susieq14
March 19th, 2005, 08:22 PM
Hello all!
I've been lurking here for about 2 months and finally decided to take the plunge and join your forum. You all seem to be so knowledgeable and helpful to one another so I'm hoping that you will be able to help me know what to do next.
I’m 54 and was diagnosed with a leaky mitral valve with regurgitation in August 2004.
Let me give you a little history…
I started off January 2004 with a sore throat followed by an ear & eye infection. Three weeks later I woke up one morning, passed out & hyperventilated and scared the living daylights out of my husband who called for an ambulance – turns out I had a sinus and urinary tract infections and was dehydrated. They kept me overnite for observation. Two weeks later I was having unusual chest pains on a Saturday afternoon and hubby took me back to the hospital. EKG was okay, they attributed it more to gastrointestinal distress than cardio and perhaps a reaction to meds I was on.
Saw a new PCP for a physical on July 2, 2004. I expressed concern that my BP had been a little erratic and running higher than normal (154/92, 150/92, 140/86) and I was concerned about my risk for CAD due to family history. PCP gave me referral for a stress test and advised me to track my BP (that day it was 146/84) over the summer and come back in September for follow-up. Stress test went well according to the cardiologist but he suggested I also have an echocardiogram. He was surprised I hadn’t had a stress or echo sooner considering I was at the hospital twice in winter. Anyway I went back for the echo and received the surprise of my life when my PCP called to tell me the echo showed I had MVR that was “Moderate to Severe”.
August 12 I saw a different cardiologist for a cardiac consult. He had a very difficult time hearing any heart murmur but finally detected a small one. He immediately put me on Lisinopril and said I needed to get my BP below 120/90 (that day it was 155/95) and secheduled me for a stress echocardiogram in December. His opinion was that the leak was not there for very long and believes it may have been caused by one of the infections over the winter.
December 6 I had the stress echo which he said went well and he now thinks the leak is more Moderate than Severe. He told me that I will need to see him every 6 months but there is nothing more to do at this point.
After reading all the prior posts I decided to request copies of the two echos but I’m not sure what else to do next. I live in the suburban Boston area. Should I be seeing a specialist at one of the big hospitals in Boston? And if so a cardiologist or a cardiac surgeon? I’m also concerned because my BP is very erratic and is sometimes still high even on the lisinopril. Is that okay? I don’t think I have any symptoms of MVR but I do have asthma and am concerned that I won’t know if I’m short of breath because of the asthma or the MVR.
I’m sorry that this is so long but I thought it would be helpful to give you all the details in order for you to give me some good advice. Thank you in advance! :)
I've been lurking here for about 2 months and finally decided to take the plunge and join your forum. You all seem to be so knowledgeable and helpful to one another so I'm hoping that you will be able to help me know what to do next.
I’m 54 and was diagnosed with a leaky mitral valve with regurgitation in August 2004.
Let me give you a little history…
I started off January 2004 with a sore throat followed by an ear & eye infection. Three weeks later I woke up one morning, passed out & hyperventilated and scared the living daylights out of my husband who called for an ambulance – turns out I had a sinus and urinary tract infections and was dehydrated. They kept me overnite for observation. Two weeks later I was having unusual chest pains on a Saturday afternoon and hubby took me back to the hospital. EKG was okay, they attributed it more to gastrointestinal distress than cardio and perhaps a reaction to meds I was on.
Saw a new PCP for a physical on July 2, 2004. I expressed concern that my BP had been a little erratic and running higher than normal (154/92, 150/92, 140/86) and I was concerned about my risk for CAD due to family history. PCP gave me referral for a stress test and advised me to track my BP (that day it was 146/84) over the summer and come back in September for follow-up. Stress test went well according to the cardiologist but he suggested I also have an echocardiogram. He was surprised I hadn’t had a stress or echo sooner considering I was at the hospital twice in winter. Anyway I went back for the echo and received the surprise of my life when my PCP called to tell me the echo showed I had MVR that was “Moderate to Severe”.
August 12 I saw a different cardiologist for a cardiac consult. He had a very difficult time hearing any heart murmur but finally detected a small one. He immediately put me on Lisinopril and said I needed to get my BP below 120/90 (that day it was 155/95) and secheduled me for a stress echocardiogram in December. His opinion was that the leak was not there for very long and believes it may have been caused by one of the infections over the winter.
December 6 I had the stress echo which he said went well and he now thinks the leak is more Moderate than Severe. He told me that I will need to see him every 6 months but there is nothing more to do at this point.
After reading all the prior posts I decided to request copies of the two echos but I’m not sure what else to do next. I live in the suburban Boston area. Should I be seeing a specialist at one of the big hospitals in Boston? And if so a cardiologist or a cardiac surgeon? I’m also concerned because my BP is very erratic and is sometimes still high even on the lisinopril. Is that okay? I don’t think I have any symptoms of MVR but I do have asthma and am concerned that I won’t know if I’m short of breath because of the asthma or the MVR.
I’m sorry that this is so long but I thought it would be helpful to give you all the details in order for you to give me some good advice. Thank you in advance! :)