Paul's Journal

The hospital where my husband had the first ECHO was Marlette Regional. It is a very small town hospital in the thumb area about 15 miles where we live. Their cardiologist did the first reading. We got another opinion based on the same information from a Lapeer Hospital doctor that has privledges at Beaumont, a large teaching hospital an hour and a half from our home. He didn\'t run any of his own tests and told us to come back for a year for a comparison ECHO. It wasn\'t until we went to a third cardiologist just with Beaumont that they reran the tests which came back clear. I am so very happy with his diagnosis now, I\'m no longer thinking of my husband having to endure surgery, recovery, or be in pain. I am however trying to push past the anger of the whole Marlette fiasco. If you were in his shoes would you file a complaint and if so with whom? When our son was born 2 1/2 years ago the new OB in the practice almost killed him. We chose not to ruin her career by suing because our son lived and most likely won\'t suffer any delays in the long run. I did send a letter and recieved a form letter in response. I\'m sure that is what we will do again. I really hope that nobody else ever has this happen to them. I\'m grateful, please believe that, but angry too.

I am so happy that we got another opinion on Paul\'s heart troubles. On Monday the new doctor repeated the echo and put him on a 24 hour halter. Even though his fluttering episodes were numerous, the regurgitation is mild enough at this point that surgery is not needed. I am pretty angry at the first doctor but so happy it is hard to be mad. Here is what we were told and what is the truth. Paul does have a larger heart but he is within the normal range, just larger on one side. This condition is ok. The other surgeon told us enlarged heart. THERE IS NO ANUERYSM!!! I can hardly believe it. This new echo was so incredibly clear compared to the last one. This one showed NO TORN CHORDAE either. 3 of the 5 diagnosis were wrong. Surgery is in the future but it might be years and years away. I want to thank you all for being so supportive here. I wish you all the best with your hearts. I will probably not post here because surgery is hopefully years away but I will definately be reading your journals still and hoping for great outcomes. Thank you again, each of you who took time to help me.

I\'m so glad we got a second opinion. This doctor informed us that the echo that was already run on his heart was not done correctly and that it was done on an old machine, in the wrong position and with too much movement. So he did his own echo and the pictures were 100 times clearer. He has Paul on a heart monitor for the next 24 hours and he goes in on Wednesday morning for the diagnosis. He found it unlikely that there is a torn chordae because it is a very specific sound that can be heard with a trained ear. As for the aneurysm. It isn\'t the kind that kills people suddenly, it is something that a lot of people have. He also said the regurgitation was mild. Hopefully on Wednesday we get good news.