UPDATE ON NEW DOCTOR

I want to thank you all for your prayers and support over the years, Chatham really is my family and you all have done so much for me and it is much appreciated! I apologize that this took me so long to post an update. I have really just been in complete awe at how God works. Sometimes in life He chooses to bless us with a glimpse of His loving sovereignty. The way my doctor situation played out leaves absolutely NO room for a “coincidence”. His hands are obviously shown all over it and God knows when we need that reminder that we are never left alone in the dark, He goes before us, with us, and after us orchestrating situations and this is definitely one of them.

A little while back my dad had gone into A-Fib at an urgent care and they said he needed to be ambulanced to the hospital. He really wanted to go to mercy but despite the doctor calling a few private ambulance services none of them were willing to go out of there district so He had no choice but to go to DePaul. When I went to see him a doctor came in and said they assigned a cardiologist for him and when she said the name I knew immediately that hey he’s my cardiologist as well and he is a great doctor. I don’t really see him because he is more for structural issues and mine and my dads were electric signal issues not structure so you need an electrophysiologist for that.

I got a text from my dad later again saying I think you know my electrophysiologist and he said Dr.Pete. The current practice my doctor is in is where Dr. Pete used to work and I saw him until he left and I was switched to the current doctor who has been great but I got insider information from my home health nurse that he was leaving. When my dad went to the hospital it was not confirmed at all. Dr.Pete was saying he didn’t really leave on good terms and the office is kind of a mess and I have to agree with him on that one but I was so established there I didn’t want to change anything. Welp, shortly there after I got an email that the current one was actually leaving. I was anxious because finding a new doctor for me for anything is a nightmare and I thought maybe just maybe Dr.Pete would be willing to see me at his practice. I called and once I told them I used to see him they were like oh he will see you and I got an appointment for that next week!

My dad had a follow up the week prior with him and he asked how I was doing and my dad said well, you can ask her yourself she has an appointment with you next week. He proceeds to say how glad he was that I did not switch over to the doctor taking over patients when my doctor leaves because he is horrible. Here is the thing doctor’s do not talk bad about eachother so he must be really bad, I would have ended up with him or on the hunt for a new doctor but I feel like I have seen every kind of specialist for this that exists in St.Louis. Either way not a good situation.

I saw Dr.Pete and overall things are okay. He did say he forgot how complex my case is haha. He did apologize that I have been tossed around to so many doctors and he wanted me to know he is not going anywhere so I can have some peace in knowing I won’t have to go on any hunts for doctors. He generally doesn’t approve of “IV therapy” but he said since I have tried to stop before and it did not end well, I am dependent on it he is okay with continuing all of my home health IV therapy orders. God is good. I had an ekg done and he said it shows a long QT interval from some of the medications I am on so we have to be careful if I get anything new but for now we will just watch it. As far as my heart rate and migraines go he is using a medicine they don’t use much these days but it is supposed to regulate my heart rate AND it is known for helping with migraines! I have to be on the lowest dose because it could cause my blood pressure to drop but prayerfully it helps. He ran some blood work because low magnesium levels could be causing or worsening some of my symptoms.

My blood test came back and I was shocked when at around 5:30pm HE CALLED ME HIMSELF to discuss my results.I am slightly anemic but we are just going to watch it because he doesn’t know why but it’s not bad enough to need treated but as he suspected in the office my magnesium levels are lower than he wants so he sent in a supplement for that but everything else looked ok and I will see him again in 6 months.

This whole novel was perfectly aligned by God and I am at peace and hopeful that these medications will help me avoid ER migraine trips. He works in mysterious ways and took a bad situation and inserted some good into it and I am so thankful. As this song says:

 Almighty Fortress You go before us

                                  Nothing can stand against

                                    The power of our God

                                    You shine in the shadow

                                       You win every battle

 

 

depression is tricky

THERE ARE 2 POSTS THIS AND THE ONE BELOW IT

As sinners we all are fighting a constant battle because satan is doing his absolute best to pull us away from God and he tends to be so successful at it because of our sin nature. The last couple of months have been extremely hard for me with my anxiety and depression. I think it has probably been one of the worst spells I have had in a long time. Those who don’t have depression tend to have a hard time understanding what it feels like. For every person it is different but I will try to explain how I have felt for the last couple of months.

