Roy and I went to his cardiologist, Dr. Georges Khoueiry on Tuesday. The last two days Roy has slept a good bit during the day. He’s also gained 3 lb overnight. Both of these are indications that he needed to get to the doctor about the Cognitive Heart Failure (CHF) and Atrial Fibrillation (AFib). We had the appointment today scheduled when Roy was discharged from the hospital week before last.
I’ve done a lot of reading and learning about both CHF and AFib. I knew nothing about this before Roy was hospitalized week before last. Here’s a sentence or two that I found online giving a basic understanding of CHF and AFib.
Congestive heart failure occurs when your heart muscle doesn’t pump blood as well as it should. Certain conditions, such as Atrial Fibrillation, gradually leave your heart too weak or stiff to fill and pump efficiently.
Atrial fibrillation is an irregular and often rapid heart rate that occurs when the two upper chambers of your heart experience chaotic electrical signals. The result is a fast and irregular heart rhythm. The heart rate in atrial fibrillation may range from 100 to 175 beats a minute.
Roy’s CHF was brought on by AFib. When we were at the cardiologist’s office Tuesday he was having atrial fibrillation and they could still hear fluid. Here’s the new plan.
On August 31 at North Oaks Roy will have Cardioversion which is a shock to his heart to stop atrial fibrillation. It works in some people and doesn’t work in some people. We certainly hope Roy is in the group that it helps.
Dr. Khoueiry added one Lasix pill a day for the next 10 days to help Roy get rid of the fluid that has collected.
Dr. Khoueiry wants Roy to go back to the vascular surgeon because the report he had shows that the aneurysm has grown. We will see him on September 3.
Roy has to stick to a low sodium diet. Almost everything we eat contains salt. I just fixed red beans, ham, sausage, and rice. I can’t even imagine how much sodium that contained. This is going to be such a huge change. I’d appreciate some delicious low sodium food recipes. Please send them to me at rosalyn@selu.edu.
He also must wear his CPAP to help his breathing at night. He has been supposed to wear it for over 10 years and he hasn’t. He is a stubborn Cajun but he WILL use his CPAP now.
Wednesday we went to Dr. Kidd. We were able to change his Thursday appointment with Dr. Valdes to Wednesday right after Dr. Kidd’s appt. This saved us a drive from Amite to Hammond and back on Thursday. Dr. Kidd was pleased that Roy had been taken care of by Dr. Khoueiry after Roy saw Dr. Kidd last.
All is good for the things Dr. Kidd takes care of Roy. Dr. Valdes went over everything with us and ordered a couple of blood tests.
What’s going to happen in the immediate future. Roy goes to North Oaks Diagnostic Center for two blood tests on Friday morning. Then Monday morning he has a TEE which is a transesophageal echo (TEE) test that helps detect blood clots and masses located inside the heart. The TEE will be performed first so that if there are any clots they will know about them before proceeding with the cardioversion (shock treatment). Those two procedures will be done at North Oaks. Roy will start on Entresto after those two procedures. Then on Thursday, September 3rd he will see the Vascular Surgeon about the increased size of Roy’s aortic aneurysm.
There may be more after that or what I hope is that will wrap up everything.
I can’t begin to tell you how confusing and upsetting this is for both Roy and me. We know God is in control of all this and we trust in His ever present care. We are just confused about managing all the new medicines and food changes Thank goodness we are using MedPaks from our Thrift Town pharmacy. When it gets confusing is when new medicines are prescribed after the MedPaks are put together for the next three months. Roy’s brain isn’t as sharp as it use to be and we know my dementia struggles especially at times like this. We are trying to take care of each other and would really appreciate your prayers as all this diagnosing and medicine changes settle down.
I apologize if I’ve said things multiple times or said them not clearly.
BECAUSE HE LIVES 
I love you Ms Rosalyn!!! Remember that.
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You are both in our prayers! Honestly Rosalyn, you have a clear and concise explanation and I did not notice any repetition. That you are keeping up with a blog and so many unexpected changes including appointments etc, I would say you are doing very well! Will pray and also look for recipes. Let me know what y’all enjoy – meat, veggies, etc. 🙏📿🙏💞✝️
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Thank you so much for the encouragement! It use to take me one sittinig to write and complete a blog post. Now this one took me several days of writing, rewriting, Roy checking and a program to check my grammar!. I do believe that doing this blog helps my brain stay active and fresh. I appreciate ya’ll prayers so much!
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We need recipes for meat and veggies. We eat a lot of chicken which we’ve always seasoned with salt and pepper. But no more!
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