more heart-thoughts
it is now almost 3 years since my takotsubo episode - this summer i found a facebook support group which has been very helpful in reassuring me that i am not going mad and that full recovery from Takotsubo is not guaranteed, as many doctors think
on reviewing my "hopeful heart" posts i realised that i focused on what was going on in my head and not explained the parallel events in my body - so i'll cover some of that while i still remember most of it
Wednesday 5th November 2014 was the day i was whisked off to hospital, my first ride in an ambulance as the patient - a novel event as i have never been in the patient seat before, although i have accompanied a fair number of them
i had been feeling rough the day before, off colour, limp, off my food (a major symptom in me!!), palpitations, cold sweat and eventually crippling dizziness with nausea when i moved - called the GP who prescribed an anti emetic, which didn't do much but i got to sleep
woke up on the wednesday early, very short of breath with the sensation that my trachea and oesophagus were being tightly gripped to my sternum - delayed a bit before waking the beloved and calling 111 - a paramedic was promptly sent, followed by an ambulance crew, some dithering over the ECG which was misbehaving - ECG in the ambulance outside the house prompted a decision to take me to A&E - initially told i was having a heart attack then an angiogram revealed lovely clear arteries and a different problem - then echo-cardiogram revealed blood clots in the left venticular chamber and suggested Takotsubo or possibly Hypertrophic Cardiomypathy - either way it was off to coronary care for a while
i felt very lucky that i had been processed and diagnosed so quickly - i was having the angiogram before i had even been properly admitted - i have since found out that some have to wait days or longer for the angiogram and echocardiogram and are treated for heart attack (myocardial infarct)
while in hospital i saw a different consultant every day, none would commit firmly to a diagnosis until the team meeting 5 days away! this was worrying because some were leaning toward HCM which seemed like a more permanent and potentially debilitating condition - no-one was giving me much information and i had not internet connection so could not do any research for myself - nor could i keep in touch with the outside world as i had come to rely heavily on my lap-top by then
my discharge was a bit of a rush job - they didn't seem to be able to make up their minds about whether to discharge me or not, then suddenly i was packed off - i suspect a more acute case was being admitted and the bed was urgently needed - but this meant i did not get a pre-discharge chat with a registrar (or anyone helpful) who might have answered some of my many questions - another time i shall be more insistent on seeing someone while still in bed!
so that was where it all started - they were wrong about the complete recovery, but i was already used to rationing my activity anyway so it doesn't make much difference - what does irritate me is the dismissive attitude of some of the hospital medics i have encountered since then - fortunately my GP surgery takes me seriously and i feel in good hands there
now i'm off back to doily business!
on reviewing my "hopeful heart" posts i realised that i focused on what was going on in my head and not explained the parallel events in my body - so i'll cover some of that while i still remember most of it
Wednesday 5th November 2014 was the day i was whisked off to hospital, my first ride in an ambulance as the patient - a novel event as i have never been in the patient seat before, although i have accompanied a fair number of them
i had been feeling rough the day before, off colour, limp, off my food (a major symptom in me!!), palpitations, cold sweat and eventually crippling dizziness with nausea when i moved - called the GP who prescribed an anti emetic, which didn't do much but i got to sleep
woke up on the wednesday early, very short of breath with the sensation that my trachea and oesophagus were being tightly gripped to my sternum - delayed a bit before waking the beloved and calling 111 - a paramedic was promptly sent, followed by an ambulance crew, some dithering over the ECG which was misbehaving - ECG in the ambulance outside the house prompted a decision to take me to A&E - initially told i was having a heart attack then an angiogram revealed lovely clear arteries and a different problem - then echo-cardiogram revealed blood clots in the left venticular chamber and suggested Takotsubo or possibly Hypertrophic Cardiomypathy - either way it was off to coronary care for a while
i felt very lucky that i had been processed and diagnosed so quickly - i was having the angiogram before i had even been properly admitted - i have since found out that some have to wait days or longer for the angiogram and echocardiogram and are treated for heart attack (myocardial infarct)
while in hospital i saw a different consultant every day, none would commit firmly to a diagnosis until the team meeting 5 days away! this was worrying because some were leaning toward HCM which seemed like a more permanent and potentially debilitating condition - no-one was giving me much information and i had not internet connection so could not do any research for myself - nor could i keep in touch with the outside world as i had come to rely heavily on my lap-top by then
my discharge was a bit of a rush job - they didn't seem to be able to make up their minds about whether to discharge me or not, then suddenly i was packed off - i suspect a more acute case was being admitted and the bed was urgently needed - but this meant i did not get a pre-discharge chat with a registrar (or anyone helpful) who might have answered some of my many questions - another time i shall be more insistent on seeing someone while still in bed!
so that was where it all started - they were wrong about the complete recovery, but i was already used to rationing my activity anyway so it doesn't make much difference - what does irritate me is the dismissive attitude of some of the hospital medics i have encountered since then - fortunately my GP surgery takes me seriously and i feel in good hands there
now i'm off back to doily business!
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