Prognosis and support

[Gtigirl]

Hi all. My partner who is 59 has just been diagnosed with heart failure. His left ventricle is only working at 22%. We are both shocked and because of lockdown, unable to see each other. I need to support him as best I can and need emotional support myself. He is trying to alter his diet, gentle exercise but big problem with smoking. I cant nag him.... he closes the conversation down. I am really worried about the prognosis and dont know who to talk to.

[SpiritoftheFloyd]

Hi welcome to the forum.

I'm sorry to hear about the diagnosis of heart failure your partner has received.

First of all heart failure is a terrible expression, I prefer to refer to it as Impaired Heart Function. The heart has not failed, it just needs a bit of help pumping sufficient blood around the body.

You haven't said how the medics arrived at a diagnosis of heart failure, but an ejection fraction of 55% is regarded as normal, while anything under 40% is classed as heart failure. The medics, while they use this basic figure to actually diagnosis HF, are more interested in how the patient is able to live their live with it. For this they use the New York Heart Association classification system - link below:-

heart.org/en/health-topics/...

As well as the bag of medicines he will have been handed, there are a number of health style changes that are recommended, certainly stopping smoking is a priority - I was told that stopping smoking was the most important step I could take to stop me having to re-visit hospital in future. A diet change is also recommended, the Mediterranean Diet is the best option, losing weight and getting down to a good BMI range, limiting the amount of alcohol, exercise and avoiding stress

Hopefully he should be offered cardio rehab, although this, like most things, is on hold at the moment, but when it does come back, rehab is excellent for moving you back in the right direction

The BHF produce a booklet on the subject which should answer a lot of your questions, link below:-

bhf.org.uk/informationsuppo...

Finally, there are a number of members on this forum who have live a good active life with heart failure for a number of years, so while the words heart failure sound so negative, with the right changes to life style the outlook can be very positive.

Best wishes

[Gtigirl in reply to SpiritoftheFloyd]

Thank you for your reply. My partner had a scan and the results of that were discussed with him, then the doctor told him the figure of 22%. Unfortunately due to lockdown, I could not be with him when the call came in. Shockingly the doctor said that 80% of patients with kind of figure, may only live a year. You can understand how distressing this is for us. I am researching as much as I can at the moment and hoping to get some help on here and use the information on the site. It is do difficult at the moment as there is no access to help.

[SpiritoftheFloyd in reply to Gtigirl]

I'm worried about a doctor giving out comments like that, I notice how he said may!

When I was diagnosed in hospital the wording was more like "I don't want you to worry but you have heart failure" it certainly wasn't as brutal as "you're doomed"

The fact is that statistically the majority of people diagnosed with heart failure in any year are normally over 80 years of age and also tend to have a number of other medical conditions - this is where the 1 year figure comes from, and is also heavily quoted on Dr Google.

The fact is that the EF can improve once the patient is on the right medicine settings and with life style changes, there are a lot of people on here who can confirm that, mine was 30% and has improved to 40-45%

Can I suggest you contact the cardiac nurses on the BHF on 0300 330 3311 Mon-Fri 9-5pm or email [e-mail] who can offer advice

[Gtigirl in reply to SpiritoftheFloyd]

Thank you that is a great help.

[Gtigirl]

Fabulous reply. I feel calmer already!