Depression for me is like looking through a lens where you cannot see anything. Seriously anything Good about being alive. It takes all motivation and energy away from you. It steals all your joy, even the things you love the absolute most you start to not even CARE about them anymore. Getting out of bed just to go to the bathroom requires a hard core pep talk so does the simplest action of just picking up my phone in general. Communicating with people in any form feels impossible. I typically don’t answer calls, texts, emails or facebook and just pull away as a coping mechanism.

I was in that mood for about the last 2 months and I had my anxiety medication adjusted (This  cycle started with weeks of never ending all day every day panic for no reason but not really depression) but when it switched to depression I was trying to handle it but it consumed me and went deeper than I knew how to handle. I was laying in bed so lost and made the decision I was going to try to get it under control but increasing my depression medicine and planned to call my psychiatrist in the morning but I was so low laying there staring at the ceiling and I had to have some sense of relief in that moment.

 so I picked up my bible and went to the day of the study I am on and read John 14-16 and the fact that Jesus prayed for His people that God would protect them by the power of His name from the evil one and that they would have the full measure of Jesus’s joy within them was so comforting. I had lost that joy somewhere but even though I felt alone Jesus was with me ready to provide the full measure of His joy and sure enough I woke up the next day happy. I had not felt that joy in months, what I needed was not medication but Jesus. Switching my focus that night from being lost in my inward focused self to God through His word gave me that blessing of joy and I could not explain how thankful I am for Jesus to lift that from me. Even when we stray He can come in and rescue you right when you are at your limit. He is the promise keeper He promises not to leave us and even when we get lost He is right there waiting for us to come back.

Disclaimer: I am in no way against depression medications I just meant I was searching in the wrong place for help I needed to come back to Jesus.

some important prayer requests

 Life is a little chaotic sometimes but God is good

 

1.      My cardiologist is named Dr. Glascock. Awhile back I was with one of their other doctors Dr.Pete but he left so I got switched to Dr. Glascock who has helped me tremendously. I have seen about 15 different doctors and It is extremely hard to get a doctor to agree with my treatment regimen because everyone has opinions and there is no cure so no protocol, you are at the mercy of opinions. Well, my home health nurse told me she heard a rumor that Dr.Glascock is leaving the practice and she is pretty confident it is true because of the below.

 

2.      I got a letter stating that SSM has decided they only want their group of cardiologists to see patients and have basically shut off connection with my doctor. They said you can tell them who your doctor is but it doesn’t matter because SSM WILL not even consult with my doctor. If you have an emergency they will not contact the doctor at all. So SLHV (my cardiologist) practice is in the process of suing SSM for this because those doctors don’t know your history, it will just be last minute decisions they choose to make. For me I have 7 years of important history and I can guarantee the SSM cardiologist is going to sit and read 7 years of history and my overall care will be affected by this. My doctor cannot keep track of my health like this. Which would make sense why he would leave. I would then be left to find another doctor which is a nightmare.

 

3.      I would have to find one fast because of the IV fluid situation.  Of course God could choose not to do this but an interesting thing happened that is giving me some peace. My dad got assigned an electrophysiologist and he text me and said I think you know who it is. Well, it happens to be Dr.Pete my original doctor before he left and I was passed onto Dr. Glascock. Dr. Pete has an office at depaul so I might be able to get in with him. I’m taking my time and waiting on the Lord for direction and peace in the unknown of my treatment.

 

4.      I had some dental work done a few weeks ago and I could feel a spot that just seemed irritated so I ignored it but the other day within 48 hours it was big red and swollen so I took a picture and emailed it to the dentist and he said he doesn’t like how it looks and could tell even what it was so I had an appointment the next day. He thought it was going to be a blocked salivary gland but it turns of you also have a mucous (that shouldn’t even be a word just saying) gland and mine is blocked by a cyst looking thing. So on June 9^th I will have surgery to remove it and then he will look at it with a microscope and depending on what is seen they would send it to be biopsied.

 

5.      My migraines are out of control at the moment which happens when my heart rate goes too high and they have become severe and frequent all of a sudden. I think it is because my blood pressure is stable so I am able to be up moving around doing things which sends my heart rate up and down more than it had been when I didn’t do stuff. It’s just a mess. I will be making an appointment with the doctor to discuss what, if anything can be done.

 

 

6.      If you didn’t read the other post I put up tonight you might want to because God knew things were going to go down like this and he pulled me out of my pit just in time to have peace

 

Jeremiah 29:11-For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

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