I went to my cardiologist the first of December for shortness of breath. I did a nuclear stress test first. Then I had a catheter done the 27th of December. The results were surprisingly good. No blockages and a triple bypass still in good shape. He put me on Entresto and come back in 3 months for an echo.
The echocardiogram appointment coincided with a cardiac clearance for a hernia surgery. During the procedure the guy doing it was pretty grim,asking me if I was still working and did I walk in. The results were 20% ejection fraction and a blood clot in my heart. He referred me to a heart failure specialist. He also put me on a blood thinner.
The hernia surgery went well even though the anesthesiologist was shocked when I asked him if he had read the cardiologist report. Apparently he hadn’t.
The surgery was April 12. I will be going back to work May 8th. In the meantime I went to the specialist on Thursday. This was really well done. I saw 4 different nurses and the dr. The appointment took an hour and 50 minutes. She evaluated me with about 50 questions. I couldn’t get a real good reading on my health. She did tell me 30% of the people that come in on the first visit goes straight to the hospital. So maybe that’s good or maybe it’s too late. I was told no more alcohol at this time. 2000 mg of salt a day max. She put me on a fluid pill and the drug Farxiga. I go back in one month.
Before the surgery I was weighing 238. I guess due to not eating much and surgery trauma I dropped to 229. Three days on the fluid pill and hardly any salt I’m at 224 this morning.
My question is, how many of y’all have been diagnosed with heart failure and what can I expect in the future. I’m 62 and work full time as a superintendent in a pipe fabrication shop. I hate the thought of retiring yet. These 3 weeks home have been hard. Thanks for any encouragement.
The echocardiogram appointment coincided with a cardiac clearance for a hernia surgery. During the procedure the guy doing it was pretty grim,asking me if I was still working and did I walk in. The results were 20% ejection fraction and a blood clot in my heart. He referred me to a heart failure specialist. He also put me on a blood thinner.
The hernia surgery went well even though the anesthesiologist was shocked when I asked him if he had read the cardiologist report. Apparently he hadn’t.
The surgery was April 12. I will be going back to work May 8th. In the meantime I went to the specialist on Thursday. This was really well done. I saw 4 different nurses and the dr. The appointment took an hour and 50 minutes. She evaluated me with about 50 questions. I couldn’t get a real good reading on my health. She did tell me 30% of the people that come in on the first visit goes straight to the hospital. So maybe that’s good or maybe it’s too late. I was told no more alcohol at this time. 2000 mg of salt a day max. She put me on a fluid pill and the drug Farxiga. I go back in one month.
Before the surgery I was weighing 238. I guess due to not eating much and surgery trauma I dropped to 229. Three days on the fluid pill and hardly any salt I’m at 224 this morning.
My question is, how many of y’all have been diagnosed with heart failure and what can I expect in the future. I’m 62 and work full time as a superintendent in a pipe fabrication shop. I hate the thought of retiring yet. These 3 weeks home have been hard. Thanks for any encouragement.
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