mitral valve repair surgery – Page 3

Transesophageal Echocardiogram

Post author:HFM
Post published:March 10, 2005
Post category:Health

More health-related googling and blogging for me.

Basically, I have to have one of these soon to see what’s actually going on inside my heart.

Today I went to the cardiologist (Dr. Yee, Cardiac Care Center, Methodist Hospital) to talk about the results of my recent echocardiogram. While I was there, he was interested in finding out how my heart reacts to stress, so he had me stay and and do a stress echo, which is the same thing as last week, only with exercise. Basically they do an echo, then the put you on a treadmill to get your heart rate up as high as possible, then they lay you back down and do another echo while your heart rate is way up. It wasn’t as fun as the last one; it was exhausting.

They were able to learn a lot more about what’s going on, but they don’t have a really detailed picture of the architecture of my heart, which is where the Transesophageal Echocardiogram will come in. Unfortunately, what that involves is sticking a tube down my throat and doing an ultrasound from inside my body, which means I have to be put under and on an IV, etc. I have to have some one take me and pick me up from the hospital, etc. More complicated and stressful.

Heart Update

Post author:HFM
Post published:March 3, 2005
Post category:Health Journal

I got a call from the nurse… my cholesterol is down from last time I had it checked. It’s 181, which is considered normal. All my other bloodwork is good, too, including my potassium and calcium levels, so the doctor is quite happy with that, and I need to keep eating healthy and not let anything get worse.
181 – total cholesterol (optimal: below 200)
133 – triglicerides (optimal: below 150)
110 – LDL (optimal: below 100, Near Optimal: 100-129)
44 – HDL (average: between 50-60)
So I still need to lower my LDL and raise my HDL cholesterol a little bit.
The echocardigram shows my pulmonary valve stenosis is now considered moderate, which is worse than before. The mitral valve prolapse is apparently the same. So I need to go see a cardiologist. They’re setting up an appointment for me at Methodist downtown. I’m not sure if that means anything at all, or if it’s any sort of problem. I guess I’ll find out from the cardiologist when I talk to them.

Echocardiogram fun

Post author:HFM
Post published:March 2, 2005
Post category:Health Journal

I had my test yesterday, but I don’t find out the results of it for a couple more days. It went really smoothly, though, I think. It was very interesting and I want to write more about it when I get some time. I’m hoping that I can write enough about it to make a decent article for IndyScribe.

Heart Matters

Post author:HFM
Post published:February 25, 2005
Post category:Health

Heart Diagram What an echo-cardiogram is.

Also, the dangers of Endocarditis, also known as heart valve infection.

I’m googling these things because I have to go get an echo-cardiogram for the first time since I was a kid. I have a congenital heart murmur, which has apparently gotten worse in the last two years.

More specifically, I have two problems: a pulmonary stenosis, which means my pulmonary valve is too narrow and doesn’t pump blood efficiently. And I also have Mitral Valve prolapse, which means my mitral valve doesn’t close completely and allows blood to flow backwards into the previous chamber, causing a whooshing sound or “murmur.”

Apparently my murmur has gone from a grade 1 to a grade 3 on a scale of 6. It’s possible that this increase in the murmur may be a result of age, or as a result of a heart valve infection that occurred when I had my appendix rupture.

Interestingly, this site mentions as symptoms two things that I do recall having: fatigue, exhaustion, and light-headedness (may result from low cardiac output) and shortness of breath when lying down (orthopnea). Hmm.