Well, I am finally home from my doctor's appt. I was scheduled for a metabolic stress test (walking on a treadmill hooked up to EKG and breathing monitors) and afterwards I met with the ACHD specialist. The news was not great, but at least now we know what is going on...
Let me back up a little for those who don't know what's going on. If you recall, I was having problems with my heart rate speeding up to rates of 140+ when doing normal, everyday things like putting away dishes, cooking dinner, or walking up a flight of stairs. We were unable to catch any of these episodes when I was in the hospital, so I went home with a halter monitor. Nothing conclusive was found in the halter, though, as to why my heart rate was doing this. However, the doctor has determined that, essentially, my right ventricle is just plain tired. Because of my anatomy (it's doing the work of a normal person's left ventricle), it's getting weaker and weaker. And because it is getting weaker, whenever my body is demanding more oxygen it can't provide quite to the same capacity as a "normal" person's heart can, so it tries to compensate by increasing the rate. We pretty much expected this result.
The other thing we found out from the stress test is the real disturbing part. They test how efficiently you are using oxygen as you exercise while performing the stress test. Now, in a person of my age and size with "normal" anatomy they would get a rating in the high 30s to low 40s. Someone in great physical shape (like Lance Armstrong) would probably rank around 80. The doctor said that when they are doing transplant evaluations, they usually recommend transplant when the patient is at around 14. I got a 17. Not good. She said she was hoping I would be at least in the 20s. So now we're trying to get the records from my last stress test (about 1.5 years ago) to see how things have changed over time. If it shows that I was at 18 or 19 a year and a half ago, then we know that at least I'm not declining all that fast. But it it was 25, then my decline is going pretty fast. It may mean that things are progressing faster than we had hoped.
In the mean time, I am to start increasing my vasotec and try to not push myself so much. I'm to not do heavy lifting and force myself to relax more often... It's going to be hard. I'm working on trying to reevaluate what all I do and how I can cut back without feeling like I'm letting anyone down. The doctor would also like to talk to my regular cardiologist about replacing my pacemaker with a defibrillator, as a precautionary measure. So it looks like I may be having surgery this Christmas...
It's a lot to take in. I just pray that I can put aside my perfectionism and my desire to make others happy so that I can do what's best for me and my health. Right now I know that is going to be my biggest challenge.
Thanks for reading my novel.
Let me back up a little for those who don't know what's going on. If you recall, I was having problems with my heart rate speeding up to rates of 140+ when doing normal, everyday things like putting away dishes, cooking dinner, or walking up a flight of stairs. We were unable to catch any of these episodes when I was in the hospital, so I went home with a halter monitor. Nothing conclusive was found in the halter, though, as to why my heart rate was doing this. However, the doctor has determined that, essentially, my right ventricle is just plain tired. Because of my anatomy (it's doing the work of a normal person's left ventricle), it's getting weaker and weaker. And because it is getting weaker, whenever my body is demanding more oxygen it can't provide quite to the same capacity as a "normal" person's heart can, so it tries to compensate by increasing the rate. We pretty much expected this result.
The other thing we found out from the stress test is the real disturbing part. They test how efficiently you are using oxygen as you exercise while performing the stress test. Now, in a person of my age and size with "normal" anatomy they would get a rating in the high 30s to low 40s. Someone in great physical shape (like Lance Armstrong) would probably rank around 80. The doctor said that when they are doing transplant evaluations, they usually recommend transplant when the patient is at around 14. I got a 17. Not good. She said she was hoping I would be at least in the 20s. So now we're trying to get the records from my last stress test (about 1.5 years ago) to see how things have changed over time. If it shows that I was at 18 or 19 a year and a half ago, then we know that at least I'm not declining all that fast. But it it was 25, then my decline is going pretty fast. It may mean that things are progressing faster than we had hoped.
In the mean time, I am to start increasing my vasotec and try to not push myself so much. I'm to not do heavy lifting and force myself to relax more often... It's going to be hard. I'm working on trying to reevaluate what all I do and how I can cut back without feeling like I'm letting anyone down. The doctor would also like to talk to my regular cardiologist about replacing my pacemaker with a defibrillator, as a precautionary measure. So it looks like I may be having surgery this Christmas...
It's a lot to take in. I just pray that I can put aside my perfectionism and my desire to make others happy so that I can do what's best for me and my health. Right now I know that is going to be my biggest challenge.
Thanks for reading my novel.
