S
scottvant
I'm in the process of getting copies of all my echo reports, just so I have them to reference. My cardiologist, though competent and thorough, is the type of doctor who figures no news is good news, and prefers not to "worry" me with details. (His words.) I've had 5 echos: The first one, TTE, day after thanksgiving last year where they discovered my problem, one more TTE day before surgery, one intraoperative TEE, another TTE +1 day post-op, and one exercise/stress echo in March, 3 months post-op.
So I'm a numbers guy, and a control freak. I wanted the scoop given to me in digits; something my computer-friendly brain could quantify and file away as tangible information... Instead, I kept getting, "you're young, your surgeon did a great job, you're doing fine" on my first couple of followups. After the exercise echo, I wanted a detailed account of everything that was going on. Especially since the technican let slip that she could see some regurg on both worked-on valves. I was beside myself--those valves were supposed to be working! That was the reason behind this whole ordeal! I became all questions, and the technician, aware she probably shouldn't have said anything, clammed up and insisted "it was nothing to worry about." Ok well, then, why say anything?
The whole point in having that exercise echo so soon was because I had told the doctor that if he was going to nix weights, then at the very least I wanted to resume my aggressive bike training rides ASAP, so he ordered the exercise echo to see what was going on and where we were with that. Given that, I expected *some* sort of interpretation of the results for me. But, because there was nothing catastrophically wrong, he's been pretty quiet.
Except when he called, about a week later, to say he had called in a script over at my pharmacy of record, that he wanted me to fill and begin taking ASAP, so we could, "take care of that decreased heart function." My what? "Oh it's fine, the medication will reverse it." At the pharmacy, they give me that "patient information" sheet about Coreg and I read that it's most commonly prescribed for CHF. HEART FAILURE?!?!?!??! And here they'd been telling me I'd been doing so great. I was beyond irritated, called his office, and continued to get the "you're overreacting, you're fine" speech.
Until my last visit, when I arrived armed with a file folder full of papers, medical files I got from the hospital itself (my cardio has his own private practice and as such has a different set of files) and I had highlighted various items on that post-op echo I wanted explained. I made it clear to him that I wasn't going to accept "you're fine, don't worry about it" as an answer anymore. I found out that day that when you put it like that, he's fine giving you all the details you want. I suppose most of his patients don't take such an active interest in what's in their file, but I'm not most patients. I've never had a major medical disaster like this before and I'm a little paranoid about it all. I should be pleased with his constant insistence that "everything is fine." Maybe it is--that'd be GREAT news! But I'm still wary of being stung by the realization at the pharmacy that he had put me on heart failure medication without really telling me what was up.
My last visit with him was two weeks ago. He did an EKG and something called a "Bio-Z" bioimpedance test which is supposed to chart all sorts of things previously only visible through a catheterization... He seemed pleased, everything looked stellar, he said, and I should come back late September. This time, I decided not to be such a hypochondriac (a new sensation for me, since I've never been one before, and I don't like it) about all of this and take him at his word that yes, I'm doing fine.
Flash forward to me finding you guys--I've never run across a group of people who seemed more competent in medical terminology and all... So if I dig up that echo report, is there somebody who can help me decipher it?
While I look for it, the things I remember from it: trace or mild regurgitation on all valves (which panicked me at first until I read in several places that even healthy hearts can have that, it's commonplace...) dilated aortic root of 4.3 (I know that's not a lot, but it's worth watching--does anyone know if that's the sort of thing that can reverse, or is it one of those things that, as soon as it starts to stretch, it won't ever regress back toward normal?) thickening on three LV walls (I'll find out how much) and one RV wall and slightly enlarged LV; and also something called "dyskinetic/reversed septal wall motion" with a note, "is a common finding in open heart surgery patients." Anyone know what that is?
When I pointed out all of this stuff to my cardiologist, he indicated that yes, these are all things to watch, but that even when taken together, don't pose any sort of dire threat. Which, like I said, is fine--I'd love to believe him.. So far, almost 7 months out, I have yet to push myself so hard I get short of breath or feel any symptoms that indicate my heart isn't pumping as it should; which he asked me about and when I told him that he said "see, you're doing GREAT..."
I suppose most of all I'm still a little freaked out by the whole thing, and, like Harry, wondered at the time if maybe I wasn't a little too young to be saddled with a "heart condition." I suppose the very idea of all of this is going to take some getting used to; it still hasn't really sunk in yet.
