My journey started 3 years ago - May 2008. Without going into all the details, was diagnosed with atrial fibrillation - kinda scary stuff - but was under the care of a cardiologist.
Meds prescribed - warfarin (blood thinner), a pill to give my heart a boost (regulate the electrical charge to my heart), a med to decrease my pulse rate plus another med for high blood pressure.
I first stopped doing my regular activities as I was plain scared - my A-fib acted up a few times and I had to get med adjusted until the proper meds were stabilizing me. Also had to watch my Vitamin K intake, be very careful when in the sun (warfarin does things to you that should not be done but such is life on Warfarin). Learned that I do not sweat, hence I have to keep myself well hydrated - to trust my body when it wants something. Since I am on a diurtic (for the blood pressure), my potassium level is to be carefully monitored and I learned that having a banana a day can be fun (not). I learned to read labels on juices to ensure I got those with plenty of potassium.
Then came the kidney operation - this was a total fluke - since my cardiologist had wanted me to have a stress test (easy eh?) - yeah, but she could not get my heart rate to go up. She said sometimes that can be caused by a kidney problem - but very very rarely. So she sent me for a CT Scan of my kidneys (scan with the iodine in veins). Not a problem, I thought - having googled this, I found that less than 1% of people have problems with kidneys that cause blood pressure to not be stable. But lo and behold, the CT Scan showed that the main artery leading to my left kidney was almost completely blocked. Fine. I could deal with that - altho it meant a 2 hr operation while I was awake (frozen at site of operation though). Got through that - cardiologist figured that would help my blood pressure and possibly my A-fib - but unfortunately not - altho meds were reduced, they soon went back up. Cardiologist said my problem was genetics - not caused by any blocked arteries, etc. (I had also had a heart CT Scan done).
In any case, my cardiologist decided to leave her practice and go into research. I was assigned another cardiologist who did a stress test - told me I was just overweight and that I was fine otherwise. No problem - just to keep on taking my meds. Fine. No problem with that.
(One of the side effects of the warfarin - besides hair loss and depression - is also inability to lose weight). Oh well, I thought, learn to live with this but don't stop living - so golfing we did, line dancing I went to, enjoying myself. My writing group provided me with mental stimulation and took my mind off things.
Then that cardiologist decided to move to Ontario. So off I went to see my family doc and asked him for a referral to another cardiologist. He referred me to who he said was 'the best' - actually the Head of Cardiology. So within a couple of weeks, I get a notice to go for an echocardiogram and a stress test. No problem I thought. The echo was done a couple of weeks before my stress test. When I went for the stress test - I was told I did better than the last time I had one (with the cardiologist who had went to Ontario and who said I was just fine as long as I took my meds).
I asked my new cardiologist what the results were of my echo - he told me to sit down (being told by a doctor to sit down is never usually a good thing - I was not even out of breath from the stress test). He said the echo had shown a 'possible' mass on the atria part of my heart (heart is divided into 4 chambers - the main one being the atrium). He also said it showed my lungs were showing 'something'. So, I said - an X-ray will be needed? He said - no - I would be contacted to go for a pulmonary function test in Moncton and a cardiac MRI in Halifax.
So, after a bit of the shock wore off, the next day I called his office and was able to get a copy of the test results of the echo. Indeed it said there was an enlargement on the atrium part of my heart and also there could be a possible lung disease.
So I went for my pulmonary function test this morning. She said that I was below the % of where I should be. She gave me a puffer and said she would repeat the tests in 15-20 minutes and see if this made a difference. I asked her if that would mean I had COPD - she said only if there was improvement in the results after waiting for 15-20 minutes and the repeat test showed an improvement. I said 'oh darn' - she said there were worse things than a puffer. So we waited and repeated the test. I asked her if I was now in the 'normal' range - she said the puffer had not helped. Well - good news - I do not have COPD - however, I am not 'normal'. I asked what that meant - she said the doctor would be getting the results and would talk to me. Her normal cheerful self was now not so cheerful (or was that me?). All I know is that she went kinda quiet and was not so open to talk about my results anymore. Must google......
Monday I go to Halifax for the full body enclosed Cardiac MRI - and I have a severe form of claustrophobia. Fun and games. But I take things one day at a time.
Thought I would start blogging about this - cause I truly do not know where this journey will lead me.......
I also know I MUST be positive. That thinking positive is effective and can work wonders. So, am doing my best to remain positive. (Here, I feel like saying, 'until next time, Dear Diary'). :o)
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