Today my friends I’m back with more kinder updates now that we’re one month in, and I have happy news to give my afib story some closure! We started our first kindergartener a few weeks ago and so far kindergarten has been going so much better than I could have ever dreamed. I cannot even tell you how nervous I was. Last night, in fact, my son picked The Kissing Hand book to read at bedtime and asked if I was going to cry reading it again. I did not, thank you very much!
I ending up as the room mom for my son’s class. I don’t really know what that means yet, except I have sent out some emails and have been to my first PTA meeting. But I am going to tell you the one thing we are still struggling to adjust to are these early mornings.
I was hoping after a few weeks we would transition and miraculously become morning people. Ugh, no such luck. No one who lives in our house is an early riser so even though we are going to bed brutally early (7pm people), we are still so, so, so tired. Like, so tired, even getting the same amount of sleep.
There is just something about waking up before the sun, as my son calls it, that exhausts us all! I have a whole new appreciation for the moms who have strict schedules and leave places early to keep a consistent bedtime. That’s just never been our style, we’re usually more flexible, but I’m having to adjust. I’m putting extreme measures into place to get us out the door on time. I’ll be sharing some of our morning tips and hoping to hear some of yours later this week.
The absolute best part of kinder so far has been to see how much my little man has already grown. He is suddenly obsessed with numbers, letters, adding, subtracting, graphing, story telling and trying to read. Things we had to force on him just a month ago, he is begging to learn more about now. I swear in one month he has matured immensely, I am so proud of him and I am so honored to get to be his mama. So although I still miss him every minute, I am a big fan of kindergarten. Phew, it’s a relief, I really didn’t think I would ever come around.
Not only have we been rocking kindergarten, but there’s been something else that is not rocking. Not rocking, not fluttering, not pounding, shaking or palpitating; my heart! If you don’t know all the details on my atrial fibrillation story, tachycardia or two catheter heart ablations, stop and read this, then this and this.
Now that you’re up to date, I did have my last catheter ablation in June. The procedure went much more smoothly this time around and thankfully, recovery was a lot easier too. My surgeon did find a tachycardia and a tiny spot of afib but both on the right side, which means they did not have to cut another hole in my heart to cross chambers and only had to burn two tiny spots.
Unlike the first ablation, when I had four days palpitations free before they picked up again, I have not had palpitations since the surgery. I had my follow up appointment a couple of weeks ago with my electrophysiologist, and he is very pleased with my outcome. The tachycardia has only a 3-5% chance of coming back, and although the afib has a 20% chance of returning, hopefully, we bought me at least ten years before that happens, if it does. We’re praying I’m in 80% and never have to worry about my heart again but at the very least, we are relieved to close this chapter.
If I have learned nothing else from this experience, it is to advocate for yourself. When I went to my doctor in May after wearing a heart monitor full time for seven days, he wanted to take me off the blood thinners because he believed the afib was gone. If he was wrong, that would have put me at a high risk for having a stroke. I respectfully declined.
I looked my sweet doctor in the face and told him that although I appreciated his opinion and his monitor’s results, I disagreed. I could feel the difference in the afib and tachycardia. I didn’t let the professional talk me out of what I could feel in my own body. I took the blood thinners and we scheduled another ablation immediately. I was right. I was right to listen to my body and I was right to stand up for my health.
If you are ignoring symptoms, putting off going to the doctor or adjusting to a lower quality of life, like so many women I know, stop. Make yourself and your health a priority. Then get yourself a support system in place and take the steps needed to heal, so you can live your healthiest life!
If you missed my favorite new mom hack or my peaceful family dinner tips, catch up! I’ll be sharing more tips for you busy mamas later this week!