About Me (In My Own Words)
My name is Jennifer, I've been married to Paul for 19 years. We have 4 children, a senior in college, a senior in high school, a kindergartener, and our only boy is 2 1/2. My husband Paul is an RN and I am currently home with the little ones.
For about 4 years Paul has had episodes of a fluttering heart, an ekg (?) showed nothing was wrong but after 4 years he insisted on stress testing and an echo. When we didn't hear anything from his doctor he called and asked for the results and the nurse practitioner read him the front page of the report and said everything was normal. Paul confided in me that he was so relieved because he was convinced there was really something wrong with his heart.
Fast forward 3 weeks. We are out with our kids on one of his rare day's off and the phone rings. It is our PCP with the news that he needs to see a cardiologist first thing in the morning. We picked up the copy of the report and let the PCP know how angry we are that a month after the test and after telling us everything was fine they call us.
The report summary:
1.) Normal left ventricular systolic adn diastolic function with an ejection fraction of 60-65%
2.) Mildly enlarged right heart with normal right ventricular function.
3.) Anteriour atrioseptal aneurysm. Shunt was not clearly demonstrated by color doppler. Followup study with agitated contrast or transesophageal echocardiogram recommended.
4.) Mobile echodensity at the tip of the mitral valve with mild mitral valve regurgitation. Possibly ruptured chordae.
5.) Mild tricuspid valve regurgitation.
The recommendation is TEE.
So the next morning Paul goes to the cardiologist that they had set up for him and he is there at 10:30 for his 10:45 appointment. At 11:30 they took the 9am patient back. This did not go over well and he walked out of the appointment and rescheduled. Neither one of us was comfortable with the hospital associated with this dr. and that kind of wait is not acceptable.
Cardio doctor number 2 tells my husband that he isn't that concerned and to repeat the test in one year. HUH? Are you serious? Paul insisted on 6 months and we went home still wondering, still feeling like there is a time bomb ticking, not reassured. Since then he has had 2 severe fluttering episodes and on Friday scheduled him an appointment with another doctor. I want him to have the tests that were recommended in the first place.
I want my husband to be healthy and live a long time. He is 47 and the more I read the more it seems repair early is much better than to wait until it gets too bad.
More Info About Me & My Heart
More About Me
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I am from:
North Branch, Michigan
