Med test (cross posted for convenience)

August 8, 2009

Hi all,

Some know and some dont that I had a test yesterday on my heart. It was an

adenosine stress MRI. This is probably not a true medical description, but it

felt like they were trying to induce a heart attack....pain/pressure/ and

various assorted yucky feelings. The doc said he'd call back, but i did not

expect a call until next week. The doctor called a short while ago....imagine a

doctor taking time out of his Saturday to treat a person and not a chart! I

feel fortunate to have him on my side.. Anyway, there is no plaque, no scarring

no blocks so my heart is in fairly good shape. It is much too enlarged for the

small arteries to provide enough blood to the muscle. The result is similar to

what would be caused by a clogged artery. The medical treatment will be the

same...beta blockers and nitro for the pain. My task will be to loose the

weight and keep my blood pressure under control.

All in all, the news is as good as it could be in explaining the edema,

shortness of breath, angina and palpitations. The doctor never called it

myopathy, just an enlarged heart. Isn't this the same thing? He suspects that

the root of the problem is my asthma. Evidetnly it is not uncommon to have

enlarged right atria/ventricals (which I have) as a result of asthma. To

support this idea, I also have a leaky triscuspid also not uncommon for

asthmatics.. He will coordinate ideas regarding treament with my pulmonologist

in Anchorage and my internist in my local area. I'll post again as I hear more.

Thanks all for the support.

Mike McBride

" Blessed is he who, with a hunger that is never satisfied, day and night

throughout this present life makes prayer and the psalms his food and drink, and

strengthens himself by reading of God's glory in Scripture. Such communion will

lead the soul to ever-increasing joy in the age to come. " St. of Karpathos.

August 9, 2009

It's so good to hear about someone with such a caring physician who stays right

on top of things!

I didn't know that an enlarged heart and myopathy were necessarily the same

thing. I have a slightly enlarged heart or (depending on which doc and medical

report I believe) my heart is at the upper limits of normal size. A somewhat

enlarged heart as I understand it is not, in and of itself, that dangerous but I

invite med professionals to clarify that.

Please do keep in mind that betablockers can cause deadly consequences with

asthmatics. In a crisis you might not be able to recover. My husband was on

betablockers for years and besides keeping him in a state of exhaustion and

depression he had no energy and breathing was affected. His mind was in a fog.

(he also has asthma) It was dangerous and I resent the self righteous doctors

who did it to him. That's even more so when we finally learned after many years

that he had a rare renal/endocrine disease called hyperaldosteronism which does

not respond to any of the conventional blood pressure drugs.

There can be other reasons for edema such as connective tissue disease including

various forms of arthritis and phlebitis. Inflammation in the blood vessels and

small clots can go undetected but still cause problems with circulation.

The angina (thankfully I do not have it) would have me more concerned and

certainly it sounds like close professional care is a wise choice.

>

> Hi all,

>

> Some know and some dont that I had a test yesterday on my heart. It was an