please pray for Michelle

My friend Michelle's cancer just relapsed. I can't even begin to imagine what she's going through. So if you could send her some warm fuzzy thoughts, or send up a little prayer...

http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/michellemeogrossi

She's young, engaged, full of life, and shouldn't have to be dealing with something like this... again.

did you see the Dow Jones index hit 10,000 today?

best.

part.

of.

my.

week... (so far)

what was in that little blue box . . .

. . . you might ask? (so many of you have)

Why, this beautiful little heart key necklace from Tiffany & Co.:

I'm doing pretty good. I actually had to run back to Columbia this morning because my cardiologist wanted to check the femoral artery on my right leg. Some blood leaking in the area of my right femoral has caused a painful hematoma. I spoke with him on the phone and was told I had to come in because I'm bruising up, not down. Usually old bruising travels down due to gravity, but if it's traveling UP then that means it's likely more active/recent. Although I have to continue to take it easy, and the bruising/hematoma is expected to worsen before it improves, I'm in the clear. Hopefully come next week it will no longer hurt to sit. My doctor said that they had a difficult time inserting the cardiac catheter on my right side (and there was a decent amount of scar tissue from past procedures) which is probably why it's not healing as well this time around. Heh, so it will be a few more days until I'm finally able to wear something other than sweat pants!

were those flying colors that I passed through as I came out of surgery yesterday?

Why yes, yes they were.

...and yes, that is a clown nose on my shnoz. My friend Sara got it for me, so I just HAD to wear it both before surgery and after. Hey, and do you see that little blue box next to my head in the picture above? Dave got me a Tiffany & Co. necklace for being brave. :) aww

While my cardiology team is great, my heat is stubborn. We received confirmation yesterday that the repair on my heart in July was in fact a success. This is beyond amazing. I'm thrilled! However, the SVT (rapid heart rate) can't be physically treated. At least, not at this time. My doctors are having such a hard time determining where the fast rhythm is originating from. And go figure - my heart wouldn't go into that rhythm with stimulants, but did so after they had already pulled out of my heart, and again at 3am this morning. What does this mean? Back on meds, and visits to the arrhythmia doctor every 4 months to see if my condition changes. Thankfully there should be no more drastic measures any time soon. (...and hopefully never again.) Maybe I'll "grow out" of this condition. Wouldn't THAT be a blessing!

I was placed on extended bed rest because my femoral artery started to bleed last night. I was allowed to slightly lift my arms, but not my head or legs. Then this morning I got sick... twice. They said that this was because of all the meds I was pumped with yesterday - mainly the atropine.

I would say I've spent about 90% of my day sound asleep... which is just what the doctor ordered.

More to come.

-Rachel

friends make the world go round

Thanks to everyone who went out of their way to make today special for me. I don't think I could jump this 3rd hurdle without you. The prayers (I love my group!), the hugs, the goodies, the surprise visits (thanks Thomas!), the emails, the phone calls, the secret "cheer Rachel up" blog with homemade videos (thanks "finance" ladies!), and most of all, the LOVE. I am truly blessed. My life has never felt so full, and I've never felt so alive.

Thank you,
Rachel

how do you spend your weekends?

I spend some of mine in the hospital, so I can avoid taking time off from work when possible. Here's a narration of one of my recent "weekends".

So I check into the admitting office, grab my papers, orders, etc., and walk up to the nurses station on the floor I'm being admitted to.... and GUESS WHAT! I scored a private room, yet again! Check out my home away from home, below:

Okay... as much as I love Greenwich Hospital, nothing beats my team at Columbia. They are the best of the best. See me rocking my Columbia pride? Don't worry, I didn't rub it in anyone's face. My nurse that day actually was a former cardiac nurse at Columbia, how cool is that?

So 6 (or was it 7?) sticks, a blown vein, lots of bruising, and 1 hematoma later, they were finally able to insert my heplock. Yowza. I'm typically fine with being stuck... but my veins weren't their best this time around. I was discharged with a bubble on the back of my hand the width of a quarter (and pretty high) from where the vein blew. That took over a week to fully absorb. Ouch!

Here's my pump. It's made by GE. Gotta support and assist in stabilizing my investments, even when on the inside (of a hospital). bwahaha

Look ma, it's my sleeve. I managed to feed the tubing through my hoodie so I could avoid being forced into a hospital gown, or stripping down to a t-shirt. I like to be cozy.

Okay, let's be real here. Food is one thing that Greenwich Hospital definitely has over Columbia. They serve Haagen Dazs ice cream on their lunch trays! Columbia only serves Ben & Jerry's if you're bumped as an overflow admit to the VIP floor.

So there it is. A Saturday (the one before last) in the hospital for an infusion. It's not the worst thing in the world if you allow the small things in life (i.e. - ice cream) to make you happy.

The small things add up!

pictures from Japan :)

squee, our driver had white gloves on, and the seats were covered with lace!

