We'll be back to theatre content soon, but just to give y'all an update on what's been going on and why I've not even been able to write:
My body is doing A LOT of healing.
Back on October 18, 2021, I was found in an Altered Mental State in the hotel where I was staying. I was brought to Lake Charles Memorial. The doctors there put a leadless pacemaker in my heart (that's one that goes inside of your heart). I didn't really know this happened because they did not truly get my consent. They took advantage of me being in an altered mental state to get me to "sign" for them to do the operation. (Note: Don't trust Dr. Young or Dr. Thompson at Lake Charles Memorial, though I'd really not trust any of them there). The pacemaker was malfunctioning. Basically, every day that I was in the hospital after coming out of the Altered Mental State and out of ICU, I would tell the doctor assigned to me that my feet were vibrating and both doctors wouldn't believe me. Also, I was never assigned a cardiac team which is supposed to be done when you have any type of a heart operation, including a pacemaker. I got off of Norvasc, which had horrible side effects on me and also off of Protonix which closed my throat.
They also insisted that I was diabetic. I didn't think and purposely say it, but it came out of my mouth, "Are you sure I'm diabetic." So, after giving myself insulin for a few months, I finally got the doctor that I was seeing to take a look at all of my records of my blood sugar and what I ate and insulin injections and she said, "I don't think you're diabetic. Eat like normal and quit using all insulin products." I was so relieved that she tested my blood sugar two more times when I ate like I normally would and it was found that I'm not diabetic. Lantus was giving me really low blood pressure.
I had to write 30 letters about the pacemaker. One went to the doctor (really nurse practitioner) that I was seeing as she wouldn't listen to me, one went to my sister's former doctor who is really nice, and 28 went to cardiologists from Houston, TX to New Orleans, LA. I was contacted by one in Houston and scheduled to see another. Dr. Amish Dave put the pacemaker into OVO mode which is supposed to make it so it is just like a constant EKG. The pacemaker still made my feet and other body parts vibrate along with making a really weird feeling in my ears. I don't remember when it was that I finally switched local doctors, but I know that when I did, I still had the pacemaker (A Micra AV) and my doctor looked in my ears and asked why it was all brown and she couldn't see. I could only tell her that I didn't know. But, I do know the pacemaker was making my ears feel all funny like the canals had this weird lining all around the edges. I bet the pacemaker was making the wax line the edges of my ear canals with all of those vibrations.
Dr. Mihail Chelu turned the pacemaker off permently. It was supposed to be that way, anyway. However, the thing NEVER turned off. It kept vibrating. I finally got to see Dr. David Burkland who came into Lake Charles from Houston. He wasn't comfortable with doing the operation, but he told me who I needed to see! So, immediately after that appointment, I called to make an appointment with Dr. John Joseph Seger. I went to that appointment which seemed a bit strange, but it was only because it took quite a long time. Yet, that was also good that somebody was paying attention! I got an, "Okay, it can come out."
Between this appointment and the operation to get the pacemaker removed, things got much worse and I starting worrying. The pacemaker started really hurting in my chest. It had never been comfortable, but it was HURTING and SO PAINFUL. A medical/antiseptic smell was coming from my chest. I could easily smell it. Radar, my little service dog, could easily smell it, too. She was constantly poking her nose at my chest and letting me know that something was wrong. (It's not like she wasn't trying to tell me that something was wrong before that, because she definitely was, but I couldn't do anything other than what I had been doing as local doctors weren't listening to me and were even trying to make me feel guilty for their ignorance and negligence).
On June 22, 2022, the pacemaker was removed! I was SO HAPPY, though even after the anesthesia wore off, I had some major dizziness for awhile and my feet still had MAJOR tingling in them. I read about how it takes nerves a very long time to heal. Well, that pacemaker REALLY messed up my nerves. Even as I am writing this, my nerves still tingle. It's mostly the nerves in my feet, but the nerves in my ears still often have a funny feeling and sometimes the rest of the nerves in my body feel a bit odd, too. That usually stops once I'm up and moving around. I can tell my nerves have gotten much better, though. At first, my feet REALLY tingled. It was SO STRONG that it was very irritating. Then, about three months in, the tingling stopped being so strong all of the time, but it was still REALLY STRONG when I woke up in the mornings. My nerves would feel "blinky" or "buzzy" before calming down. Now, the tingling is mostly even throughout the day, and I can mostly just stand what is happening. However, I will be so glad once my nerves fully heal.
Oh, and the other thing that the pacemaker did was give me HORRIBLE brain fog! Like, I know that 2*9=18. Easy. It's very easy now. But, with the brain fog, my mind would do things like think, 2*8=7, even though I KNEW it was wrong. It was so hard to think and it was so hard to catch typos. Sure, I still make typos, but now, I catch them more often. Back with the pacemaker, I might see one of three after I had written something. Now, I tend to see them all after they happen, and my own typos still drive me crazy. It's good to have my brain back. It does its normal non-stop thinking stuff, which honestly, makes me quite happy. I like having my brain back.
Also, I broke my collarbone back in August 2021 and while the main part has healed, it still gets very sore. I read how it can actually take years for a collarbone to fully heal, and so far, it seems like that's what mine wants to do. Because of this, I actually sleep in a recliner that I have in this hotel room (the plan is to get a room and a bathroom in where I live so then I can actually start living in my house and I'll be SO GLAD when that happens!) Yes, this is because of the insurance company I had not paying the full amount for my house to be repaired after Hurricanes Laura and Delta.
