As I said in my previous post, my most recent routine visit to my cardiologist and the purely-a-formality electrocardiogram found that I have, or possibly had, an inverted t wave, about which nothing good can be said. The PA didn’t go into detail other than to mention ischemia, so, like all normal people, I immediately went home to do an online search. What I found was enough to keep me worried until I had my echocardiogram, which was last Wednesday, a week ago from the date of this post. I continued to worry, until, finally, on Friday, a person not the PA or the cardiologist called to report the results.
She said my heart function was normal, which I was glad to hear. And then she said my shortness of breath was probably caused by my Covid infection. At that point I started saying, “Wait a minute, wait a minute, I haven’t had Covid and I didn’t complain of shortness of breath!”
There was some confusion on the other end, pretty much matched on my end. She promised to find out what was going on. I was pretty sure I had just been given someone else’s ECG results. I had some hope of hearing the rest of my story later on Friday, but that didn’t happen. So I was able to continue to worry through the weekend.
On Monday, I heard from the PA her own self. She told me that somehow someone somewhere had written my results on someone else’s record, or possibly someone else’s results on my record, but in any case, whatever anyone told me earlier was no longer operative.
Then she told me my results. My ejection fraction had actually improved from the last ECG I had about eight years ago.
The ejection fraction is a measure of how well the heart pumps blood out of the left (or possibly right) ventricle. As I understand, it is the ratio of the chamber volume when it contracts to the chamber volume when it is relaxed. Or possibly the ratio of the areas of the ECG image of that chamber under those conditions. But, whatever. Normal is 50 to 75%. “Borderline” can range from around 41% to 50%. When I first found out about my heart problem back eight or nine years ago, my ejection fraction was about 35%, which is definitely low and indicates a good (or possibly bad) chance of early, heart-related death. The next ECG several months later showed an ejection fraction of 45%, which was sufficiently good that my cardiology team was reduced from two doctors to one, and I began a series of routine yearly visits to the cardiologist. My future looked bright, or at least longer.
So now my ejection fraction, as measured just last week on me I am pretty sure, is 50 to 55%, which is low normal. The PA had no explanation for an inverted t wave with no symptoms or other associated measures of heart function. “Transient,” she guessed. Good enough for me. I will stop worrying about my heart for the time being, and I hope everyone else can stop worrying about my or anyone else’s heart.
Now, what was next on my worry list?
Well that was interesting. Do you get the feeling that the medical world ain’t what it used to be? I’m glad that your health news is good. Yay! I hope Leah starts to feel better soon, and the two of you can get back to life as normal as can be. Take care there.
i too have a cardiologist. after a ziopatch showed a three hour bout of afib. tho the total time in afib over the two weeks that i wore the ziopatch showed i was in afib only 3% of that period. so… of to the heart doc. i am set up for an ecg (ekg?) soon and then a stress test. the doc prescribed a blood thinner (pradaxa). my supplemental drug insurance doesn’t cover it. one month of it would cost almost $600!!!! canadian pharmacy would supply me for $160/month. research on blood thinners revealed that my diet provided much natural thinning. so i am adding a few more non pharmacutical blood thinners. fish oil and turmeric. don’t get me started on the price difference between ground turmeric in the spice department and turmeric in the drug aisle.
good luck to us both. be healthy
So . . . bottomline . . . this is good new, right?
Robin — I was disappointed that I saw the PA rather than the actual cardiologist, but, in his defense, every time I saw him over the last eight years everything was normal.
Roger — EKG = German, ECG = English. I’m used to hearing EKG, but now apparently they use ECG mostly. I agree with you — good luck to both of us.
Paul — Bottom line, it is good news. I still wonder about the inverted t wave, but apparently it’s nothing to worry about, given the other results.