of a divine appointment.  She started to cry.  She told us how rare it was for her to follow the EP doctor into a patient’s room when he did the consultation appointment, choosing instead to do charting or computer work.  But for “some reason” she was moved to go into the room.  She shared how she recently felt God calling her back to church and fellowship, but had not acted on those prompts.  Through conversations and an exchange of phone numbers, Janice plans to attend Grace Polaris Church this Sunday, and hopes to sit next to Lisa.

God moment: God calls.

Lisa left OSU Ross Heart Hospital Thursday evening, commenting how amazed she was that all of her symptoms were finally gone, well most of them!  Thanks to all who prayed fervently! God moved in many ways over those 48 hours! The EP doctor told us that Lisa’s heart tried to stop on several occasions during the pacemaker procedure, and I am convinced that God responded to those cries for help.

Please continue to lift Lisa up in prayer for healing and strength as she recovers.  Many decisions are yet to be made regarding the future treatment of her breast cancer post mastectomy.  We are trusting God to give Lisa clarity and direction.

Special thanks to Sarah, Zac, Kelly, Mike and Barbara (mom) for their servant availability at this time…..and to all who continue to lavish on Lisa with meals, gifts and words of encouragement. 

Praising God with you for His presence and mercy,

Cheryl