Going Home?

It's November 11. Veterans Day.

I had an uncle that was shot and killed in Vietnam. I know that there's a price for freedom, and it involves men who are willing to say, "Give me liberty, or give me death!"

So I want to express my thanks to all those who have fought for freedom, though I am not always ready to express my thanks to those who have sent those brave men to fight for much worse reasons. For today, in honor of our fallen fathers, brothers, sons—and now mothers, sisters, and daughters—I will leave evil leaders unnamed.

Thank you, brave defenders of freedom.

I got my counts back. White blood cells, 1.0, and neutrophils, 400. Good deal. I have an immune system.

I also got the results back from my stress test. No blockages.

Okay, so I had a heart attack Sunday night. My heart is good, there is no damage, and the arteries of my heart show no blockages.

In other words, my heart is in somewhat better condition than I would have dreamed possible before I had the heart attack. I assumed that as a 50-year-old, potbellied male, I had to have blocked arteries. Man, all that exercise, fiber, and vegetables paid off!

But now I'm taking a couple heart medications. I can assure you that if I were not awaiting a stem cell transplant, I would go home, put those medications away, and never go see the heart doctor again.

My heart is good, and I have no blockages. Why would I want to be taking medications that supposedly make life easier on my heart when there's no apparent problem? They can say all they want that these meds are safe or have no side effects, but messing with the natural process of the body is ALWAYS a bad thing to do.

I already talked to the resident this morning about it, and he said if he talked to the cardiologist, then my meds would probably just be increased because my blood pressure is unusually high this morning (which I blame on the heart meds, which are supposed to decrease my blood pressure).

Unfortunately, I'm in a bind. I'm somewhat at the mercy of the transplant doctors, who could say, "We're not willing to do a transplant on you, and possible give you another heart attack, without you being on these prophylactic cardiac meds."

Please pray for wisdom for my arguments, or just God's miraculous intervention. I really want to be off these heart meds. They scare me, and I don't believe the doctors know what those meds are doing as well as they claim to know.

Now it's my turn to be told, "All things work together for good. Just trust."

Okay, okay. Doing so ...

Oh, and concerning the title of this post, we'll probably get to go home today. Fingers crossed, as I would really love a good shower. I have electrodes all over my chest, so I've been limited to sponge baths this week.