boring post about heart stuff
Jul. 20th, 2006 09:58 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
bunrabWell, the stress echo shows that my ventricles are discordant - one side blobs out when it should be squeezing in; when I exercise, my EF DROPS from 20% down to the 10-15% range. (In the middle of the walk, my blood pressure started dropping because of this. Apparently, this is significantly abnormal enough to wind the test down early.) The bi-ventricular pacemaker would definitely be at least a partial fix for this, if they could get that bi-v lead in, and it looks like it would be worth a third try at it. So, my cardiologist called another EP (electrophysiologist, the pacemaker surgeon) and I go in to see him in a few weeks, and we discuss what we'd need to do to make sure that a third try at putting in a third lead would not be a complete waste of time and money; what can he do differently to avoid the stuff the other EPs ran into? Since the new pacemaker would need to go in a different spot, because the old location is all scar tissue now, where, precisely, would we put it? (And if I was freaking out airline security before, having a pacemaker when I'm not a little old lady, imagine if I have a pacemaker in some spot other than the upper left thorax!) And a few other questions. But anyway, there's no question but that my heart needs the help.
I asked Dr. G, "Why don't people just believe me when I TELL them I get really tired when I walk?" (This is sort of a running thing, because every cardiologist I've ever seen says things like "Oh, you've got to walk more, it will help!" And I keep saying, no, it doesn't build up my stamina, it makes me feel worse! And they never believe me.) And he says it's because I don't panic enough. When I was on the treadmill, I was muttering that it was boring and that I'd like something to read, and maybe I'd just critique the technique of the painting I was staring at, and when the speed and incline increased, I told him that I really wouldn't want to do this for very long, and that it's not a pace I would choose if he weren't making me. Well, that was true. However, according to him, from what the echo was showing, what I *should* have been saying was "This is too much, stop the test, let me off this thing" while panting for breath. Because I wasn't panting for breath, and I could still finish a whole sentence, they didn't believe it till they could see the heart itself.
So OK, I'm supposed to get more upset and panic more often and get hysterical if I want people to take me seriously? C'mon.
Can I help it if playing the saxophone all these years has done wonders for my breath control?
I asked Dr. G, "Why don't people just believe me when I TELL them I get really tired when I walk?" (This is sort of a running thing, because every cardiologist I've ever seen says things like "Oh, you've got to walk more, it will help!" And I keep saying, no, it doesn't build up my stamina, it makes me feel worse! And they never believe me.) And he says it's because I don't panic enough. When I was on the treadmill, I was muttering that it was boring and that I'd like something to read, and maybe I'd just critique the technique of the painting I was staring at, and when the speed and incline increased, I told him that I really wouldn't want to do this for very long, and that it's not a pace I would choose if he weren't making me. Well, that was true. However, according to him, from what the echo was showing, what I *should* have been saying was "This is too much, stop the test, let me off this thing" while panting for breath. Because I wasn't panting for breath, and I could still finish a whole sentence, they didn't believe it till they could see the heart itself.
So OK, I'm supposed to get more upset and panic more often and get hysterical if I want people to take me seriously? C'mon.
Can I help it if playing the saxophone all these years has done wonders for my breath control?
