Good evening all hope everyone are well and coping each day. It's hard to keep calm I have to be honest I am so frightened I'm going to get this I have become obsessed in cleaning my house I wonder if anyone can help me I received a letter today canceling my Hospital appointment for MRI scan. With this another letter showing results from my ultrasound on heart. It shows I have slight abnormality of the pumping chamber on right side of my heart known as the right ventricle. This is why they have called me to have an MRI scan so the can look at it with contrast? Now that this appointment has been cancelled as rightly so I not sure when I'm likely to have it done. Does anyone have any idea what this could mean. My symtoms are tightness across my chest and struggle breathing not extreme but bothers me with the tightness I tire easily doing thi gas like changing my bed has me out of breath and tightness and i have his sporadic like electric jolts pain to centre of chest it only last at the most 3 seconds.
Thank you if you have any I formation would be grateful.
Stay safe and look after yourselves. Please let this be over very very soon.
XXXXXX
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Yellow-Petal
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Sorry I have nothing to offer in way of explanation, it understandably is worrying. Please try not to be so anxious it is a worrying time but do not let it make you ill. Take some time to do something you enjoy and take your mind off things.
Hopefully and by the sounds of it , although this needs doing it is not urgent so hoping that’s a bit of relief. My oh has to have scan on Monday I asked if necessary , could they put it off and they said no it’s urgent and has to go ahead.
As long as we all follow the guidance of what we should and should not being doing regards this awful virus, we are all doing our bit to combat it so please don’t get over anxious ,
Thank you so much for your reply and advise your right I shouldn't worry it just one thing after another later which is the same for everyone. I do hope everything is ok with you and all goes ok. There is always someone worse off. Take care and stay safe. xx
I’ve been where you are , worried about my health symptoms and still am as gotten nowhere, but the best advice I received on here was to take care, be strong and not make things worse, as I did get, mentally. Worry is just another symptom of the big problem and indeed doesn’t help. So much easier said than done to not be anxious, I’m not trying to preach to you, I still worry sick now but learning to keep it in check a bit, just do something for you, we are all indoors so read ( not newspaper 😂😂) draw, knit cook anything even do your hair or have a long relaxing bath , just something for you which you enjoy and it may help you relax. If you still feel anxious post on here and someone will talk with you.
There is someone always worse off but that don’t help when your own affect you but stress is no good for anyone and you will not be alone , Im sharing your shoes and it’s all we can do, but it does help me at times so hope it might help you. I really hope so 🙏
I hope you get your mri soon🤞 Take care , stay safe and best wishes x
Hi YP. Usually MRI is used for 2 reasons, to evaluate dynamic function which helps correlate with anything they see on your echo. Cardiologists use a lot of fancy equations to make sure all your chambers work together properly. They also use MRI to see if there is any fibrosis or infiltrative processes with amyloidosis being the one you must rule out early. Old heart attacks, myocarditis can also be seen.
If the right ventricle is stiff and not stretching, recoiling and pumping properly, this can cause chest pressure/pain and most definitely shortness of breath. It will cause you to fatigue early because your not properly pumping deoxygenated blood to your lungs which then backs up circulation in the whole body. Your blood vessels and heart are like pipes in plumbing. They are all connected in a closed, continuous system. So when one part gets backed up/not optimal performance, it effects the whole system and your body.
I don’t think rescheduling the MRI in a month will make a huge difference in management. I would directly ask your doctor why this was ordered. I’m interested in the response.
Thank you lots to take in there I'm not sure what other than on letter says found slight abnormalities as per above. This is very helpful so sou ds like what ever has shown up is most probably nothing to worry about other than just checking to rule out. Thank you for explaining. Always grateful for responses and advise. Xxx
Well, I think that a lot of the things picked up on MRI are things that don’t happen overnight (other than maybe myocarditis). They take months/years to happen so they may be looking for something in particular. So waiting a month or two won’t make or break what they do next. Make sense? If something is wrong, it won’t suddenly worsen so they have some time to figure it out. However, if anything worsens like chest pain or shortness of breath, I’d let your cardiologist know immediately.
Also with right heart stuff, bearing down/valsalva can make you feel lightheaded. I know this sounds crazy but make sure your stool stays soft. Some ppl pass out on the toilet or complain of getting super lightheaded after going to bathroom bc of this.
My husband has severe heart disease. Sitting on the loo and releaving the poo he felt lightheaded ...several minutes later he woke up saying...man this pillow is awful hard...why is my hand wet???
