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Thursday, August 28, 2008
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My heart has almost completely recovered
posted at 4:39 PM  
I have been working very hard at leading a healthier life these past couple of months. I detailed the steps I've been taking here. I've gotten to the point where exercise in the morning is part of my routine. I bring my lunch to work a lot more, and when I do go out I make healthy choices. On days that I bring my lunch, I try to go for a walk, and I recently went to the Y during lunch when it was raining. I've also started going on 45-minute bike rides after work.
It's paid off in many ways. My measurements are shrinking, I've lost 30 pounds, and I feel wonderful. Today, I reaped yet another reward.
Last October, I was diagnosed with congestive heart failure. After six months, heart medicine had helped my heart function improve from 15 to 20% up to 35%...but I was still too far from normal, 55%, for my doctor's liking. She strongly suggested I get an implanted cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD).
At that point, I wrote, "I think that if I had worked harder to improve my diet and exercise, it would be better than it is...and I think if I work on those areas now, I can help it improve even more." And I decided to work on my diet and exercise to see if I was right.
It turns out, I was.
Today I had my echocardiogram, three months after the ICD was suggested and ten months after my diagnosis.
My ejection fraction is now 45 - 50%, just 5% away from normal.Labels: chf, health
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Sunday, May 25, 2008
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My previous post title is apropos
posted at 4:48 PM
It turns out it wasn't a black and white issue. I thought it would be one of two possible outcomes; it never occurred to me that there'd be one in the middle.
My heart has recovered...some. My ejection fraction is now 35. An average person's EF is over 55. My doctor says this is good news, but she still recommends the implanted cardioverter-defibrillator. However, the decision is up to me.
Dr. G explained to me that when they implant the ICD, they purposefully put you into V-fib to see if it works. If not, they shock you the old-fashioned way to keep you from dying, and then change the settings.
That kind of bothered me. If I haven't gone into V-fib ever, it seems to me like putting me into it intentionally only increases the chances that it will happen again.
When I got home I read about the procedure to implant the ICD and what recovery is like. Obviously it involves surgery. The surgeon creates a "pocket" under the collarbone, like they do for a pacemaker, and a lead (or three) goes down a vein to the heart. You're not put all the way under, but there is a sedative.
As with any surgery, I imagine there's a chance of death during the procedure.
If I do this, I will have a device stuck in my body that will be noticeable through the skin. Plus I'll have a scar. Plus, they pretty much never remove these things, even if you get better.
If I don't do this, and I ever do go into V-fib, or my heart is otherwise irregular, I won't have anything to save me from sudden cardiac death.
The issue, to my way of thinking, is whether or not I am in grave danger of my heartbeat becoming irregular or stopping. This may just be the heart meds talking, or my complete lack of desire to undergo surgery again...but I don't feel like I am. I think my heart has improved a great deal in the almost six months since I was diagnosed, and I believe it will continue to improve. I think that if I had worked harder to improve my diet and exercise, it would be better than it is...and I think if I work on those areas now, I can help it improve even more.
At this point, I feel like waiting and seeing what happens.
I have an appointment next month with the doctor who does the procedure, then a follow-up with Dr. G in July. By then it will have been eight months since my diagnosis.
Some heart patients apparently wait nine months to see if their heart has recovered, so why not wait that extra month and then have another echo before I undergo life-altering surgery?
That's basically where I am right now. Obviously, I'm going to talk with more people and learn as much as I can, to try and make the most informed choice.Labels: chf, health, life, quality of life
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Thursday, November 1, 2007
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Not freaking out (yet)
posted at 9:25 PM
I'm searching ""congestive heart failure" "life expectancy"" on Google. So far I'm finding a bunch of articles that say life expectancy depends on the severity of the failure and that life expectancy is shortened. I've only found one article that actually gives numbers, and it was last updated in 2003, so I'm not sure how much it can be trusted.
I think the word a sympathetic news anchor reporting on these numbers would use is "sobering".
Although many people with heart failure live for many years, up to 70% of people die of the disorder within 10 years. Life expectancy depends on how severe the heart failure is, whether its cause can be corrected, and which treatment is used. About half of people who have mild heart failure live at least 10 years, and about half of those who have severe heart failure live at least 2 years. So, assuming this article is accurate, and assuming my heart failure is mild (which I think is a safe assumption given that I'm able to work), I still only have a 50/50 chance of living for just ten more years.
But I have to remind myself that four years have passed since this article was written. Maybe something is different now.
I will try not to freak out too much until I see my cardiologist next week and ask her about it.
However, if it turns out that not much has changed and I am not going to live much past a decade from now--if even that--then some things are going to have to change in my life. I won't be able to put off all the stuff I want to do until later. And I won't have to plan for retirement, either, which means I won't have to feel guilty about spending the money. The first priority will be moving back to Kentucky, and after that, getting to England to see Brooke, and getting back to Japan.
And of course, I will do my best to live as long as possible, which means listening to my doctors and taking care of myself. I can't eat like I've eaten my entire life anymore. I have to eat lean meats, vegetables, no fried food. No more desserts. A lot fewer starches/carbohydrates. Heart-healthy stuff. And I need to go ahead and get a treadmill because aerobic exercise is recommended, on days when I feel up to it.
I had a Slim-Fast for breakfast, a Chick-fil-A Cool Wrap with a fruit cup and Diet Dr Pepper for lunch, and a swordfish steak, baked potato, and steamed veggies for dinner, but while those were healthier options than my usual, I will need to move away from eating out as much as possible--it adds too much sodium.
There may be nothing to worry about; iVillage has a list of questions for CHF patients to ask their doctors, and one of them is "Is my heart failure likely to seriously affect my life expectancy?" which suggests that some heart failure might not (although maybe this question is there because it usually does, but I'm an optimist). But regardless of what I hear at the doctor's, I am going to work to make these changes in my life so I can be healthier.Labels: chf, health, life, quality of life
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