mostly good news

Jan and I spent what seemed like all day--but was really only 4 hours!--at Intermountain Health Care Center today. I was scheduled for an echo-cardiogram at 10 am. We waited until 11 to be called in. Then a tech came in to give me an unordered EKG. Wires crossed we believe. The echo was (re-?)scheduled for 1 pm. (We think that was a result of the earlier EKG screwup.) So there was nothing to do, but sit outside in the sun and have a yogurt and await 1 pm. That appointment started on time! And went swimmingly.

The echo-cardiogram, as most of you who are old enough know, is where they slide a gelled up ball over your chest (or other body parts) to see inside and take 70+ pix, in this case, of the heart. I was mostly interested in the ejection fraction number. Recall that a normal echo for me last Oct showed about 55%, which is in the normal range (ie 55-70%).  Upon entering the hospital a few weeks ago in a-fib it was about 15%. Today it was 55% again! Yea! That's substantially good news. I am on no heart medication because my heart is mostly normal. (There is some subjectivity in the 55 number; the normal error range  is + or - 3, so it could be as low as 52 or as high as 58, and not be significantly different. (One cardiologist thought I was probably around 50.)
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Then why am I still getting some trace edema? Skinny feet in the am; fat feet by evening. Well, apparently my atria are somewhat sclerotic, which means less pliable than they once were. So, whilst my heart is squeezing wonderfully (see ejection fraction above) the upper chambers don't rebound like they used to.

So, it is back on a minor dose of torsemide (20mg) for a few days along with potassium for kidney function. The clinic was concerned that I have gained about 4 pounds (219 to 223 this morning). But the weight gain has been gradual, so we weren't concerned. Since Jan makes me assiduously count calories, I know I have been under 2000 daily since we left the hospital. Ergo, there should be no weight gain. The docs think it may be water weight. Therefore, a di-uretic. If I have not lost the 4 lbs by Friday, I am to call the clinic. So, that is a fly in the ointment.

They were also going to take my heart monitor off this morning and we could have left it there with them. Jan even went to the car to get the package. However, this decision was reversed when the doc actually looked at the data and found (8 seconds!) of V-tach across the two weeks of my using the device. It occurred on a Monday night at 8:30 pm a couple weeks ago. Was I thinking impure thoughts? I have no idea what was going on at the time, but I do know that I was not symptomatic. So I have to do the complete 30 days. Oh well, that is only about a week more.

Other than the small glitches and our impatience, all-in-all, a pretty good day.