Hello Everyone,

No, I was not abducted by aliens.

I have been getting things taken care of one after the other and am glad to report that everything went really well. The TEE wasn't too bad at all and was done without sedation, but just a gargle of anesthetic for the throat.

Great news on that front.
The ASD defect is central and less than 2 cm (about 1 cm). They did a Doppler to check on the flows through it as well as through the other heart valves and there is only a bit of back flow when there is increased abdominal pressure (contracting of the abdomen, straining etc), so no need to do anything with it (YAY!).
I have been told to take 80 mg of aspirin daily for the time being, and to discontinue the coumadin. Other than needing follow up blood work to keep an eye on clotting, I'm good to go in that department.

Had one IVIG on Friday and the second of three IVIG’s yesterday and those went well too; although the second one took longer than the first (4 hours), because they used a stronger dose. I felt just fine during the two hours afterwards, so was glad when I got the go ahead to come home.

Well, what do they say about getting out of the frying pan and going into the fire? Wouldn't you know it? I slipped on the ice in the hospital parking lot while I was leaving and went right down on my butt.

Three young fellows, who were standing near by, saw me fall and were right there to help me up, but I whacked my head as well, which was bleeding. One of the fellows identified himself as a first aid attendant and asked if he could help me. I said that I was fine but he rather strongly suggested that I go with him back into the hospital. How embarrassing .
The first aid attendant sent one of his buddies to go get a wheel chair and they took me back in. Luckily, I only had to wait for a half hour or so to be seen in the ER.

Got checked out by the doc, from top (head) and bottom (the latter rather invasively, if you get my drift). He said that I probably fractured the coccyx because he could move it and because of the localized pain. He checked out the nerves in my legs and they were a little off, which surprised him. But that is normal for me, and he relxed when I told him it was because of the MS.

He said that x-rays of the coccyx probably weren't necessary as he was pretty sure of the fracture, and said that there wasn't much to be done for it at this point anyway, other than Ibuprofen and ice.
The head thing was just a scrape so that got cleaned up and he said to get checked out by my MD if the pain in the coccyx got worse or if any other symptoms developed.

I told him that I would be coming into the hospital on Sunday for the third IVIG and he said that it would be OK to have it, but to let them know of the injury before hand. I was glad to be discharged and that time I was very cautious about crossing the icy parking lot and getting into my truck. There was a water covered ice patch right at the driver’s side door and that is what I had slipped on.

Yeah, the coccyx hurts like heck now, but it is mostly when I bend forward or go from sitting to standing or vice versa. Other than that, some swelling and a nice bruise, it is OK. I expect it to be sore for a bit and the ER doc said it probably will be for a few weeks.

I'm so happy that everything else went so well with the TEE and the IVIG’ s so far, that the literal "pain in the butt" doesn't even measure up to the concerns that I've had on my mind. Will get through the third IVIG today and then will be home to rest, ice, heal up and get well again .

Hope that everyone is doing OK. Will catch up on posts later.

With love, Erika