Prayer Request

*EDIT*

Procedure has been rescheduled for March 8th. I guess the doctor needs some specialized tools and they were not in yet.

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Tomorrow at 8:30 AM I will be having my 3rd angiogram. Please pray that the procedure goes smoothly, and if it is God's will, that they will be able to clear the blockage in my artery.

My heart is actually in really good condition, but they would like to get this artery cleaned out all the same. My ejection fraction, a measure of the heart muscle's performance, is 60-65%. (Normal is anything over 50%.) Immediately following the heart attack my EF was only 40-45%! The occlusion (blockage) is at the end of the artery, and collateral vessels (small vessels that carry blood around an occlusion) have formed to supply my heart muscle with blood.

Thank you

Zcar Photos

Interested in fun pictures of the Zcar we used to own?

Before, during, and after pictures are here:

http://picasaweb.google.com/travis.slagle

the beauty of buffalo...

the joy of buffalo

bitterly cold today, the wind picked up that 10 degree weather and stuffed it down our necks.

kidney update

I visited the urologist this morning, expecting to find out many wonderful things about my cystic and oversized right kidney. While in the hospital I had been told that three diagnoses were possible:

a) Congenital problem, was born with a kidney that was partially obstructed. Obstructed kidneys swell up like balloons.

b) I developed a partial blockage at some point in my life, and then the aforementioned swelling began.

c) The cystic tissue is cancer. Yeah!

According to the doctor I saw in the hospital almost 2 months ago, any of the three options would mean a removal of my kidney in the future. This was due to the possibility of the kidney rupturing during an auto accident, etc. They would wait until I had recovered from my heart problems before removing (probably a year or so.)


However, the doctor I saw this morning labeled it as option A and said there was no reason to remove it. He is a more senior physician that the doctor I saw in the hospital and said he is very sure that this is a congenital condition. Come back in six months for a checkup.

This should have made me feel better, but for some reason it did not.

and now for something completely different...

and the saga continues...

So I thought that I was returning to work yesterday. Rehab had been going smooth, I was exercising for an hour four times per week, life was grand. I was supposed to meet with the doctor on Wednesday and get back to some form of normalcy.

Then I had a stress test last Thursday. (During which I decided to faint while the nurses were installing the IV. Generated entirely too much commotion, I don't recommend it.)

I received a call from my cardiologist on Friday. The front of my heart was not receiving an adequate amount of blood flow, so he wanted another angiogram performed. It was scheduled for yesterday (so much for going back to work).

During the angiogram yesterday it was discovered that one of the arteries which had previously been opened and stented had closed back up. Unfortunately, the doctor was unable to open up the blockage. My heart function is good and it is stable, but I will have to have another angiogram in about a month. And no rehab or work until the next angiogram.

Thank you all for your prayers and concerns during this time. God is taking good care of Michelle and I, partially through the friends that he has placed around us to comfort us.