My last day at National Jewish was certain to be a big one. Mom and I were hoping to have a lot of questions answered. Deep down I'm sure we were both still dreaming of leaving Denver with a nice little treatment plan wrapped up in a neat little package! I arrived at 8:00 a.m. to begin my pharmacokinetics testing. It was be a day long schedule of taking steroids & having blood draws to analyze how my body metabolizes the medicine. In between blood draws I had an OT evaluation followed by a session with a physical therapist.
It was finally 12:30 and time for my appointment with cardiologist, Dr. Brett Fenster. I was so nervous about this appointment. I guess lungs have been my thing for so long, I just didn't feel like I knew enough about "heart stuff" to even talk to a cardiologist. I don't even have to say it though, you know he was amazing.
He started by explaining the possible hole and how everyone is born with one in their heart. He explained all the possibilities as he sketched them. The hole in my heart could be a PFO that could be no big deal at all. It could also be an ASD which is less common and would have to be repaired surgically. Another possibility was that it might be a hole that could be repaired with a device through a heart cath. Besides the hole, I seemed to have another possible congenital heart defect. They thought I could have a partial anomalous pulmonary venous return which is basically a vein routed the wrong direction that was possibly keeping infections in my system (& causing other problems I still don't understand).
Then, he began to squinch his lips and forehead as he read further through my chart. He was very intrigued by my low O2 saturations and my elevated heart rate. With this information he casually suggested seeing a cardiologist in Denver so he could work with them. This only confused me more, so I pressed him for more guidance. At that point he wanted more information so he sent me over to prep for the cardio stress/agitated saline test.
By that point in the week, my veins were as spent as I was. A team of people were working on my IV when finally a nurse named Kristie came through! The rest of the test went as expected until the end. As I mentioned earlier, my resting heart rate has always been very high. It would usually be around the 120 range. After the test, Kristie and the tech, Rachel became very concerned because my heart rate was near 200 and not falling. They called the cardiologist in and he tried everything from having me drink water to massaging my carotid. They finally got it down to the 150 range. I was due for a nuclear lung scan upstairs so they decided the only way I could go was in a wheelchair.
At the elevators we crossed paths with Dr. Olson. She was clearly busy, but stopped in her tracks when she saw me in the wheelchair. She asked Kristie for full details on the situation. Rather than go on her way, she asked where to find Dr. Fenster because she wanted to discuss my case and the test results with him immediately. I felt like I had a team of super heroes fighting for me and working together to solve my case.
About twenty minutes later, I was on the table in the nuclear scan room. There was a knock and a familiar voice at the door. It was Dr. Fenster asking the tech if he could come in to talk with me and touch me. She welcomed him in and he pulled up a chair next to me at the table. He took my pulse and asked how I was feeling. He told me he and Dr. Olson had been talking and that he'd also spoken with my Mom. He said they thought it would be best for me to come back to Denver in a month to have a heart cath with Dr. Carroll. He really believed Dr. Carroll would be able to see what was wrong with my heart and hopefully repair it through the cath. With that, he squeezed my hand, pushed the chair away, and said good bye.
That afternoon, I walked through the Rose Petal Place toy scented entryway slightly transformed from the person I was six days before. No one could have prepared me for impact it would have on my life. And this place, this National Jewish ~ and Denver, this has become more than a place for me, it is an indescribable part of me now.
