Help??

[salchic]

Hi, I'm new to this community so please bare with me. My Mum (76 yrs young) recently had open heart surgery for 3 things. Mainly Aortic Valve replacement + 2 other heart problems. So has been stage 4 for a long time now, 10 months minimum. 3 weeks on, she has been back in hospital past week because of major fluid in feet & legs. They say that has come from lot of fluid on lungs. (She has medium COPD too).

She was told by the Dr at hospital yesterday, although the operation was a success, her heart is dying, so it may or may not make her feel better for a while. She has been discharged today but been passed over to the Heart Failure Clinic. As ive been closely involved with 3 friends with terminal cancer, im wondering if this is like saying to a cancer patient, "their is nothing more we can do as a consultant so im passing you onto the Hospice Palliative Care Team".

Am I being Paranoid or is that what it means? 🤔

[dunestar]

This is what the NHS website says about heart failure "For most people, heart failure is a long-term condition that can't be cured. But treatment can help keep the symptoms under control, possibly for many years". I think the term "heart failure" is a bit misleading because it gives the impression it's a cliff edge thing. The consultant's remark wasn't very helpful because there's no indication of how severe the heart failure is. I hope your Mum can be seen by the clinic quickly and the right treatment plan put in place for her. Good luck.

[Ashleigh_BHF]

Hi salchic

It sounds like when your mum had her valve replaced, they were hoping this may have improved her breathing and the function of her heart, improving her heart failure. If the valve replacement hasn't worked the way they hoped, then a heart failure team will take over as they are better able to manage heart failure symptoms and better prepared to support patients with heart failure, and their families. Heart failure doesn't have a cure, but being under a heart failure team doesn't mean she is dying-the team would have been very open and honest if they thought that was the case. If you would like to talk through your mums care and diagnosis with one of our nurses, please call us on 0300 330 3311 and we may be able to give you a little more information once we better understand the situation.

Take care,

Ashleigh