Nonunion?

This weekend I was basically home bound. I did not feel well which seems to be the usual this past week. Intermittent headaches, shaky with tremors, rib and chest pain, dizziness, fatigue and nausea. Let's add anxiety and panic attacks to the list. I pray that the stress does not effect my new special heart ❤️

David and I had optimistically planned a trip to visit some friends in Vermont. We had 10 friends joining the trip but unfortunately I was not healthy enough to attend the weekend and we had to stay home. Saturday my brother was going to come over for a visit and I had to request that we reschedule due to feeling lousy. Saturday night David and Molly attended his sisters retirement party again I was unable to accompany them because I felt horrible. Sunday I mustered up the energy to go to Costco with David, mainly because I thought it would be good for my health to walk. The rest of the day was spent on the couch. Yesterday turned into today still on the couch.

I received a call today from the heart transplant team in regards to my chest CT results from last week. The results showed some old healed left fib fractures and some newer healed left rib fractures. They were probably caused by the surgery which is not uncommon but it doesn't really explain the pain I'm feeling in that area. The scan did not show any pleural effusion, pericardial effusion or infection so that is great news.

We discussed that they used a significant amount of wiring around my sternum, likely in an effort to try to add stability due to my significant scoliosis. This could have potentially changed some of my kinematics, which would already be limited in the setting of my scoliosis. Maybe this is causing my discomfort? We also discussed that the report stating nonunion of my Sternum is not concerning as I am still in the first year of my surgery, and it does not require intervention. This concerns me because essentially my Sternum is not healing appropriately and is unstable. I plan to discuss this further at my appointment next week.

I'm still angry about losing my job and I'm frustrated that I'm not feeling strong. I feel like I've hit a plateau with my progress but don't be fooled I am so extremely grateful for the gift that I've been given and I'm not giving up. I actually start Cardiac Rehabilitation on Thursday. I am looking forward to putting in the work, to push forward and feel better.

Each 💔 beat matters

KellyAnn