Oh Dear Erin,
I'm so glad that your Dad is home and that they've given him the rest of the week off. Whilst I was reading the beginning of this message, I was thinking that perhaps it could be something with his lungs that backed up into his heart. Occasionally, pulmonary problems can cause cardaic enlargement. I'm glad he's with you and your Mum and is getting good care.

Please don't worry about coming here and venting. We've all had our share of problems over the years, and have come here to share. I'm glad you did.

You are all in my thoughts and prayers,
Chris

Be thinking of you and your family!

My dad was thinking the same thing about the pulmonary stuff causing the cardiac stuff. He was reminded when he got to his regular doctor's office that he's got asthma. He hasnt had to use an inhaler for over two years, and was told by the doctor that he didnt need to use the Advair discus if he didnt want to at the same time. My dad only seems to get problems with the asthma when he gets a cold or bronchitis, and he hasnt had that for several years now. Just the bronchitis he picked up a few weeks ago.

I'm wondering if the bronchitis aggravated his asthma and caused whatever was going on.

After talking to my dad tonight, I found out that he didnt even think he was having a problem at the time. Three of the nurses up there were complaining about his cough that he had...they didnt want his cold, and one of them said something to the doctor, and the doctor got them all worked up that my dad could be having congestive heart failure or something.

So they pretty much jumped him and made him go to the ER.

It's nice that they had some concern for his health, but the doctor in the ER said that he's not in congestive heart failure, and that he didnt even have any fluid in his lungs. The blood tests they gave him didnt show any signs of a heart attack.

The ER doc gave him a Rx for an inhaler and sent him to his regular doctor. The regular doctor is giving him a new high blood pressure drug because he did have some edema on his ankles, and he's going for the echocardiogram tomorrow afternoon. I get to drive him, so I'm getting a crochet project together to fiddle with while they're torturing my dad. My aunt, a nurse practitoner that works in the heart transplant team at another hospital here said that echo's are painful. She said they press down pretty hard with the ultrasound wand. My dad didnt need to know that, but my aunt always likes to give too much information about stuff.

I'm betting my dad's asthma is getting worse because he's not been able to exercise regularly (my mom is high maintainence and kind of a control freak and wont let him go because "he'll get sweaty".) As soon as he's cleared to exercise, I'm going with him. (I need the exercise too...I'll probably just walk around the track) and if my mom whines about it, we'll leave her home. (she has to option to come too if she wants)

I'm pretty sure they're going to make him go back to see the pulmologist that he saw 2yrs ago when he had a bit of pneumonia.

My aunt really thought it sounded more like a pulmonary problem (she's a fairly good diagnostician for stuff.) She thinks it's probably got something to do with his high blood pressure. My dad's been on meds for that since he was about 15.

So, hopefully this wont be a cardiac problem. It could be, but I'm going to guess that it's got something to do with the asthma.

Hi Erin

Sorry to be late in on this but it sounds like your dad is in good hands and has great medical care. I hope it all turns out ok and you need to breathe!!! Relax and know that he is being taken care of! Hugs to you.

It sounds like the same stuff my mom has. At least your dad is taking care of himself.

Hi Erin,

I'm sorry about your Dad's health problems, it sounds scary but you've had some great advice from AMN and others here. I hope it turns out to be something minor and manageable, I'll keep you all in my thoughts and prayers.

How did your Pop's ECHO go today, Erin, and how is he doing? I hope it wasn't painful. It shouldn't be, done in the proper hands. It sounds as if you have a good handle on the situation and a good plan worked out for the future. I still have all of you in my thoughts and prayers, and am hoping that it turns out to be something like his reactive airway disease (asthma).

Take good care of yourself,
Chris

Keeping your Dad in my prayers, Erin. Sounds like he's got a pretty special daughter..

I dont think the echo was painful, my dad didnt say anything about that.

But, apparently, it's not going to be good news.

We went thru this about 15yrs ago with my uncle (dad's little brother). In very similar circumstances. My uncle had a bad cough, it wasnt getting any better. My aunt and his coworkers tricked him into going to the hospital to get checked out (my aunt was a cardiac care nurse at the time) and he only had 15% of his heart capacity (I'd been thinking he had 50%, found out today it was 15%)

So, my dad went in to get his echo. The people doing the echo had concerned looks on their faces. They actually called the doctor down to evaluate if they should even let him go home. Apparently my dad has only 20% of his heart capacity! Better than my uncle's 15%, but still not a good sign.

15 years ago, when my uncle got diagnosed with whatever this is called, my aunt told me that my uncle only had a 5year survival rate. I'm really hoping that they've done some good advances in past 15yrs for whatever is causing my dad's problem, because my uncle died within a year and a half to 2yrs after he was diagnosed.

My dad hasnt gotten an official diagnosis for whatever this is (which is why I'm calling it "whatever")

My dad is hoping that they'll let him continue working if he goes down to part time.

This is going to suck, I know my uncle's medical bills were astronomical, I dont know how my dad will be able to pay for my mom's medical stuff, his medical stuff and my medical stuff together, and pay off the house and all the assorted junk that we've bought and are still paying for.

This is just what we did not need. Especially since my dad has always been scared that he'd die at the same age as his dad and brother did. (they both died at 54) My dad has at least gotten past that age (he's 68 now) But, I dont think he wants to die the same way his brother did.

Tomorrow is my one year anniversary of being diagnosed with MS. I guess it's only fitting that any other bad medical stuff would happen this week too. Now I can hate the entire week and not just tomorrow's date.

Oh Erin sweetheart!!! ((((((((((((((HUGS)))))))))))))))) Are you talking about his ejection fraction rate? If so, yes..........things have changed a lot in the past few years, and there are many new drugs and surgical procedures that are now available that can help these kinds of problems. Does your Pop have an appointment to see a Cardiac Surgeon to go over the results of his ECHO? I don't mean to colour your world all rosy, but wait until you've spoken with the Dr.'s about what can be done. In the meantime, don't worry yourself silly, or your apt to end up having some problems with your ownself.

Go onto WebMD and look up Ejection Fraction Rates. I think you'll find that there is a lot of information on there that isn't as bad as you believe it to be. If you have any questions, I would be more than happy to answer them, but it sounds like you have plenty of medical and nursing personnel in your family.

I'm sorry tomorrow is your anniversary of the day you were diagnosed. Many of us have been diagnosed for years, and although it's not what we have wanted from our lives, we're still here to talk about it, laugh about it, and yes even scream about it. Get a good night's rest, and take care of YOU!!! I shall keep you and your family in my thoughts and prayers.

All the best,
Chris

My aunt just called my dad and warned him (didnt scare him) about what's probably going to happen.

She first, told my dad that he's a lot better off than my uncle was with his heart problem. First off, my dad thought my uncle's Ejection Fraction Rate was 15%, it wasnt. It was anywhere from 6% to 8%! (and he was still working when it was that low!)

So, my dad's much better off than my uncle was...and my aunt said they've done a lot of research and have had some advances in treating this stuff since 1995. She think's if they get it managed correctly that he should be ok for a good bit.

She told my dad that the cardiologist is probably going to send him to one of the local heart failure clinics in town (every hospital here has one) and that they'll check him out regularly and adjust medications when it's needed and that there's a lot of good treatments for this. (hey, at least he doesnt have to worry about the possibility of suddenly going blind from ON, or losing the ability to walk or something because a couple of neurons blew a gasket...)

When my uncle got sick, he'd lost so much of his heart that they'd put him on the transplant list. My aunt said she thought that if he got on whatever treatment they do for this, he should do pretty good. He's in a lot better physical shape than my uncle ever was.