Maan ... he's all heart ..........

Douglas went for his cardiac investigation with some trepidation - not so much over the likely result but more over the actual examination itself since it involved swallowing a small ultrasound transducer. The swallowing part has always been very uncomfortable in the past.
However the staff at the Western recognised his concern and really zonked him out for the whole event, so much so that he took around 2 hours to fully come around afterwards.

The good news, if you can call it that, is that he definitely has one hole some 3mm in diameter and around 15 mm in length (a tunnel like defect) which appears to be classed as 'large'.
It was deemed a good candidate for sealing although we have not yet heard which sealing method is considered best. I understand that it will either be the umbrella type or the mesh type and definitely NOT the 'stitch it up' type.

We are all just waiting for feedback on this and on the date for an op (estimated at within 5 weeks).

Douglas had bets on the number of holes and suffice to say I won the bet. Mind you its not much of a win, since I have to give him the stake in the first place ........

We are currently getting set up for a 'home evaluation visit' by the physios and OT lassies to establish just how well Doug can manage at home. This will both set targets for the rehab programme and also give us some idea about any changes that may be needed around the house.
Unfortunately Doug feels a bit threatened by all this .......... they just want to get rid of me sort of thing. I can understand his concerns and Sheena and I have been doing our best to convince him that this is only the first step towards a getting home point sometime in the future. Not at all sure how well we have managed that though?

Saturdays at home continue to be a great favourite and Doug really relaxes when he gets through the front door - its so good to see!! Mind you he gets spoiled rotten (we'll not be admitting that to the OT's!!!!).
He continues with the rehab stuff but still has problems with balance that play havoc with his confidence in walking with the zimmer frame. Never the less he is slowly getting more flexibility in movement.

He agreed a wee while ago to be part of a study into Cronic Fatigue Syndrome in stroke victims and although I'm not really sure how it works, its a comfort to know that it is recognised as an adverse factor in rehabilitation. Whether or not it will all result in any palliatives or even a cure remains to be seen. In the meantime he still gets really pissed off at how easily he runs out of energy.

The next thing on the list is a visit to the ENT clinic on the 7th May. Doug has said recently that he occasionally gets bursts of what he describes as white noise in his left ear. Whether or not this indicates any degree of recovery of hearing on that side I'm not sure. Perhaps this appointment may help provide answers.
I'll pop up another update soon.

In the meanwhile, thanks again for all the visits and for the messages through the blog and facebook. Doug really looks forward to hearing them all.
Iain