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My heart procedure happens on December 9th. What does this mean, you say? EduCait, we didn't even know you HAD a heart! Well, for those of you scratching your heads, I had a stroke three years ago. Left me a little tongue-tied and numb in my left pinkie finger, in the end. I seemed healthy, Doctors were confused. Docs did echocardiogram and found a PFO, or patent foramen ovale. This means that I rushed as a fetus, and didn't finish closing the hole in my atrial septum. Docs put me on coumadin, AKA rat poison, a blood thinner. No more strokes. Fast forward to April 2003. Foot went to sleep on Good Friday. It's still asleep. Test results indicate another stroke, even though my coumadin level is fine. Baaad. Spend all summer being poked, prodded, scoped, xeroxed, and tested. Verdict is that I'm a perfect candidate for an Amplatzer septal occluder, a cool little titanium-mesh gadget that looks like a squishy mushroom. It's delivered via catheter, in a brief outpatient procedure usually performed on kids. (They catch PFOs early these days.) The heart forms new tissue over the patch,repairing the hole. No cutting of heart muscle or chest-cracking required. For me, this means no more coumadin, and no more strokes! The threat of having a permanent disability from the next stroke has really been a big black cloud over my poor little head. Side benefit: most people with PFOs have migraines. No one knows why. Most of the people who have this procedure stop having migraines. No one knows why. I'll be thrilled if I get this side effect, too! I'm stoked! |
 
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Heart restart