Archive for the ‘Heart’ Category
1
Aug
Written by Mike on August 1st, 2010
So, I ended up at the hospital again late last Saturday night after I started feeling pretty bad. My heart was racing and my chest was hurting, I was having problems breathing and my blood pressure was sky high; it was 156/109 when I checked it the first time, and even higher by the time I reached the hospital.
Now, I was rather familiar with those symptoms, as they are the exact same ones that landed me in the hospital in April 2009. They are, in fact, some of the symptoms of a heart attack. I was also aware that those symptoms could be brought on by digestive issues like severe acid reflux, because that’s what caused the problems I had last April. So, I knew I was either having a heart attack or another reflux attack. More importantly, though, I knew that there was no way to tell the difference between the two without medical tests. And given that I have congestive heart failure anyway, I couldn’t leave anything to chance. So, I did the smart thing, and went to the emergency room.
Upon arriving and telling the desk nurse what was going on, I was immediately wheeled to a room in the ER where they attached a blood pressure cuff to my arm, listened to my heart, did an EKG, and drew blood for enzyme tests that determine whether a heart attack has occurred. They also brought in a portable x-ray machine and took an picture of my chest.
In the time it took for the results of all the tests to come back, a nitroglycerin patch was placed on my chest to help bring my blood pressure down, and I saw the physician’s assistant and the ER doctor. After a brief chat, the doctor went to call my cardiologist, and he in turn admitted me to the hospital, and said he’d see me the following afternoon.
In the back of my mind, I knew exactly what the cardiologist was going to say. He’d want to do a heart catheterization to get a better idea as to what was going on with my heart. And I was right about that. While I wasn’t exactly thrilled with the idea, I knew that it had to be done, so I might as well go along with it. So they took me down for the procedure around 5:00 p.m. Monday.
Honestly, the procedure itself wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. I was awake through the whole thing, although they did give me a sedative to help me relax. The worst part of the ordeal was recovery time after the heart cath was finished. I was so stiff and sore after laying on my back for 6 hours it was not funny. I’ve never enjoyed walking the halls of a hospital as much as I did when they finally let me get up either. And as bad as that was, I’d have to say that the good news I got as a result of the procedure was more than worth it.
All of my coronary arteries looked good; there were no blockages whatsoever. In fact, the doctor said things looked so good that I could stop taking the Plavix he’s had me on. And the other bit of good news is that my heart has gotten stronger; it’s now pumping at 50%, which is what my doctor says is a normal level and the minimum that he wants to see. AWEsome!
So, it turns out that it was yet another severe acid reflux attack that led me to the hospital. And while that bothers me, the fact of the matter is that things could have gotten a lot worse if I hadn’t gone to the hospital. With the reflux driving my blood pressure higher and higher, I could have very easily had a heart attack or stroke, and, well, you wouldn’t be reading this post.
Like the title says, Better Safe Than Sorry!
PS: Many thanks to all of those in the DOC who expressed their concerns, prayers, and well wishes last week. I can’t tell you how much that meant to me, and how much it helped get me through. Lots of love everyone!
30
Jun
Written by Mike on June 30th, 2010
Well, this post is definitely more than a day late, but better late than never. Here goes.
I went to the doctor last Thursday to get the results of all the lab work that was done last month. You know, the lab work that I had a hell of a time fasting for. Anyway, the results of those tests were a mix of good and bad.
My A1C, which had been 6.0 the last couple of times it was check, was up to 6.4. Not a bad number in the grand scheme of things, but certainly not the third 6.0 in a row that I was going for. In reviewing blood glucose logs I gave her, the doctor noted the increasing number of highs in my logs. In light of those, and the A1C results, she concluded that the Metformin that I had been taking just wasn’t as effective as it had been.
And as if the Metformin not working anymore wasn’t enough, she also concluded that it was also the culprit behind all of the stomach cramps, nausea, and diarrhea that I’ve been dealing with for the last few months. All side effects that I had been warned about when I started taking the medication a year ago, but that never appeared. So, as a result, I’m no longer taking Metformin. I’m now taking Januvia, and the jury has just started deliberating on whether this will work or not. I’ll keep everyone posted.
The results of the microalbumin tests noted some abnormalities, too. There was apparently quite a bit of protein in the urine sample they took, which could mean any number of things. Not the least of which being possible kidney problems. More tests are being scheduled to determine the cause, but in the doctor went ahead and adjusted one of the medication I’m taking as a precaution. I’ll keep everyone posted on this as well.
My blood pressure was on the high side as well, so that medication was adjusted, too.
