M
Marge
Saw my new cardio for this first time this a.m. (My old one moved out of the area -- he is still with Kaiser but is working in a different hospital.) I was pretty impressed with the new guy.
I was pretty bummed out after I read the report from my last month's echo, so it was important to me that he took a lot of time to discuss my situation, answered my questions and he really LISTENED to me. (My old cardio sometimes seemed to be talking AT me, not TO me.)
I feel pretty comfortable after talking to him. Even though the echo shows that mitral regurgitation has started up again, also that there are indications of mitral stenosis ( the stenosis is apparently "new"), and my left ventricular function continues to be "poor," it does not look like I will be having any more surgery any time soon. I feel fine and I am not having any CHF symptoms. He could, he said, barely discern any murmur. He thinks the indications of stenosis may be "artificial" and something to do with the post-surgery (since there was no stenosis five months ago). He is going to do a closer review of the echo himself now that he has seen me in person.
I'm to continue with regular aerobic exercise and stick to the usual low salt diet, etc. One thing I like about this new cardio is that he thinks the occasional glass of red wine is perfectly OK. (My last cardio was pretty puritanical about that and for him ALL alcohol was a no-no.) As for medication; he is upping my cozaar and my coreg, which is fine by me, since neither have ever particularly bothered me.
I will have another echo, and see him again, in three months or so.
I don't know why, I guess I had really thought that once I had the repair, that would be it, and I could forget about all this cardiology stuff, but it seems that is not to be.
I am disappointed that the heart functions are not that improved by the mitral valve repair, but the new cardio reminded me of something that I knew, bur probably had subconsciously tucked away in the back of my mind:
Nobody knows whether my mitral valve problems are the cause of my ventricular dysfunction, or whether they are actually "secondary" to the ventricular dysfunction. In the second case, obviously, the mitral valve repair, even though technically "successful" may not be that effective in dealing with the overall problem. This is just something I have to accept and live with. In the meanwhile, as I said, I am feeling fine.
And I'm not sorry I had the surgery! As surgeries go, it wasn't that awful, and the recovery was fine, and it did some good -- maybe just not as much as I hoped; but that's life & I don't think that is anybody's fault.
Now on with the rest of my life.
Thank you all for the support I've received here. Don't know what I'd do without you guys.
I was pretty bummed out after I read the report from my last month's echo, so it was important to me that he took a lot of time to discuss my situation, answered my questions and he really LISTENED to me. (My old cardio sometimes seemed to be talking AT me, not TO me.)
I feel pretty comfortable after talking to him. Even though the echo shows that mitral regurgitation has started up again, also that there are indications of mitral stenosis ( the stenosis is apparently "new"), and my left ventricular function continues to be "poor," it does not look like I will be having any more surgery any time soon. I feel fine and I am not having any CHF symptoms. He could, he said, barely discern any murmur. He thinks the indications of stenosis may be "artificial" and something to do with the post-surgery (since there was no stenosis five months ago). He is going to do a closer review of the echo himself now that he has seen me in person.
I'm to continue with regular aerobic exercise and stick to the usual low salt diet, etc. One thing I like about this new cardio is that he thinks the occasional glass of red wine is perfectly OK. (My last cardio was pretty puritanical about that and for him ALL alcohol was a no-no.) As for medication; he is upping my cozaar and my coreg, which is fine by me, since neither have ever particularly bothered me.
I will have another echo, and see him again, in three months or so.
I don't know why, I guess I had really thought that once I had the repair, that would be it, and I could forget about all this cardiology stuff, but it seems that is not to be.
I am disappointed that the heart functions are not that improved by the mitral valve repair, but the new cardio reminded me of something that I knew, bur probably had subconsciously tucked away in the back of my mind:
Nobody knows whether my mitral valve problems are the cause of my ventricular dysfunction, or whether they are actually "secondary" to the ventricular dysfunction. In the second case, obviously, the mitral valve repair, even though technically "successful" may not be that effective in dealing with the overall problem. This is just something I have to accept and live with. In the meanwhile, as I said, I am feeling fine.
And I'm not sorry I had the surgery! As surgeries go, it wasn't that awful, and the recovery was fine, and it did some good -- maybe just not as much as I hoped; but that's life & I don't think that is anybody's fault.
Now on with the rest of my life.
Thank you all for the support I've received here. Don't know what I'd do without you guys.
