3 Year Cardio Check Up--Huh?

[Bina]

So, today I go to my cardio in Quebec for the 3 yr check, and I had a couple of questions.
He listens to the valve, it's crisp, sounds good.

I'm asking about the pvc/pac issues, he says they are not severe and I should move around more and get my heart stronger.

Then I ask if my aortic was a BAV. He looks blankly back at me.
I said that I seem to have some of the similarities of some people that I talk to with BAV.

He flips through his papers and says "didn't you have a mitral replacement?" (HUH?)
I replied that "No, I have a lovely 21mm Regent aortic valve."

He locates an echo and says....hmmm, aortic, I'll check the surgeon's report for the BAV.
Within 2 minutes he finds the info, and confirms. Yes, I had a BAV.
He asks me why I want to know and where I got the idea from.

When I mentioned my Valve friends on the internet, and I pointed out that I have many tissue, tendon,
migraine and muscle issues, he totally lost interest.
He said: "I'm going to tell you short and to the point: stop wasting so much time on the
computer and get out of the house."

I'm drained and a bit rattled.....going to lie down a bit....don't tell my cardio.

 

[Phyllis]

Reminds me again, Bina of when Dick's cardio here in NL (not Boston) asked him on his first visit how he was doing on Coumadin and the first echo came back saying his mechanical valve was sitting fine. As far as the internet goes, do you think some of these doctors are afraid we'll get smarter than they are?

 

[Freddie]

Gee sounds like my doctor.
"Can't believe everything you read on the internet" is the story I always get.

I won't tell your Cardio that you lied down - your secret is safe with me

 

[Adrienne]

The attitude of your cardio would have really p----d me off!!!

 

[Debster]

So lame!!!!! Why do some dr's act like that??? Deb

 

[Duff Man]

ah, another Medical Deity.

 

[Nancy]

You caught him with his pants down and he was embarrassed. So he pulled the old "the best defense is a strong offense" to get you off his case and out of the office FAST so he could get his dignity back.

Next time, doc, read the chart BEFORE you enter the treatment room, and this won't happen.

 

[Dale]

Bina, How condescending! Can you switch doctors? You don't need that kind of treatment! What a jerk.

 

[Dawn-Marie]

Bina ~ Thank God my cardio isn't like yours or i'd be looking for another one pronto! I told Dr. Ferraro a lot i've learned about bicuspid aortic valves and critical aortic stenosis and he said i'm very perceptive and know a lot because of what i've read and what people have told me in here. Only thing Dr. Ferraro isn't good at doing is telling me there is really nothing more they can do for me and i wish he would level with me. Before i left the hospital he said that perhaps my valve would stay open (not too likely as Valvuloplasties don't last for even a year usually when they are done on a bicuspid aortic valve) and then he said there might also be something coming from France (not too likely either, as i talked with the two main nurses from The Partner Study at Cleveland Clinic and they said nothing will change next year as the FDA already has the study filled up through late Fall of 2009 and nothing can be done on people with bicuspid valves..i'm automatically excluded). So, that is his only fault. He doesn't like telling bad news and i want him to be honest with me. I'd still rather have him than your doctor though...he sounds like a jerk!

 

[Karlynn]

You caught him with his pants down and he was embarrassed. So he pulled the old "the best defense is a strong offense" to get you off his case and out of the office FAST so he could get his dignity back.

Next time, doc, read the chart BEFORE you enter the treatment room, and this won't happen.

Exactly! Nancy, as always, goes right to the point.

 

[lisou]

What a guy!! Don't worry Bina your secret is safe with me too. The good thing is you always have friends here you can rely on if you can't rely on your doctor.

Take Care

 

[Duff Man]

When I found out about my aneurysm and I started asking questions my cardiologist literally got in my face and said some pretty shitty things. Maybe he thought I was trying to usurp his authority, but all I wanted was some answers. I think alot of doctors are either unaccustom to intelligent questions or they're common and very bothered by them. I think if he hadn't been such an a$$hole I would've trusted his advice and not sought out 4 more opinions. I really felt disillusioned that day. The way he acted was evasive and sardonic.

 

[kfay]

Bina, I'm sorry your Dr. acted that way. My local cardio said to me that he wished his patients would stay off the internet when I questioned him about Amiodorone, and my cardio at the Mayo clinic said she expected her patients to have been on the internet to get information.

I'd probably have to do some Dr. shopping if I were you.

Kim

 

[pamela]

Both my cardiologist and surgeon were pleased that I knew and understood so much of what was going to happen to me. They understood that the only reference material of any depth and quantity was only going to come from the internet.

Where else was I going to do such specific research on a relatively rare condition if not on the web? I know we who have the condition think this is a common health problem but let's face it folks when I look at the numbers we're 1 patient in 100,000 non-patients or so. Rare birds indeed.

Bina, you'll have a published paper on BAV and this guy will still be banging stones together to get a spark of an idea. I think if you ever return to this doctor, you should respond with, "I wish my cardiologist would take a moment and listen to his patient and work to do the research it takes to stay current and in the fore of his field, quite likely from published material on the internet."