Oh, and one other change made at this appointment came in the form of a prescription for Ambien. I’ve been having a terrible time sleeping with the BiPAP machine I use for treating sleep apnea, and asked the doctor about something that might help me get some sleep and be able to use the machine at the same time. So, we’re going to try the Ambien for a while, and hope to God it actually helps.
All for now. Keep hanging in there.
7
May
Written by Mike on May 7th, 2010
So I was on my way to my 10:45 a.m. appointment at the cardiologist’s office when I looked up and saw the one thing that everyone dreads the most: the flashing lights of a police car in the rear view mirror. When I looked at the speedometer, I knew why I was being stopped, but I pulled over, got my license, registration, and insurance stuff ready, and waited for the officer to come ask me if I knew why he was pulling me over.
As it turns out, they were stopping every car going 45 miles an hour through that particular 30 mile an hour speed limit zone. Sounds like profiling to me, but that’s just me. Apparently my lead foot got the best of me, and was pressing that gas pedal 15 miles an hour harder than it should have been. Oops!
And much to my surprise, the officer must have met his ticket quota early this morning, because he let me off with a warning to slow it down and be careful. I was kind of speechless, and that never happens. lol. How the hell did I get away with a warning for driving 15 to 20 miles an hour over the speed limit? I don’t know, but it saved me $800 to $1,000 in fines.
I ended up being about 15 minutes late to the cardiologist appointment, but they didn’t seem to have a problem with that. I just told them I ran into heavy traffic downtown, and that was that.
The appointment went pretty well. There were no real changes in my EKG, and my blood pressure, blood oxygen levels, etc… were relatively good. And there were no changes made to any of my medications either, so that made me and my wallet happy, too.
They also did an echocardiogram while I was in the office. The technician said nothing major caught her eye, but they wouldn’t know for sure until the report came back from processing. I figure I’ll hear from them fairly soon if they found something strange, and if not, I’ll get the results when I go back in 4 months.
Until then, I’ll be working to keep the gears and wheels in me turning. And trying to keep the tire rubber from burning.
25
Mar
Written by Mike on March 25th, 2010
Had a routine visit with Dr. Cabe (Primary Care Physician) this morning. Those of you who follow me on Twitter should already know this, considering that I relieved my boredom by tweeting and ranting about amount of time I spent waiting to see the doctor.
My appointment was at 11:00 a.m., and I didn’t see the doctor until about 12:30 p.m. Now, I generally try to exercise what little patience I have, but that waiting BS really drives me crazy. And then the doctors wonder why my blood pressure is elevated when I finally see them. I generally hit them with some perfectly flawless logic, like: “Well gee, Doc, my blood pressure was fine before I left home. Could it be that you ticked me off by making me wait so damn long?” That gets them every time. 
Actually, aside from the wait, and having to return to the office because the doctor forgot to sign one of my scripts, the appointment went rather well. Dr. Cabe was happy with my latest A1c results, and the blo0d glucose (BG) logs that I showed her. The results of my creatinine and bun tests were also good. And even my blood pressure was pretty good. 
We are going to work on tweaking my Crestor dosage, to see if we can find a level that won’t cause the muscle aches that I’ve been experiencing. If that doesn’t work, we will be looking for another cholesterol medication. And we’re going to tweak my Protonix dosage, as I probably don’t need to take as much as I have in the past. Other than that, there were no other changes to any of my medications. That’s definitely a good thing.
In early June, I’ll have another A1c test, as well as Lipid and Microalbumin checks. Then I’ll go back to see Dr. Cabe at the end of June. Good times.
For now, I’m going to focus on the countdown to my vacation, which will begin in exactly 5 hours & 48 minutes.
22
Jan
Written by Mike on January 22nd, 2010
I went for my stress test follow-up appointment this morning, and received some great news from the cardiologist.
The stress test results indicate that the strength of my heart has increased 7% over the last year. It’s now 42%, as opposed to 35% at the time of diagnosis with CHF. 50% is considered normal, so I’ve only got 8 points to go to reach that goal. The cardiologist says that if I continue at this pace on the treatment plan I’m on, with the medications, diet, and exercise, I should be able to reach that goal, and beyond, over the next year or two.
The test results also indicated that the 30% blockage in the Left Anterior Descending Artery of my heart appears to be gone. The cholesterol medications and clot busters appear to have done their jobs.
So yeah, I’m really excited to know that things really are improving, despite how bad I feel at times. I still have a long way to go in this battle, but now that I see these results, I have even more motivation to keep me going.
Keep Fighting, and Rock On!
