Reassurance is needed, again!

[Dennis S]

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Dear Christina: I came down with polio as a child, and was paralyzed and suffered for a long time before experiencing an absolute miracle cure. Thirty years later I read an article on post-polio syndrome, and all the symptoms seemed to fit. All the memories came back in a flash and I suffered needlesly for a year wondering how I would be a husband and father as the paralysis took over. I think I have an idea of how you are feeling tonight. Probably I can't say anything to help you feel better, but maybe it helps to know you are not the first (or last) to have these nights.

But please think long and hard about pushing Wayne to leave the home he loves when you don't have anything definite to go on. This can easily come off as "controlling" behavior that can put a real strain on a great relationship. I live in the mountains of Northern New Mexico, and it would just about kill me to leave. I don't sleep all that well, and I will try to remember to pray for you when I wake up.

 

[KristiinSD]

Hang in there!

Hang in there!

I hope youare feeling better soon...glad you found a use for buspar! I am all for better living with chemicals ;-) esp. when you get undesired news.

for what its worth, your echo sounds great to me. And they do them because they are nonintrusive and inexpensive.

Kristi
mitral valve repair 11/30

 

[Ross]

Christina, from my flying days, 2000 ft is NOT going to make any difference as far as the pressures go. Nothing noteworthy anyhow. It may drop a millibar or two, but that is nothing.

I wish I could get you to relax. Your over worrying and stressing yourself completely out. It really is going to be fine, you'll see. Stop pondering these thoughts and enjoy your life. Remember, getting fixed was so that you would have a life to enjoy. Don't kill it with fretting and worrying all the time.

 

[PaulW]

Enlarged heart

Enlarged heart

Because my bad aortic valve was discovered late in the game, after my heart had sustained significant damage (unluckily I had no symptoms that I knew of and the docs were not aware of how sick my heart was), I have ongoing issues that I will have to deal with despite the fact that my valve was successfully replaced in August. My heart is
enlarged and has lost some of its contractility and my ejection fraction is fairly low, etc. But my docs are optimistic that time and good meds (Coreg and Lisinopril, CoQ10, vitamins, aspirin, and fish oil) will bring me back to normal or close to it and they think that I have a reasonable chance at a long and healthy life (I am 62). I am religiously careful about staying on a low sodium diet, eating healthy fresh foods, and walking 2.5 miles per day on my treadmill (with increasing incline and speed slowly) every single day. My heart has decreased somewhat in size and my ejection fraction has increased a little since the August surgery and I continue to feel better. If I eat high sodium foods (as in a business lunch at work) I do have fluid retention, so have to stay away as much as possible from restaurant foods and added salt, canned foods, junk food, processed food of any kind. I work at a demanding and high stress job as a dean of a large liberal arts college and am doing just fine with my return to work although I am working hard at not taking anything too seriously. Your echo looks much better than mine, by the way. I also tend to agonize over every detail of my echos and other test results so I sympathize with you greatly.

 

[Christina L]

Everyone again,

Everyone again,

thanks for your posts. Wayne and I are going to see a cardio today to talk with him. Luckily he is a cardio who has a very good bedside manner and hopefully will be able to tell me the facts without upsetting me too much. My main cardio who has the not-so-good bedside manner is out of town until the end of the week, but we still want to see him also.

Wayne pushed me to get the doc's appointment today and he is right - I need to talk with someone NOW. I also need to get a prescription for Ativan and to see if the Buspar is okay to be taking.

I am doing somewhat better, accepting this fate of mine. However, I still wake up in the early morning hours (better than middle of the night as it was a few days ago) and a wave of sadness and terror comes over me - as I remember, "Oh yeah my heart is enlarging."

Paul, I'm sorry to hear about your enlarged heart, but yet I'm not, as you sound like you have everything under control! I know a person can live with an enlarged heart, and live well and many, many years. I am most worried about pulmonary hypertension being the culprit in my case and will ask today to be referred to a PH specialist. I know the cardio will brush the diagnosis off, but I need to know what is going on. I don't understand why my cardio wants to wait a whole year to see what my heart is doing.

