Re: Sandy CHF from Lily

[Guest guest]

Sandy,

Congestive Heart Failure has many causes and is one of the most expensive

hospital stays for medicare. Many of the elderly have CHF, where the heart is

failing. If a person manages their CHF and it is not in the most severe stage, a

person can live with CHF but has to be very good about following doctors orders.

If you check out the internet, you should be able to find tons of stuff on CHF.

Check out the Cleveland Clinic web page and also a web page called Medscape. It

is a medical web page but you do not have to be a nurse or doctor to sign up.

Sometimes I use www.google.com as my search engine and have been very lucky to

find lots of stuff.

With CHF, you need to be sure that your mom controls her BP. If her kidneys are

in good shape ( blood work can tell if they are, like a BUN and creatinine )

then about any blood pressure pill that the doctor gives her will help. Some

prefer ACE inhibitors but if she has any kidney function trouble, they can not

use a ACE inhibitor. Also it is important that she weigh herself everyday and

write it down. If she notices a weight gain of 3-5 pounds or more overnight, she

needs to be aware that her heart or lungs may be filling with fluid. With CHF,

the heart becomes enlarged, can not pump adequately, thus causing fluid build up

around the heart or in the lungs. This can also lead to pneumonmia. CHF patients

ususally are instructed to get the flu shot every year. Also a pnemonia shot,

but that is not given every year. Also avoid salt intake, check ankles, fingers,

eyes and lips for any swelling. Keep legs elevated as much as possible. Avoid

shoveling snow and extreme cold temperatures. Limit exposure outside. Heat can

also increase the BP. Alot of CHF patients will be on BP meds, water pills,

regular heart meds and maybe respiratory meds as the lungs can be easily

affected due to the heart not pumping correctly. In addition, when the heart

does not work right, irregular beats can happen. Some CHF patients may qualify

for a pacemaker. Each case is different. But watching her BP, weight and salt

intake is important. My dad is also on oxygen 24 hours a day, but he was also a

3-4 pack a day smoker.Not any more afer his 2 open heart surgeries. He is 78

now, and had his first surgery at age 49. He is lucky that he has made it this

far. Be sure she has regular check up with a cardiologist every 6 months and

not just the family doctor. Cardiologist specilaize in CHF.They can do an

echocardiogram that can check her ejection fraction rate which tells the doctor

alot about the condition of her heart. How old is she ?

Sorry about the long email. Hope that some of the info has been helpful to you.

Email me off line if you have any other questions. I am at Bigsister@...

Take Care and Happy Valentine's Day !

Lily from Ohio

I will see if I can send you some web sites as I come accross them.

-Sandy wrote

From: Sandy

To: pancreatitis

Sent: Saturday, February 14, 2004 4:10 PM

Subject: Re: Lily

Lily,

I just read your post regarding your dad. I am sorry to hear this. My

mom was just admitted for CHF on wednesday night and I am searching

desperately for any info on this. I have also just found out it runs in

the family. Is there anywhere you can point me to to help me understand

this better.

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