Recent content by tcopel

Sorry your going through this. I'm just throwing out some things to consider. Given that it seems that your discomfort is positionally related, I wonder about a type of radiculopathy or nerve impingement in the cervical or neck region. I think it would be rare for this type of problem to...

Good luck! I had atrial fib 4 times after my surgery and I was a little 'ansie' about stopping the medications that proved helpful in keeping me out of the hospital for each of those 4 times. but it all worked out as my heart had healed enough at that point to allow stopping the meds. I...

Your doctor can only go on the information passed onto him. If, for instance, the nurse provided inadequate or poorly detailed information in a manner that conveyed that you were over-reacting or that it wasnt that big of a deal, he may have not have grasped the severity of what you were...

You can tell that there is some individual times when people return to work. I would guess the average time is about 4 to 6 weeks. Depends on what you do for a living, and complications, if you have to drive yourself (recommended that you dont drive for about 4 weeks minimum by most doctors). I...

Hey dude...listen to Dave Matthews and Kenny Chesney's song, "I'm Alive."

Just a couple of thoughts as I flew from Pittsburg to Oklahoma city after my surgery. Try to get bulkhead seats as it gives you a little more room. Exit row seats, of course, cannot be provided given his surgery. Usually the airlines are pretty good doing this for you if you give them a heads...

My EP put me on Tikasyn after my third bout of a fib after my surgery.

As Lynlw notes, the MCV simply indicates the size of your red blood cells. Your MCV is normal. The size of the MCV can help delinate the cause of your mild anemia. For example, a low MCV can be indicative of low iron as a cause of anemia. The body needs iron to make red blood cells. A larger MCV...

Just a couple of random thoughts. I wonder why you had congestive heart failure in the first place that was apparently found six years ago. Usually, there is some precipitating factor such as valvular disease, coronary artery disease or infection such as viral cardiomyopathy. One wonders about...

I pray that all will go well with your friend. LIke the other postings I wonder if she deveoloped an aneursym where the the graft connected with her natural tissues.

Just to say that I think it natural to be skittish when going back to the doctor. I am pretty laid back most of the time and dont think of my heart condition much. Just go on with life and all that. But for the week preceeding my cardiologist appointment, even if I am doing well, I tend to be a...

Just to ditto what Debi says about the possiblility of seeing a electophysiologist who specialize in arrhythmias. Similiar to your experiences and other above, I have frequent PVC's (sometimes bigeminy), occassional runs of SVT and a single episode of Torsades. I have been reassured by EPS that...

Left heart failure, simply by itself can predispose individuals to cardiac dysrhythmia's. The feeling you describe as if your face is drained of color and you get nauseous combined with weakness suggests that your blood pressure is dropping, just as you suggest. A fast heart rate from...

There are, of course, a host of reasons why people have difficulty sleeping for some time after a surgery. It is pretty common. For me, I simply have never been able to sleep on my back even before my surgery, perferring to sleep on my stomach, but of course that is difficult given the chest...

marguerite. I am very glad that all is well. Too much of a good thing I guess. I also deal with fairly constant and annoying PVC's, and there are times after the 'married thing' that they get to rockin and rollin for awhile but they settle down after awhile. I hope the stress level gets better...