I also have a call in to Dr. Cosgrove's nurse at the Cleveland Clinic and am anxious to talk with her.

I will let you all know this afternoon what the cardio said.

Thanks again and again everyone for your concern and help.

Christina L

 

[Christina L]

Paul,

Paul,

Thank you also for the pep talk regarding holistic medicine. I am a big believer in helping yourself and I plan to cut way back on the salt (I am a salt lover! - which could have been my downfall?) and get on my treadmill religiously now also. I had not been exercising faithfully before this and my stress level is always way high, which everyone knows. I plan to start up yoga in our basement at least three times a week also. I have to do something - I have to be proactive as another member said - I have to have hope. Otherwise...

Christina L

 

[Phyllis]

Good luck, Christina. I hope your appointment goes well and the cardio is able to assure you enough that you can put this behind you and start enjoying your new marraige and plans for adoption.

 

[Mb]

Dear Christina:

My heart goes out to you. You seem to suffer horribly from stress/anxiety. Your worry is going to do more damage to you than your heart condition. Did you know that anxiety comes along with heart disease? Christina, as I read your posts, I am convinced that you would be helped tremendously with a mild anxiety medication. I think that your quality of life could improve, and your body would not have to suffer the needless consequences of your anxiety. This can be helped. And, so many heart patients DO take something. Talk to your Dr.,.....please. - marybeth

 

[Christina L]

Thanks Phyllis, Dick, and Marybeth -

Thanks Phyllis, Dick, and Marybeth -

Mary, I so, so agree with you. I was reading a very old report from when I was in my early 20s and was having severe tachycardia - I had it all through my teens and into my 20s, then it went away - have not had tachycardia since, just PACs.

Anyway, the cardiologist who dictated the report said "this is a young woman who seems very anxious about her condition." HELLO!! That was probably an understatement.

I think we learn what we live. My Mother, bless her soul, was a wonderful mother, but she was very high strung and worried about a lot of things. I think I am worse than she was, though.

All of these trials that come my way, are coming my way for a reason, I believe - I am supposed to learn something from them in this life.

I try, believe me, I try to be positive and not to worry. I look at Wayne and he has always been one of the most easy going people - HOWEVER, that said, he is in "perfect" health and is 54 - I don't know what he would do if he found out he had a health problem and was facing his mortality.

I will be getting an anti-anxiety med today, you can count on that. The thing about those, though, is that doctors are so reluctant to keep prescribing them as they don't want you to get addicted - God forbid a person should get addicted to a medicine that is helping them, when without the medicine things could be much worse.

Thanks again -

Christina L

 

[Christina L]

Pam,

Pam,

I don't think it makes a difference in most valvers to live at high altitude but IF I were to have pulmonary hypertension (not edema), that is something that is aggravated by living at high altitude and I have found several web sites that state it can be caused from "chronic exposure to high altitudes." Hmmmm.....

However, IF I have PH, it was caused by my valve disease, complicated probably by living up here. If a person does have PH, it is probably better that they live at a lower altitude.

2000 feet doesn't sound like a lot, but it really is. Ideally, I would love to live in Mendocino, California. I remember going there one year after my surgery and I could feel a huge difference in how I felt all around - so much oxygen!!! Everything I did, I did so easily. My body felt as if it was at rest.

Christina L

 

[Harrybaby666]

Hi Christina....

Hi Christina....

I just wanted to chime in here and say to you that I know exactly how your feeling with your fears and anxiety...as one who has not had surgery as of yet, but has had other surgeries, it is hard not to focus on the issues that are at hand, and the thought of someone cracking open my chest still frightens me to know end, but I just try and focus on the good things that are happening in my life, such as my cat Bandit....I just know that with Wayne by your side, you will do just fine and if you need comforting, and he is not there for some reason (work, etc) just look at that ABSOLUTELY BEAUTIFUL wedding picture that you posted and lean on all of us here if you need too.

In my humble opinion, The man upstairs will do his darndest to see that nothing happens to such a pretty bride and her prince charming. Please know that you are in my prayers and thoughts and I am wishing for nothing but the best for you and your husband. Harrybaby