I have been struggling with moderate to severe chest pain off and on for nearly four years, ever since my heart surgery. The reactions I have had from the medical community have varied. I have been pushed aside, ignored, regarded with suspicion, told I was lying and told I was crazy. I have been fortunate (finally) after all this time to have found a cardiologist who not only listens but agrees that a normal, healthy woman in her early thirties should not be experiencing chest pain and shortness of breath.
For just over a year he and I have been working together to try and find a root cause to the symptoms. My doctor is not always as aggressive as I would be, but at least he hasn't given up on me. Recently we tried a different approach with my medications. The Ranexa I had been taking had ceased to be effective in controlling the pain so we stopped it all together. He gave a prescription for nitroglycerin pills to try out. When my chest pain got really bad I was to take one, under the tongue. After trying it out five times I was to call him and, if it worked, I would get a new prescription for a new heart medication.
Well, within a week I had given the nitro a good trial run so I called the doctor back. I have a new prescription for isosorbide. It's a medication designed to relax and dilate blood vessels so blood can flow more easily. So far it seems to be working. I have a steady low ache instead of a stabbing pain, so that's some improvement. I have the nitro for sudden, strong pain. I'm supposed to keep them with me all the time. I feel like one of those old men in the movies who suddenly collapses and gasps for his pills.
There are still no clues as to the reasons for the pain and my doctor hesitates on running any further tests. I understand why. Everything so far has declared me fit and healthy and he is doesn't want to put me under undo stress for nothing if more tests also reveal no answers. I get it, I do. But my thinking is that where there is pain (and has been for a long while) there has to be a reason. Right?
Wednesday, May 21, 2014
Thursday, May 1, 2014
National Stroke Awareness Month
May is National Stroke Awareness Month!
I guess it is only appropriate because it was in May four years ago that I had my first stroke. It was in August that same year that I had my last one. Recovery has been a very long road and I'm not done yet, but I faith that one day things will get back on an even keel once again.
So how did I know I was having a stroke? I didn't. I was 29 and completely healthy. I had a migraine the previous night and was still feeling bad that day, but I had a history of migraines and thought nothing of it. My right arm starting tingling and my hand was feeling numb. My right arm and leg felt like they weighed about 20 pounds. The right side of my face felt numb. I felt dizzy and lightheaded. I was slurring my speech and felt very drowsy. I went to the hospital. The admitting nurse believed that I had a stroke and pushed me through. However, when I went to the back, the doctor didn't take me seriously. He barely touched me during his very brief examination. My pupils are two different sizes, a condition known as anisocoria. Every single doctor I have come across has questioned me about my pupils. Except this one. Because he didn't care.
My final diagnosis from this particular doctor from this particular hospital low potassium and a sinus infection.
It was nearly 48 hours later that I got the final diagnosis from my neurologist via MRI that I had indeed had a minor stroke. Over the next few months I was subjected to numerous tests to discover the reason as to why. The cause of my stroke was an un-diagnosed congenital heart condition. I had a hole in my heart that produced no murmur, no chest pain, no shortness of breath, nothing. What it did do, was allow blood clots to flow up to my brain, causing a stroke.
In August 2010, I underwent open heart surgery to correct the situation and suffered another stroke during the operation. When I woke up, I had no feeling in my right hand, parts of my face and couldn't talk. Now, four years later, I still have a loss of feeling in two of my fingers, parts of face, and I still garble my words from time to time but that is nothing compared to the phantoms pains I have in my right limbs. I now have chest pain and shortness of breath, but the causes of those remain a mystery. Good news is, I have an appointment tomorrow with my cardiologist to be reevaluated. Again.
That's my stroke story. What's yours?
I guess it is only appropriate because it was in May four years ago that I had my first stroke. It was in August that same year that I had my last one. Recovery has been a very long road and I'm not done yet, but I faith that one day things will get back on an even keel once again.
So how did I know I was having a stroke? I didn't. I was 29 and completely healthy. I had a migraine the previous night and was still feeling bad that day, but I had a history of migraines and thought nothing of it. My right arm starting tingling and my hand was feeling numb. My right arm and leg felt like they weighed about 20 pounds. The right side of my face felt numb. I felt dizzy and lightheaded. I was slurring my speech and felt very drowsy. I went to the hospital. The admitting nurse believed that I had a stroke and pushed me through. However, when I went to the back, the doctor didn't take me seriously. He barely touched me during his very brief examination. My pupils are two different sizes, a condition known as anisocoria. Every single doctor I have come across has questioned me about my pupils. Except this one. Because he didn't care.
My final diagnosis from this particular doctor from this particular hospital low potassium and a sinus infection.
It was nearly 48 hours later that I got the final diagnosis from my neurologist via MRI that I had indeed had a minor stroke. Over the next few months I was subjected to numerous tests to discover the reason as to why. The cause of my stroke was an un-diagnosed congenital heart condition. I had a hole in my heart that produced no murmur, no chest pain, no shortness of breath, nothing. What it did do, was allow blood clots to flow up to my brain, causing a stroke.
In August 2010, I underwent open heart surgery to correct the situation and suffered another stroke during the operation. When I woke up, I had no feeling in my right hand, parts of my face and couldn't talk. Now, four years later, I still have a loss of feeling in two of my fingers, parts of face, and I still garble my words from time to time but that is nothing compared to the phantoms pains I have in my right limbs. I now have chest pain and shortness of breath, but the causes of those remain a mystery. Good news is, I have an appointment tomorrow with my cardiologist to be reevaluated. Again.
That's my stroke story. What's yours?
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