Moving forward...FINALLY!!!

I'm sure there are ZERO people out there who ever check this blog anymore. Who can blame you? It has been a YEAR since I last posted. Sigh. The good news is, I DO have a really good excuse. A really, REALLY good excuse....

So, in my last post I talked about how I'd been feeling really sick and we thought it was the IUD. Well, I continued to be sick. It would be really bad and then I'd feel better. Back and forth. Around August of 2011 I was so sick that I could barely function. My Mom had to come stay with us and help out a few times. I remember my lowest point was when I didn't have enough strength to lift the spoon to eat my soup. I am not going to lie...it was a very difficult, character-trying and almost spirit-breaking time in my life.

The good news is...after 5 years of dealing with this sickness, I FINALLY have an answer and am moving FORWARD!!! In early October I had a minor stroke! My family and I were driving home and I suddenly got a really bad headache. Then my face went numb. By the time we got home, 20 minutes later, my face and left arm were totally numb. Needless to say, VERY scary! After a search on the internet and call to my Mother-in-law we decided it could be a migraine and decided to wait till morning. Nothing had improved by the next day, so we went to the ER. They told us there that it wasn't a stroke because it didn't show up on the MRI. (We learned from the Cardiologist that there are different types of strokes and that it was, indeed, a stroke) My husband asked the ER Doctor if we should get the bubble test done, which his Mom had done for her migraines. The ER Doctor agreed that should be our next move.

Long story short, they did the bubble test and found that my heart had a hole in it! At first they thought it was a PFO hole, which is fairly common and can cause people to have migraines. When they actually did the surgery, they found it was not the PFO, but just an actual hole (birth defect), about the size of a quarter. They closed it up with an umbrella looking device, and my tissue should close over it completely by 6 months post-operation.

This hole in my heart explains SO much: the dizzy spells, muscle weakness, fatigue, headaches, etc. etc. etc. I can't even put into words how relieved it felt to finally have an answer. And better yet-a solution!!!

SO..there are no longer any excuses. I have been given a second chance to get healthy and spend the next part of my life to it's full potential. There is NO stopping me now!!!

I have joined a gym. I am working out daily. I am determined. I am focused. But most importantly, I am blessed. Every day counts, and matters, and I intend on making the most of each day!!!