Heart Catherization

So, I had a heart catherization procedure about two weeks ago. I wasn’t looking forward to it. Although I live with pain on a daily basis, I am against adding to my pain no matter what the procedure. But my doctors have been after me for the past year to have this procedure so I finally agreed. And you know what? It wasn’t bad at all. In fact, I found it much more ticklish than painful and got laughing so hard I couldn’t keep still. The doctor and nurses couldn’t believe how ticklish I was and said most people just lay there. They never had anyone giggle let alone out and out laugh. They give you something to take the edge off and use a local anesthetic. I think most people go to sleep but I struggled against it and stayed awake. How often do you get to see your own heart, let alone watch a wire in it. I thought it fascinating. The results were not good. In addition to my pulmonary fibrosis (lung scaring from scleroderma, I have pulmonary hypertension, high blood pressure in my heart. Had this happened five years ago, there would have been no good treatments available. But last June, 2007, a drug called Letairis was approved for this rare disease. It has been found to give as much as an additional 2 and a half years to one’s life. And you can see what a difference a few years can make. The downside is that this is considered an orphan drug, and is very expensive. But you do what you have to to buy time in this wonderful world. And today I found out there are more wonderful people out there that I will tell you about tomorrow.