Jim's cardio appt tomorrow

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Gemma

Hi everybody,
Jim's going for his 20 month post-op appointment with his cardio (I know, weird timing - the sentimentalist in me would prefer it to be at 2 years from his AVR!) tomorrow afternoon.

So far we have come up with about 3 questions to ask, namely:

1) (If he has an echo) - does everything look OK? LV size, pressure gradients, etc.
(If he doesn't) - Why hasn't he had an echo?!

2) Can he PLEASE stop taking the ramipril. We have a looooong list of reasons why he doesn't like it, and not one convincing argument for the need to keep taking it.

3) Can the cardio write a pre-emptive letter for mortgage/life assurance purposes so we don't get refused life assurance on health grounds.

Other than that, is there anything else we ought to be asking about. I'm doing my usual low-level freaking out (you know the type of thing - he seems fine but what if there's something terrible lurking we don't know about :eek: sure I'll be fine tomorrow!). Any suggestions for anything we should be asking or even just crossing your fingers would be great!

Thanks,
Gemma.
 
Gemma,

I will say a prayer that all goes well with Jim's appointment and you get all your questions answered.

I wish you luck with the life insurance thing. I don't know if things are different there but, in the states, most of us just can't get insurance unless we are working for a company that guarantees coverage.

I don't have anything to add to your list other than maybe asking for a copy of any echo report that is done.

Good luck.
 
Gemma, it must be something about those December 2003 avrs- Dick has his 20 month appointment with the cardio tomorrow too. We also have a list of questions, one of which is can he get off the lopressor and just on a regular high blood pressure medication. Will be thinking of you and Jim and I hope we both get to report back here that all is fine! :)
 
Thank you ladies :)

Gina - I think maybe I used the wrong term (all this money stuff gets confusing!). I mean the insurance/payment protection you get to cover mortgage repayments in the event of death, rather than the lump sum you get with life insurance (as one of the bigger companies here charmingly puts it, "money if you die and money if you don't"). When endowment mortgages were all the rage a while ago, I think we'd have had problems but they tend to be repayment now so more focused on your money than your health.

Phyllis, I'll also be thinking of you and Dick - hope all goes well and that he and Jim both get off the meds!

Well, Jim's appointment's in an hour so I'll be heading off soon - it's a 15 minute walk from where I work so I'm meeting him there.

Will update later.

Gemma.
 
Well, Jim's free for a year now! :D

Re: the echo - no need for another one, he's having no problems and his heart is fixed so why waste an appointment proving he's OK when there are people who are ill waiting for scans? Guess that answers the NHS verdict on echo frequency.

His cardio also said he'd have no problem writing a letter for a mortgage, we just need to put it in writing when we actually apply for one and he'll get it sorted :) .

And the really good news - he actually agreed :eek: that Jim can stop taking the ramipril if he feels it's causing problems :D . Basically said that all the reasons for taking it had been fixed by the valve replacement (enlarged heart, leaky valve, extra pressure on heart to pump blood) and as there's no real reason to believe those things will recur, he can try halving it and, assuming he feels better, stop taking it.

So, we had a good appointment. AND we were seen only 10 minutes after we were due in!!! Used the extra time of my afternoon off to treat Jim to a meal out :)

Phyllis - hope all went well for Dick also.

Gemma.
 
Great news Gemma! And topping it off with such a short wait! It was a good day! Continued best wished for Jim's good health.
 
Just got back from Dick's appointment and all went well for him too. He wanted to do another echo this year, but was willing to wait until next year when Dick protested. The ECG was fine- normal sinus rhythm and abnormal T wave, but he said that is normal after heart surgery and may never go away. Dick's blood pressure was 140/80 (white coat syndrome?) in the office and we asked if he could stop taking the Lopressor and just take a blood pressure medication as he has no arythmia problems and we felt a blood pressure medication may control the pressure better. He suggested that we cut the dose in half for two weeks, take his pressure daily and report back to him. I have to admit that Dick has little faith in this cardiology group- the only one in town, but we need a local cardiologist in case of emergency, so we are stuck. Should we run into problems that are not of an emergency nature- we will hightail it to Boston. At any rate, Dick also gets checked by the local VA doctor who is also a cardiologist and he checked him in June, so in a sense we are getting two opinions. This cardiologist wants to see him again in one year and he see the VA doctor next June. Glad that Jim's appointment went well too, Gemma. We can both relax a little for now. :)
 
P.S. - one of the reasons that Dick is of little faith is that the Doctor's first question was "are you still taking the coumadin?" We reminded him that he has a cow valve and never took coumadin. His last echo last year described his valve as mechanical and I wrote and asked them to correct the record- guess they didn't! :mad:
 
Congratulations Dick. A good day for appointment apparently.

Can't say I blame you for not having any faith in the doctor. My goodness - those are some major slips.
 
A real relief!!

A real relief!!

That's great Gemma! I know how it feels having to go to the cardio for a check up even when everything's going well. We can't help worrying something might be wrong until the minute the cardio tells us otherwise. I'm very happy for the two of you!! Take care!
Débora :)
 
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