One last thing--does anyone know if Coreg or beta-blockers in general make you feel tired, lethargic, or depressed, and/or cause weight gain?
Thnks, guys, for all of your help, and I promise I'll hang around here long enough to try and be of some help to others as well and not just be that guy who asks all the questions all the time...
Scott
So I'm a numbers guy, and a control freak. I wanted the scoop given to me in digits; something my computer-friendly brain could quantify and file away as tangible information... Instead, I kept getting, "you're young, your surgeon did a great job, you're doing fine" on my first couple of followups. After the exercise echo, I wanted a detailed account of everything that was going on. Especially since the technican let slip that she could see some regurg on both worked-on valves. I was beside myself--those valves were supposed to be working! That was the reason behind this whole ordeal! I became all questions, and the technician, aware she probably shouldn't have said anything, clammed up and insisted "it was nothing to worry about." Ok well, then, why say anything?
The whole point in having that exercise echo so soon was because I had told the doctor that if he was going to nix weights, then at the very least I wanted to resume my aggressive bike training rides ASAP, so he ordered the exercise echo to see what was going on and where we were with that. Given that, I expected *some* sort of interpretation of the results for me. But, because there was nothing catastrophically wrong, he's been pretty quiet.
Except when he called, about a week later, to say he had called in a script over at my pharmacy of record, that he wanted me to fill and begin taking ASAP, so we could, "take care of that decreased heart function." My what? "Oh it's fine, the medication will reverse it." At the pharmacy, they give me that "patient information" sheet about Coreg and I read that it's most commonly prescribed for CHF. HEART FAILURE?!?!?!??! And here they'd been telling me I'd been doing so great. I was beyond irritated, called his office, and continued to get the "you're overreacting, you're fine" speech.
Until my last visit, when I arrived armed with a file folder full of papers, medical files I got from the hospital itself (my cardio has his own private practice and as such has a different set of files) and I had highlighted various items on that post-op echo I wanted explained. I made it clear to him that I wasn't going to accept "you're fine, don't worry about it" as an answer anymore. I found out that day that when you put it like that, he's fine giving you all the details you want. I suppose most of his patients don't take such an active interest in what's in their file, but I'm not most patients. I've never had a major medical disaster like this before and I'm a little paranoid about it all. I should be pleased with his constant insistence that "everything is fine." Maybe it is--that'd be GREAT news! But I'm still wary of being stung by the realization at the pharmacy that he had put me on heart failure medication without really telling me what was up.
My last visit with him was two weeks ago. He did an EKG and something called a "Bio-Z" bioimpedance test which is supposed to chart all sorts of things previously only visible through a catheterization... He seemed pleased, everything looked stellar, he said, and I should come back late September. This time, I decided not to be such a hypochondriac (a new sensation for me, since I've never been one before, and I don't like it) about all of this and take him at his word that yes, I'm doing fine.
Flash forward to me finding you guys--I've never run across a group of people who seemed more competent in medical terminology and all... So if I dig up that echo report, is there somebody who can help me decipher it?
While I look for it, the things I remember from it: trace or mild regurgitation on all valves (which panicked me at first until I read in several places that even healthy hearts can have that, it's commonplace...) dilated aortic root of 4.3 (I know that's not a lot, but it's worth watching--does anyone know if that's the sort of thing that can reverse, or is it one of those things that, as soon as it starts to stretch, it won't ever regress back toward normal?) thickening on three LV walls (I'll find out how much) and one RV wall and slightly enlarged LV; and also something called "dyskinetic/reversed septal wall motion" with a note, "is a common finding in open heart surgery patients." Anyone know what that is?
When I pointed out all of this stuff to my cardiologist, he indicated that yes, these are all things to watch, but that even when taken together, don't pose any sort of dire threat. Which, like I said, is fine--I'd love to believe him.. So far, almost 7 months out, I have yet to push myself so hard I get short of breath or feel any symptoms that indicate my heart isn't pumping as it should; which he asked me about and when I told him that he said "see, you're doing GREAT..."
I suppose most of all I'm still a little freaked out by the whole thing, and, like Harry, wondered at the time if maybe I wasn't a little too young to be saddled with a "heart condition." I suppose the very idea of all of this is going to take some getting used to; it still hasn't really sunk in yet.
One last thing--does anyone know if Coreg or beta-blockers in general make you feel tired, lethargic, or depressed, and/or cause weight gain?
Thnks, guys, for all of your help, and I promise I'll hang around here long enough to try and be of some help to others as well and not just be that guy who asks all the questions all the time...
Scott
