Hospital Stay

As you have probably noticed it has been quite some time (over a month!) since I have written on or visited my blog.  I promise I have a good excuse...

On December 16th I went to a local hospital by my parents house in California for what I thought was the flu.  Once I was there I was given fluids via IV, but I was not getting better.  Since I seemed to be declining rapidly the ER doctors decided to call in specialists and one of them was a cardiologist.  Once he came to see me the doctors were able to conclude that my heart was failing due to lymphocytic myocarditis.  I was transferred by ambulance to another hospital where I was given a temporary pacemaker.   Once the doctors realized that my heart was not beating at all on it's own the head cardiologist thought that I may need a heart transplant.  Soon after I was flown to Stanford on a helicopter and I was in the ICU there for over a week and a half.  I was given lots of medication to keep me going and after being there for a few days my heart started beating on its own.  After slowly weaning me off the medication they removed the pacemaker and decided that I would not need a transplant.  I am so grateful to have the care that I did and am also so thankful for my family who spent every day by my side even on Christmas! Thank you to everyone who sent me cards, flowers, gifts, and for all of the prayers! It is a miracle that I am alive and that I was fortunate enough to leave the hospital without any "hardware" (pacemaker).  

I am in a slow recovery process and trying to do a little more each day, but it is just so wonderful to be home! I am hoping to be back at dental school soon, but I want to make sure my heart is healthy enough before I return.