we all have our bears to cross

"G'friend. Just what are you talking about? That isn't how that saying goes."

Hey, it wasn't me that said it! Caroline did. She was on the phone, talking away, and that's what came out of her mouth. "We all have our bears to cross," is exactly how she said it. I very nearly cracked up!

"You mean Carolyn said that???"

No, Caroline. She's the receptionist for Dr. Cobb.

"Oh, so this is from Friday when you had your appointment?"

I wish. No, it was from today, this afternoon, while I was waiting for an EKG.

"I thought that was done on Friday. Did they miss that test?"

No, Taye - the new physician's assistant - did it, but Dr. Cobb didn't like the results. He said my heart was racing and was surprised that I wasn't aware of it. I told him I'd been having a little issue with waves of vertigo ever since the cold weather started. He didn't much like that, either. He told me to come back after the weekend for another EKG and he would decide then if I needed another cardiac ablation.

"Holy shiite! That's not good."

No, it wasn't. I very nearly felt panicked that he would suggest that surgery again, but tried to stay calm in his office. I had been more concerned about my talk with him about a rare heart condition, ATTR-CM. That's Transthyretin Amyloid Cardiomyopathy. A full page ad about it had been in a Smithsonian magazine a few months back and it had stopped me in my reading. The disease only affects people with hypothyroidism, carpal tunnel syndrome, irregular heartbeat, shortness of breath, and lower back pain. That's me, to a T.

"So what did your cardiologist have to say?"

He told me that he didn't think that was something I had, but he would check back through my charts to consider it. He said ATTR-CM primarily affects people who have already had heart failure, which was something I did not have. Well, not counting my broken heart after Mama died. So, I guess that was good that Dr. Cobb had not seen any evidence of heart attack in my EKGs or blood work.

"Hmm. You may want to speak to Ms. Barker about that. You might want to find out how you would request DNA sequencing to find out if you have hereditary ATTR. Remember, Mama died of a liver disorder, and that transthyretin protein comes from the liver, leaving deposits that lead to carpal tunnel syndrome and, surprise, surprise, atrial fibrillation."

Duly noted. I'll be seeing her in January, so I'll ask then. I do see that the disease that results depends on where the amyloid deposits build up. I also see that this is a hereditary thing.

"Correct. All the more reason to find out if you have it, then maybe encourage Christina to get checked out. Heck, maybe every female that would be in your maternal line. Meanwhile, how did the EKG today turn out?"

Well, Taye is the one who did that one, too, so that speaks to consistency. I really like her, she's very upbeat and easy to speak to and truly listens.

"And...?"

She has a good poker face. On Friday, I had no idea the EKG was bad. And today, I had no idea that it was good until I overheard Dr. Cobb in the hallway. She showed him the test and he said, "She's back in cycle, so you can let her go." I felt like cheering!!! But I waited until Taye returned and told me all was well. Hooray!!!

"Most excellent!"

As I told her, with the door still open so he might hear, I had changed the way I was taking the Sotalol. I'm still on the 40 mg twice daily, but now I take it with the Eliquis. That means I take it about 11:30 AM to noon, then again at 11:30 PM to midnight. I also make sure it's been at least 30 minutes to an hour since I ate, so I'm taking it on an empty-ish stomach. As I told her, I've noticed that the pharmacy data sheet for the Sotalol has changed. It used to say to "be consistent with how the drug is taken; if taken with a meal, always take with food; if not taken with a meal, then never take with food." Now, the sheet says "food may slow the absorption of the drug." So, I changed from having it mid-meal to having it without food.

"Well, good, whatever does the trick."

Heard. I really don't want any more hospital stays, and I certainly don't want any more surgery, ever.