The Un-Unpost

I would like to thank my dear husband for his un-post :-) A thousand pardons for any gloating on my part. That, and excessive humility are my two major character faults. But in truth, Loren did have another contribution. Two, actually. He is most interesting when inspired to talk or write, but will never be accused of flaunting these talents to excess. It decreases the need for apologies.

Thanks, also, (I guess:-) for the sudden barrage of IM's at 4:35 yesterday afternoon. You young whippersnappers must remember, "Ma" does not have your keyboard capabilities! She is slowwww. For me to hold two conversations at once is a great trial of both neural and finger dexterity. Any number over four causes temporary cerebral gridlock. We can only hope no irreversible damage has occured.
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Weather wise, it is snowing, again. The same storm affecting Minnesota will be dropping some of the white stuff on the family in Iowa. This time, however, we expect to get more accumulation up thisaway. Perhaps 5-8 inches.

Speaking of the loved ones, we may get to go home on February 1st! (the last scheduled appt. day) Yes, it is hard to believe that finally, FINALLY we will be reunited. Poor Nolan was quite forlorn at the last parting. We just sat on the stairway and snuggled and sniffled for a while last time. Oh well, won't be long, barring something unforeseen.
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I never reported on Loren's angiogram of the 11th. (other than to whine about the length of recovery) So, here goes:
--normal coronary arteries
--origin of right coronary artery is small

This last item was the reason for the extra recovery time. They could have reversed the effects of Heparin (used during angiogram) with a drug, but with that small section of artery, they did not want to risk producing a clot, so had to let the Heparin decrease of it's own accord. That makes for at least two more hours, on top of the two to three hours in a typical procedure.

An intravascular ultrasound was also performed, which gives a cross-sectional view of the artery. The angiogram checks for a clot-type blockage, and the intravascular ultrasound checks for an even narrowing of arteries, vasculopathy. So now that the baseline angiogram results have been established, the yearly repeat angiograms have something to be compared to.

This vasculopathy, as I mentioned once before, is a threat to 50% or more of heart transplant patients. The drug, Cyclosporine seems to be the major culprit. Eventually, Loren should be transferred over to another drug, Rapamycin. This newer immunosuppressant does not have the negative effect on the kidneys, as Cyclosporine does, and seems to slow or even halt the progression of vasculopathy. Loren cannot be switched to it yet, though, as it can impair wound healing. Probably sometime close to a year post transplant.

In the meantime, the drug Provachol stabilizes the endothelial lining. (inner lining of cells in coronary arteries--I think) until the switch can be made to Rapamycin, the good stuff.

I seem to remember that when first married, I actually was concerned about dumb things like nitrates in pepperoni, and flouride in dental treatments. That stuff was peanuts, compared to what Loren takes now. *sigh* Let's just say my worries have shifted from the nearly benign, to the nearly lethal.
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Speaking of "the old days," reminds me of Loren when he first suggested we consider marriage. Now, I knew him well enough at that time, to be aware of his reaction to social pressure. So, when he first mentioned the possibility, not wanting to apply undue social duress, mind you, I smiled (through my shock) and played it cool, for a while. After all, we couldn't have him falling prey to the whim of the masses. Two out of two masses is a pretty significant majority.

But, I thought it over, and decided that some types of social pressures are very, very good :-)

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