Paper lanterns were strung everywhere. I think they're up for good luck? Not quite sure... but they were really pretty.

...downtown Shinjuku, which is the same area our hotel was in. Talk about non-stop action! It was like Times Square on Red Bull!

Kobe beef, mind if I eat you with a sliver of grilled garlic? Thanks, don't mind if I do...!

Mount Fuji! It's not typically snow capped between roughly July and August. We were there the first week in September, and it was still pretty warm.

We road the bullet train back into Tokyo after visiting Mount Fuji. Man that thing was FAST!


I'm not a fan of sushi, but figured I should give it another try while we were in Japan. Well, it turns out that I dislike Japanese sushi even more than I dislike American sushi. It's too fresh. I'm happy I gave it a shot, though. I didn't leave Tokyo with any regrets! Below is a picture of one of our waitresses the night we had a 10 (yes 10) course meal of sushi. I tried every item that was brought out, and left hungry. (I said I tried it... I had a nibble of every course.) All in all, it was a good experience.


Here's another shrine we saw during our trip. We saw them left and right.

heart surgery #3 confirmed for October

Look familiar? Yeah, welllll this will be ME again the first week in October...

The ablation back in July didn't work, so they have to go back in and attempt to remove additional heart tissue at the base of my atrial chambers.... in an effort to "kill" an accessory electrial pathway on my atrioventricular node and rid me of one or more of my arrhythmias. The last time around they seem to have merely damaged the area, and it's healed itself back up. We don't want to just "damage" the area this time. We want to disable it completely!

Let's pray that this is the last surgery I'll have for a LOOOONG time. Starting with my emergency appendectomy back in early 2007, this will be my 6th surgery in just over 2 yrs, and my 7th surgery since 2005. (...and as stated above, it will be my 3rd heart procedure in just over a 14 month span!)

My first heart surgery back in August of 2008 was to repair 5 holes in the wall separating the upper chambers of my heart, and to encase an aneurysm. They ended up inserting a Gore Helex implant which is now serving as a new wall separating my atrial chambers... The implant is constructed of goretex (yes, what they make ski and rain jackets out of to keep them waterproof) and nitinol metal. (I feel a bit like a bionic woman...)

While this has not only been the most medically consumed year of my life, it's also been one of the most exciting. I've had this urge to do whatever I can to live my dreams and see the world. I've also met some amazing people, and been given an entirely new perspective on life. I'm excited to see where I find myself this time next year, and the next, and the next. It's been quite a ride so far!

So yeah... pending insurance approval, I'm going under the knife the first week in October. Fingers crossed that I get bumped up to the VIP floor again, like I did back in August of 08. They serve Ben & Jerry's! In July of this year I was thrown into an observation room on the cardiac floor right next to the nurse's station. That was a noisy spot, and their food stinks! They have a special crew cook for the cardiac unit - low salt, low fat, etc. (I have congenital heart defects, NOT heart disease, so I don't need a special diet!) The VIP floor was amazing. That's where some of the cardiac overflow at Columbia goes. I had a private room, and was treated like a celebrity. Good times. (It's doubtful I'll ever find myself there again. Unfortunately...)

I will probably throw a few more pictures from last week's trip to Japan, at some point this weekend.

ttfn !!

baking for the troops

A friend of mine invited me to participate in an opportunity to bake and send a care package to a military unit over in the Middle East. I was told to avoid chocolate, because it melts easily... but that didn't keep me from baking individual brownies. I don't think they'll melt if I package them up properly! (I love chocolate, and couldn't resist!) Here's a picture of the brownies and the care package that I put together. Magazines, gum, powdered drink mixes, and wipes (for cleaning your face, etc.) are hot ticket items. I even found little packets of instant coffee and coffee creamer to include!

I ended up throwing together a bag with a few items a female soldier might enjoy - purple toothbrush, Venus razors, girlie book, shampoo, body wash, deodorant, etc. I get the feeling that most care packages are geared towards men, so I thought it might put a smile on woman's face to receive something specifically for her. (I didn't remember to take a picture before I sealed up the box.)

I really enjoyed putting this care package together, and would urge any of you to either jump at a similar opportunity, or even seek out such an opportunity! The men and women serving in our military risk their lives for our safety, and are often very far from the comforts of home.

Here's a shout-out to everyone that has, or currently is, serving in our armed forces. Thank you, for all that you do for us!! I appreciate it!!


See, I even baked the brownies in firm cupcake liners to help keep them from losing shape and squishing. ha!


Oh! Our kitchen renovation is almost finished. On Saturday (yesterday) our new granite counters were installed. See them in the brownie picture? Now we're just waiting for the plumber to come (probably this coming Saturday) and re-do the plumbing beneath the sink. Our new sink is extra deep, so the pipes all need to be replaced and our garbage disposal/dishwasher, etc., re-connected. I'm SO happy to finally have an under-mounted sink. I can brush crumbs directly from the counter into the sink! A dream come true! (It's the little things in life that make us happy, right?)

=)