Post by Deleted on Apr 8, 2015 16:51:07 GMT
Not enjoying this year far, well maybe apart from my lovely new Focal speakers 
Back to the year, it started with me having Pneumonia and a serious inability to breath thought to be agrevated by Asthma at New Year and spending approx 8 eight hours in A&E on New Years Day/Eve... But that was just the start, they found a problem with my heart when they ran a series of ECG's and the nurses kept asking whether I'd experienced heart problems, which to my knowledge was not the case... A senior Doctor came to see me and said they found something called Left-handed bundle branch block which is where the interal Pacemaker was unable to pump signals down the left hand side correctly, but it was nothing to worry about and that I should advise my GP to see if they like to follow up on it.
For about the last year or so, I have been suffering for increased breathlessness which I had been chasing the doctor about but they put down to the Asthma worsening due to my increase in weight... Erm no it wasn't.
So I went to my GP and advised him what the Doctor had said at the hospital and that at that point my breathlessness had worsened further to the point I was struggling to walk more than 100 yards without having to stop.
The hospital had failed to send across my ECG results to my GP referred me to the nurses at our practise and they re-ran the ECG which showed the Left-Handed Bundle Branch block again so my GP urgently referred me to a Cardiologist because he explained that it is very rare that L-L BB occurs in someone of my age (36) and even rarer without an underlying condition.
So off I went to the Cardiologist who confirmed with an ECG and an Ultrasound that I have a serious underlying heart condition and my Ejaction Fraction (ability the heart has to push blood around the body) was 17% when it should be 60% in someone without a condition.
Further tests confirmed I have what is called 'Dilated Cardiomyopathy' a condition when the left hand side of the heart become weak and flappy and therefore struggles to push the blood around the body.
Additionally the breathing problems were caused by this condition and I have never had Asthma after all, it is termed Cardiac Asthma which has similar symptoms and on Tuesday of this week thy installed a Pacemaker/Defibillator bi-ventricular device just below my collar bone to assist they heart effectively and if the worse was to happen send an electrical shock through the heart to restart it.
The prognosis for this condition has improved in the last 5 years significantly which is encouraging, but I have to say it has been a scary few weeks/months
Just thought I'd like to share, not for sympathy or anything like that but just to help anyone else who may have had similar symptoms and struggled to take seriously by their doctors to maybe recommend an ECG.
Paul.
Back to the year, it started with me having Pneumonia and a serious inability to breath thought to be agrevated by Asthma at New Year and spending approx 8 eight hours in A&E on New Years Day/Eve... But that was just the start, they found a problem with my heart when they ran a series of ECG's and the nurses kept asking whether I'd experienced heart problems, which to my knowledge was not the case... A senior Doctor came to see me and said they found something called Left-handed bundle branch block which is where the interal Pacemaker was unable to pump signals down the left hand side correctly, but it was nothing to worry about and that I should advise my GP to see if they like to follow up on it.
For about the last year or so, I have been suffering for increased breathlessness which I had been chasing the doctor about but they put down to the Asthma worsening due to my increase in weight... Erm no it wasn't.
So I went to my GP and advised him what the Doctor had said at the hospital and that at that point my breathlessness had worsened further to the point I was struggling to walk more than 100 yards without having to stop.
The hospital had failed to send across my ECG results to my GP referred me to the nurses at our practise and they re-ran the ECG which showed the Left-Handed Bundle Branch block again so my GP urgently referred me to a Cardiologist because he explained that it is very rare that L-L BB occurs in someone of my age (36) and even rarer without an underlying condition.
So off I went to the Cardiologist who confirmed with an ECG and an Ultrasound that I have a serious underlying heart condition and my Ejaction Fraction (ability the heart has to push blood around the body) was 17% when it should be 60% in someone without a condition.
Further tests confirmed I have what is called 'Dilated Cardiomyopathy' a condition when the left hand side of the heart become weak and flappy and therefore struggles to push the blood around the body.
Additionally the breathing problems were caused by this condition and I have never had Asthma after all, it is termed Cardiac Asthma which has similar symptoms and on Tuesday of this week thy installed a Pacemaker/Defibillator bi-ventricular device just below my collar bone to assist they heart effectively and if the worse was to happen send an electrical shock through the heart to restart it.
The prognosis for this condition has improved in the last 5 years significantly which is encouraging, but I have to say it has been a scary few weeks/months
Just thought I'd like to share, not for sympathy or anything like that but just to help anyone else who may have had similar symptoms and struggled to take seriously by their doctors to maybe recommend an ECG.
Paul.
