My mother is the picture of health. She's 67, active, thin, but smokes. (far less than a pack a day) Well, a few weeks ago she told me that she had a problem. Every so often she can feel her heart go 'ka-chunk' then she gets dizzy, then it passes within seconds and she feels fine so she goes about her business. Apparently it had happened a few times in the past month, but she didn't want to say anything. She wanted me to tell her what it could be. Well, of course I told her she needed to see her PCP and get checked out. But, that if it did it again, go to the ER.
My mom went to her PCP. Who sent her to cardiology, who scheduled her for a stress test. My mother lives next door to me so when she got back from her stress test I went over to see how it went. She looked pretty scared. She was hooked up to a holtor monitor and said that they were going to call to schedule a diagnostic cardiac cath. When I asked what the cardiologist said she couldn't tell me. Just that there was 'something wrong' with her stress test so they hooked her up to the holtor and told her that she needed a diagnostic cath. So, I reassured her that everything would be alright. But, I'm scared. I want to know details, what exactly did they find? She didn't know and I didn't want to grill her. So, my Mom's cath is scheduled for Wednesday, and then we'll know more.
My mom told me that as a child the doctor was worried about her heart. She stood behind a machine and he could look at her heart. The nurse even brought in a mirror so she could see her heart beating too. This would have been in the 1940's-early '50's. I have never heard of such a machine. Of course, she's had a good 60 years since that test without any problems, so I just don't know.
Please, say a little prayer that my mom's cath comes out ok. And, if you don't pray, well wishes are just as good.
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2 comments:
Could it be a valve problem? Did she have rheumatic fever as a kid? Does she have a murmur? I think it will all be fine.
Well, my mom's cardiac cath was great. She had some other tests and she has an occlusion in her left subclavian artery. The cardiologist feels that the dizziness is due to subclavian steal syndrome. So, she is meeting with a vascular surgeon to get that taken care of. Everything should turn out fine. Thank goodness!
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