I had my follow up with the cardiologist yesterday. He’d reviewed the echo which did show slightly leaky valves (but he said this is subclinical) He agreed that the next step would be either a stress echo or a CT angiogram. The wait for this would be around 4 months.
I retired last April after working for 37 years in the NHS.
So against all of my values I’m afraid I have paid to have the CT done privately (ironically using my NHS pension lump sum to pay for it 😢)
I know I am incredibly fortunate to have the money available when for many people this is simply not an option and it makes me really sad and angry to see our NHS struggling. 😢
I’m really hoping that this will give an answer to my symptoms /the abnormal ECG etc and we can have a plan going forwards.
When I had my breast cancer - once I’d had all the biopsy results and knew what the treatment was going to be and when I felt weirdly less worried than when waiting 🤷🏽♀️
Anyone felt like this?
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Steambunny
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Hi - yes I did have radiotherapy - and it was left breast. The radiographers at the time were reassuring that because of the way they got me to breath hold during the treatment the risk of heart damage was low. My cardiologist said that any damage would show up on the echo? But I could maybe ask again? I’ll see what is said after the CT tomorrow.
Hi. I've had breast cancer too. Like you, once I got the biopsy results and they had a plan for me, I found it less worrying and could process the treatment better going forward.I've found having a heart attack much harder to bear for some reason, it's really got me far more anxious, don't really know why.
I hope you can get answers very quickly; waiting is always the worst. Let us know how you get on.
Thank you Lily. I hope you are doing ok post cancer and heart attack. I agree that the heart feels scarier - maybe because there’s more fear of a sudden death? Life has certainly thrown us the curve balls eh? 😩
hi steambunny, I totally agree that once there is a plan in place and all the variables are known, then it is much easier to feel less worried and anxious.
It also sounds like a good idea that you e been able to go private for your CT, a 4 month wait for be very hard to get through. I also had a CT angiogram privately (I’m lucky enough to have bupa cover through my work) so didn’t have to wait and also got the results and chance to discuss them immediately after the procedure which helped hugely to not have to wait to find out. Good luck with yours and I hope the results are good x
Thankyou. Did the people doing the CT discuss the results with you or did you see your cardiologist? My cardiologist only does a clinic on a Tuesday and I haven’t got a follow up until 31st which seems ages to wait? When I had the echo the radiographer was able to say that he couldn’t see anything obviously wrong but that he couldn’t say 100% until all the detailed calculations had been done.
the Dr (radiologist) discussed the CT results with me straight afterwards, (in fact he came into the CT room while I was still on the table thing to say he’d found an atheroma but wasn’t too worried about it and that he’d now have a detailed look at the scan and then discuss with me further) he could see I was in a real state so he spent quite a long time with me going over what he’d found and answering all my questions. I then had a follow up with the cardiologist a few days later (again part of the private cover) and he talked to me about the results, my family history, the reasoning for taking statins etc. I had a phone consultation with him again a few weeks later (basically as I was so so anxious and desperate for him to tell me I’d never have a HA which obviously he couldn’t do!! He was very patient and kind and as reassuring as he could be)
Hi I just got back. The radiographers said they couldn’t tell me anything today. I got really upset 😢 But I did phone the consultant’s secretary who has said she’ll keep an eye out for the report coming through and make sure he sees it and that he might be able to phone me.
that is a shame, I’m really sorry they couldn’t tell you their findings there and then. Good idea to contact the consultant’s secretary, I would try her again if you haven’t heard back soon. In the meantime (and I know trying not to think about it is impossible) keep using the headspace (or similar) app and try to do things you enjoy, getting out for a walk maybe or watching a tv series that’s engrossing. I found nighttime really difficult but found listening to sleep stories helped to some extent.
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