PFO | Obsessive Ramblings

June 26th, 2012 | 2 Comments

We had a visit back to the hospital yesterday, for another echo cardiogram, as it is now a month since Liz had her operation. It is routine to apparently check on these things, and although there was some confusion over whether the check would be a normal ultrasound or the more unpleasant trans-oesophageal echo (TOE), fortunately only the former was required. The appointment was for 11am and luckily we were a little early as they were running … Read entire article »

Filed under: Blogaday, Medical

The Day Of Reckoning

May 24th, 2012 | 6 Comments

The day had arrived. Coleen had very kindly offered to come down from Wales and help with the children during Liz’s procedure to close her PFO, or patent foramen ovale, aka ‘hole in the heart’, so we said our goodbyes to our kindly saint before getting on our way – thanks Col; you’re a star! The travel to St. George’s Hospital in Tooting at 6:15 in the morning was easier than we had anticipated, so we arrived … Read entire article »

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Procedure Dates and Habits

April 30th, 2012 | 1 Comment

I had interviews to do today at work – interviewing for a short term business analyst position. The process seems to take as long as the engagement itself! Anyway the upshot of that was that I had to be in work this morning, but had to also be home to take Liz to see her consultant for a review. With the interviews over I returned via my normal route but the peculiarity of travelling at midday … Read entire article »

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New Shoes

April 12th, 2012 | Add a Comment

It has been overdue for some time, but I have today received some new shoes! Rather I should say that I bought some shoes of a new type – Inov-8 Terrafly 303. I have had quite a few pairs of Inov-8 shoes before as they seem to be perfect for my shape and size of feet. They are also one of the original shoe manufacturers to consider more natural running several years ago, and although some of … Read entire article »

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The Surgeon’s View

March 28th, 2012 | 3 Comments

We visited the hospital again today, where we met Mr David Ward, from St Georges hospital. He is the surgeon who is suggesting that Liz has the procedure to close the PFO (Patent / Persistent Foramen Ovale) in order to reduce the risk of her having another stroke, via the same mechanism in the future. He was at pains to point out, however, that there are no guarantees that she would not have another stroke, but … Read entire article »

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Adding Meaning to the Words

March 21st, 2012 | Add a Comment

I was back to work again today, but at least the trains were playing ball this morning. Savannah’s friend’s Mum, Kate, very kindly picked them up and took them to school, so Liz was able to rest after the initial mayhem of the morning! She also brought them home in the afternoon. Work was busy today, as Wednesday’s tend to be, but doubly so at the moment with everything that is going on both at work and … Read entire article »

Filed under: Blogaday, Recovery

PFO – Patent Foramen Ovale

March 20th, 2012 | 12 Comments

Today’s was always going to be a hectic day. Getting the children to school, getting Liz to the hospital for her TOE (transesophageal echocardiogram) procedure, then back to Pewley Down school to be with Savannah on her ‘science’ trail, before going back to the hospital to wait for Liz. All before 10:30am. The TOE procedure is basically a more enhanced bubble echocardiogram, which is carried out in the same way (see previous post), but is somewhat more … Read entire article »

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