Take Heart,
Pamela.

 

[Bina]

Part 2

Part 2

My cardio is a good one, well trusted in his hospital, but his manner is just kind of chilly whenever
I ask specific questions wanting specific answers.

So....after I broke down and cried....yes, I cried!! I had a chance to say that I've been through alot, and this new valve with all it's wonderful force and my heart trying to keep up in it's old, lame way, is just hard on my nerves.

He feels that I should be off of BP meds, but I wanted to discuss it anyway. I asked about Sotalol, and he said that honestly my pvcs don't warrant that kind of med, and that it is very strong and harder on the body than Metoprolol. ( My GP had said the same thing).
Then I smiled and said, "I guess Amiodarone is out of the question?" and he grinned and said YES.

Anyway, he said that I can feel safe in the care of my GP and would not need to see him unless the GP or an echo indicates a problem.

The BAV confirmation is not really an outcome that I was hoping for in regards to the future health of my daughter.
I've called her and asked her to get an echo and have one of her Doctor buddies listen to her heart occasionally.
When she was hired as a nurse she had a complete physical and nothing was mentioned then. She is 23.

 

[Nancy]

Oh, for heaven's sake, any doctor that causes a patient to cry and feel bad, should be horsewhipped! What a nasty person he is.

It is hard for me to see his excellence since he never even read the chart on you and didn't know what your major health problems were. He sounds like milions of other people in this world that are just skating by and are as lazy as can be, and are hiding behind their degrees.

A good doctor would have known that you had a BAV, would have known that you had an aortic replacement not a mitral.

And then he's listening to your heart sounds, and not listening for the right valve.

I guess people think he's great because they are afraid to call him on his faults.

 

[ALCapshaw2]

Hmmm.....

Bina - Do you have any idea what your Cardio and PCP meant by their comments that Sotalol is "harder on the body" than Metroprolol?

 

[Eva]

So, today I go to my cardio in Quebec for the 3 yr check, and I had a couple of questions.
He listens to the valve, it's crisp, sounds good.

I'm asking about the pvc/pac issues, he says they are not severe and I should move around more and get my heart stronger. ......

get out of the house."

Bina,

Your cardio should have read your file before seeing you!! Sorry about this and I hope you feel better soon. My ex-cardiologist is a top-notch from Harvard and when I saw him after the surgery and complained that for two years I kept telling him I was worried that my sedimentation Rate (SR) was high all the time, he lost it...he looked strangely at me as if that was the first time I mentioned this complaint to him Anyhow, I decided to fire him before my surgery, but he wanted to see me after the surgery, and I went that one time just to give him my peace of mind in a polite way.

Your cardio wants you to go out of the house more. I do not know how much exercise you do, Bina. But I will share with you, all of you who reads this, my experience with PVCs since the surgery. When I first started cardiac rehab, PVCs were showing a lot...now after 4 weeks of rehab, they are getting fewer and fewer...the exercise is putting my heart at work and it is getting rid of the pvcs on its own with the exercise. Today, there was only one pvc at the end of the session only

Good luck

 

[zipper2]

Oh, for heaven's sake, any doctor that causes a patient to cry and feel bad, should be horsewhipped! What a nasty person he is.

It is hard for me to see his excellence since he never even read the chart on you and didn't know what your major health problems were. He sounds like milions of other people in this world that are just skating by and are as lazy as can be, and are hiding behind their degrees.

A good doctor would have known that you had a BAV, would have known that you had an aortic replacement not a mitral.

And then he's listening to your heart sounds, and not listening for the right valve.

I guess people think he's great because they are afraid to call him on his faults.

Bina you shoulda gave him the direct VR.COM and told him to learn

alot..........Join us,Nancy i'm comming to get you before I ever get

called for my surgery,they waited so long tto call and ignore me,

they may just amputate something

Nancy your great and been there and done all of it,i admire you.
Wish i had your firecracker.

zipper2 (DEB)

 

[Pegasus]

Hey Bina,

you should have said your are going to the cardio - I would have treated you to a calming chamomile tea after or perhaps an Austrian Schnaps would have been in order

You know how he gets sometimes so don't take it personal. Chances are that he will be very sweet next time

He really is not nasty. He is an excellent cardio and he listens to all valves or at least he does with my husband. He goes out of his way for me to see my husband's echo and I watched him numerous times being so patient and kind to older patients. However, on occassion he does get 'temperamental' a bit and my husband was on the receiving end once. We have leanred from that how to ask questions and we haven't set him off since. Think of it as training and conditioning He really is very good.

Anyways, the Sotalol can be hard on the stomach or at least it was on my husband - thankfully he was on it only short-term (about 2 weeks) for post-op A-fib and we begged to stop all meds and it was Okayed.
As for the PVSs, exercise seems to help. My husband only gets a short bout of it if he is stressed and misses his work-out. He usually does deep breathing or goes for a walk and they stop after 10 min. Are you eating magnesium-rich foods? That seems to help too.

No more tears Bina, you survived! And you don't have to go back for a while! Now get a laptop and get out of the house!