He discovered he passed out onto the cement floor hitting his eyebrow splitting it open causing a bloody pool around his hand.
He now knows when that feeling hits to place something soft to land on just in case.
Oh man. I’m sorry. I’m glad your husband is okay. That’s mighty scary. But this is why you hear about ppl dying on toilets. It’s a thing. Even wiki has a page about it. Ppl have heart attack on right side of heart and then go to toilet never to make it out again. It’s a strange but actual thing. And everyone has to go to the bathroom. Not like you can avoid it.
Hi yes this does makes sense and if there was anything immediate they'd have the MRI done urgently. Hopefully it's nothing but a check. I had an angiography too in January and all was clear on there arteries was only v mild build up of plague. I had been on blood thinners as I had mild athesorosis in left carotid artery and a suspected mild TIA after the angiography the consultant came to talk about results everything was well nothing showed up no blockage of artery he told me to stop taking the Asprin straightaway which I have. My son had a heart attack at age of 34 had stent fitted. Dad died of massive heart attack and mam had heart attack at 51. So long history of heart problems.
I’m originally from Baltimore, MD so I’m actually a devout Ravens fan. I am a transplant because I matched here for residency.
I do have a medical background. I am a MD PhD in Internal Medicine with PhD in Biochemsitry & Molecular Genetics. I was in heme/onc fellowship when I fell ill and was terminated. So now I have become a seasoned cave dweller on LTD.
Hope you don't mind that I also read your story? Makes me mad, sad and so, so impressed with your determination. Autoimmune has done a pretty good job on my career too. When my 5 year old was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes a few years back I went from working and studying part time at business school to being at home full time. Not part of the plan! To keep me sane started to study horticulture as I love plants and thought I might build a new career, but hey ho the autoimmune gods struck again with raynauds followed by UCTD with increasing sun sensitivity pretty much putting an end to that idea. Now I mostly just slope around the house like an old lady.
But I really do have hope that eventually I'll get to a place with better treatment where I will be back out in the world again doing something that pulls together all this experience good and bad. You have such amazing skills and knowledge that it must bring you somewhere you are meant to be. Those autoimmune gods haven't sunk us yet (though they can come pretty close some days...). Hope you are keeping well in these crazy times.
Don’t mind at all. My dad has type 1 diabetes. I cannot imagine how much patience and oversight it takes to care for a child with it. You are a saint.
I’ve come a long way to now accepting my new life. I think everything happens for a reason. If I was still working, I’d get crushed by COVID. Exactly as you said, I’ll find my place. We have to play the hand we’re dealt to the best of our ability. We don’t get another one.
Oh wow, your dad has type 1? It's not much fun that's for sure. My kid is that bit older and able to look after some things himself now and the technology definitely helps a lot. But it's so relentless even when it's your every day normal. We are holding out for the closed loop system to be available soon! In a funny way his diagnosis made mine so much easier to deal with. I had already been there and much worse tbh. Things do happen for a reason. Being in the frontline of this COVID thing would be so traumatic. I cannot imagine how they are dealing with it. X
JMiller623 has given really helpful info there, and of course a bit of anxiety management is always good.
My own echocardiograms always pick up some abnormalities eg most recently, a slightly leaky valve, and some thickening of the L ventricle. However, these are not uncommon and often don't require any intervention.
I'd only add that if you are concerned with new chest pain, you can ring 111. After all, just because we have this COVID scare doesn't mean all those other medical problems have gone away. x
Please try not to get yourself too worked up over this...
My father had heart problems and they can do many many wonderful things with the heart drugs they have available these days to treat all kinds of heart abnormalities and conditions. Meds that make your heart beat more efficiently, beat more reliably, reduce strain on the heart, stop pain, etc.
They used to have no recourse for many conditions other than heart transplants, but now with the modern drugs they've discovered that medication can have a better outcome than surgery or transplants and people can live a long long time with proper medication to help the heart.
My own father had a seriously enlarged heart and heart failure, but they got him on drugs and he lived a long and normal lifespan and eventually died not from heart disease but from something totally unrelated to his heart.
Please stay in contact with your doctor and describe your symptoms. There may be medication he can prescribe in the interim to help you with the pain or other problems, or give you advice on how manage things until you can get a deeper diagnosis.
Thank you AimeeA for your response I have recently been diagnosed with Primary sjorgrens Disorder and then to have this letter 2 weeks after diagnoses makes me wonder if it's anything to do with this. I'm not sure what is meant by slight abnormality of the pumping chamber and very curious to know. Thank you again for sharing your dad experience. Take care and stay safe xxx
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