Had the last two follow up appointments this week, and I’m happy to say that both went pretty well. I saw the GI specialist on Tuesday morning at 8:30am, which was really rough after working until 3am, and having to be back at work at 3pm that afternoon. Dr. Hauck was pleased that the medications I’m taking appear to be working, and that I’m starting to feel better. He’s going to keep me on the Protonix for at least a few more months, and see how I’m doing after that. We definitely want to keep fighting the GI problems as aggressively as we can, and he feels this course of treatment is sufficient. I mentioned to him that I was sick over the weekend, after eating some Italian foods on Friday night, and he said it was more than likely the tomato sauce. So, I’ve got to take it easy on that kind of stuff for a while. And I only have to see him on an as needed basis now, so that’s cool.

I saw my cardiologist this morning at 10:45am, and he is also happy with the way things are going. My blood pressure was good, as was the EKG they did in the office. He’s cut my Aspirin back to the 81mg a day that I was taking prior to the hospital visit, rather than the 325mg that I’ve been taking since then. That will help give my stomach a break, too, as the Aspirin I’ve been taking has contributed to the GI problems that I have now.

I also talked with Dr. Apuri about the amount of exercise/physical activity I should be doing at this point, and he has said he wants me to be as active as my body will allow. Basically, do what I can, and if my chest starts hurting or I get short of breathe, stop. He said he would clear me to join a gym or ymca if I wanted to do so. I thought it might be better to get into something that was medically supervised, so I asked him about getting into a Cardic Rehab program through the hospital instead, and he thought that was a great idea. His office is going to get those appointments set up for me, and let me know when to go.

So yeah, that about wraps it up for now. I definitely have a long road ahead of me, but things are looking up.

Keep Fighting It, and Rock On!
Mike.