Amanda has been doing better since the medication change made on our last Houston trip. She sleeps better and feels her heart is much more under control during the day. With the new symptoms now masked by the medication, it’s still disheartening that we even have this issue at all, especially how it all started. Either way, we’re back headed in the right direction. As a good friend says, in situations like this, “Praise the Lord and pass the biscuits!”
The improved symptoms didn’t come without some adjustments, though. This new medication works great to control her rate but would wear off quickly as it got time for a new dose. It was almost like a switch that turned her heart rate up as soon as it was time for the next dose. The doctor was right about how patients complied with this medication because they felt better. It’s not easy to miss a dose when the effects wear off so quickly. About a week or two passed before she called the coordinator to ask about more frequent dosing. Not reaching her, she left a message. She never received a call back; just a new prescription arrived at the pharmacy! So, she just started taking an extra dose a day.
We have our heartiversary trip coming up soon. We thought that would be our next trip, but things changed a bit for us. The next Houston trip would be for the annual follow-up, which we typically do a few weeks late since we always travel during the heartiversary time. It works out since that’s around our wedding anniversary, and we get to be in Houston for a night out. This year, they arbitrarily made the appointment without asking, scheduling it for the day before we leave for South Dakota!
At first, I told Amanda there was no way we couldn’t do that right before our trip. I thought about it for a while and looked at the map, contemplating a route. It looked like it would be close to the same drive time going straight north to Nebraska and then cutting west. We have a good friend in Omaha, and it would only take a couple of extra hours to see him. Also, taking off altogether would be more cost-effective with my work schedule than making a special trip later on.
So, I made a route change, changing my already very detailed itinerary to overnight in Omaha. Then, north to South Dakota, almost traversing the entire state from east to west. That route should be much more pretty than going through Nebraska. The Missouri River valley is pretty. I used to go over the river between Iowa and Nebraska when I was working out of Iowa a couple of years ago.
We’ll spend two nights in Houston. We’ve been making the trip with just one night, but the schedule is packed this time with a ton of different tests all in one day, starting early in the morning. Initially, the cardiologist follow-up would be the same day, and we would leave the following day bright and early to make Omaha by dinner time. Sadly, the dinner time plans were crushed when they moved the cardiologist appointment to first thing Wednesday morning. We’ll still be leaving Houston on Wednesday, just five hours later than I’d planned. So it’ll be more like a nightcap with our friend than dinner!
We’ll be staying at our new usual hotel in Houston, which is connected directly to the hospital this time. I used my free night award last trip. This time, I called and asked about a medical rate that saved nearly $100 a night, which was a plus. I also still had a few suite night awards I used for a nice upgraded room. So we leave for Houston late tomorrow morning for a couple of nights and then towards South Dakota for a week.
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Have fun!!! Prayers and safety 😍