Angels Among Us

Today we got the chance to meet Dr. Pizlo, as well as Dr. Schmidt, who was working with her. Both of these ladies were very personable and spent almost 2 hours with Tim, Mom, and me. It was like God had sent angels to give us answers. All 3 of us felt very comfortable when we left.

Dr Schmidt began by listening to my heart and agreed, that she would never have sent me for testing based on the VERY slight murmur that she thought she heard. Dr Pizlo commented about how loudly my heart beats in her stethascope, which she said will likely change after my heart is fixed. Other doctors and many nurses had mentioned that in the past and attributed it to my being thin. Dr. Pizlo said it was a bit of both. They also took time to look at my MRI images. In reading the dictated version of these, it clearly states that the hole is, in fact, 3.1cm by 2.8cm! Yes, even bigger than an inch. It is not perfectly round, but they think it has a lip around it, which allows me to be eligible for the non-surgical route. They indicated that MRI pictures are pretty much the "gold standard" when it comes to getting accurate measurements.

Unfortunately, the echo results weren't on the CD after all (still wondering about this lack of communication) so we actually went and had another one done. (Remember this is just like a regular ultrasound....not a big deal really.) I felt very good about the fact that Dr. Pizlo took lots of time to look for herself at the results and give me intelligent answers. She did discuss the fact that there seemed to be no sign of pulmonary hyper-tension, a threat that had been mentioned a couple of times. Dr Pizlo also expected that the right ventrical that is stretched will "shrink" once the blood flow is corrected....and the left ventrical will have to learn what work is :) She was very humorous in her wordings.

Now for the answers - in no particular order:
1) Yes, it IS serious. No one is questioning whether it should be fixed. However, it is not urgently needing to be done immediately. She expects within 2 weeks though.

2) I can resume normal activities. (ie. walking w/ my neighbor, normal Mom stuff, and driving as I feel comfortable). She said strength work-outs and excessive exertion should be avoided (I'm including cleaning and dishes in there. :)

3) She was in contact with a Dr Hoyer, who is a pediatric doctor that is very experienced with the transcatheder (non-surgical) procedure. He has done hundreds of these on children and she is recommending that he do the same for me. Here is a link I quickly found of a story of a 12-year old.
http://www.rileyhospital.org/parents-and-patients/programs-and-services/non-surgical.jsp
Typically these are done at Riley, however, Dr Pizlo is attempting to arrange for him to come to IU Med Center because they are more experienced with other adult heart issues, specifically any complications that could arise when my heart is learning to function "normally". Dr Hoyer will need to look at my MRI images first to ensure that he sees the lip all the way around the hole. We expect to hear from his office next week, once he gives the okay.

4) We were thrilled to learn that I would most likely NOT be on coomadin. Instead, she said Dr Hoyer usually just prescribes plavix and aspirin (I assume one or the other, not both). I need to read a bit on that, but at this point, we're thinking those are better options with lower risk to me.

5) Separately, both of these ladies said they would recommend this route to their own family. Though there is some risk of it not working as hoped (and thus surgery being required), it seemed the easiest on my body. It is typically a 2 hour process with 1 night stay for them to monitor how my heart handles the "remodel". Recovery is quick with bedrest only during that 1 night stay. My only limitation would be to avoid heavy lifting (pots and pans and cleaning supplies :) for a week afterward.

Right now, we are leaning heavily toward this non-surgical direction. Tim, Mom, and I all felt that this was the best option given all the info that we've read and heard so far. We'll wait to hear from Dr Hoyer, to make sure that will work out.

A few other things I learned today:

- I am 5' 9". In case anyone wanted to know. I've been asked this by several nurses, but until today, no one actually had measured me.

- My right ventrical (the lower left part of my heart) is pumping 3.6 times more blood than my left ventrical! That's almost a 4 to 1 ratio (or 4 cups to every 1 cup of blood). Ideally, they should each be pumping the same amounts.

- I have likely become adjusted to the energy level that I have. Because of my personality I tend to be a "go-getter". However, after my heart becomes more efficient, I'll likely realize what I've been missing all along. (Send your condolenses to Tim :)