More details...

I have had several people ask me exactly how the doctors diagnosed me and when I came to have Cardiomyopathy. So, I will spend some time explaining in more detail about the different types of Cardiomyopathy, causes and future treatment plans for me.

Cardiomyopathy means "heart muscle disease." My heart may not be pumping as well as it should. There are three different types of Cardiomyopathy:

1. Dilated Cardiomyopathy - The heart muscle is damaged and cannot move as much blood as before. The heart muscle stretches so it can hold more fluid, thus enlarging and thinning the heart muscle itself. Basically, over time, it becomes stretched-out and gets weaker and tires out.
2. Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy - I have this form of Cardiomyopathy... the heart muscle grow thicker and stiffer than normal, especially in the wall of the left ventricle and septum. This is why the doctors thought I had a heart attack initially, because on the echo cardiogram it appeared the left front wall of my heart was paralyzed - typical symptoms of a heart attack. After the Heart Catheterization, it was concluded I did not have a heart attack, but instead had hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. My stiff heart muscle can't relax between pumps the way it should, so less blood moves with each pump. An average person's heart pumps out approximately 50-70% of the blood that is pulled into the heart. No one's heart pumps out 100% of the blood in every pump. My heart only pumps out 25% of the blood in any given pump. This is called an ejection fraction. An irregular heart beat is also normal for this condition... that was all the fluttering and jumping I was feeling in my chest over the past few weeks. Those sensations may or may not go away.

Causes of Cardiomyopathy: Causes 1 and 2 are my diagnosis.

1. Coronary artery disease: a narrowing of the heart's blood vessels, because of the thickening in the heart muscle itself. Also known as ischemic cardiomyopthy. This is one of my diagnosis.
2. Problems for a women during or after multiple childbirths. This is the second diagnosis - post par tum cardiomyopathy.
3. Heavy alcohol use over a long period of time.
4. Infection or inflammation of the heart muscle.
5. Use of certain cancer medications
6. High blood pressure.

Blood Clot: I have also been diagnosed with a Thrombus, for the layman it is called a blood clot. This is located in the lower left ventricle of my heart and has formed over time, since my heart has not been pumping strongly enough. It has allowed the blood to pool in the bottom of my heart and become clotted and sticky. The doctor's have given me Coumadin and Lovenox shots for the near future until the clot is dissolved. The length of time I will be on these particular drugs will not be known until later.

Drugs: The doctor's have also given me several others medicines to begin taking long term. Coreg and Enalapril are blood pressure medications. No, I do not have high blood pressure, but these two drugs work with my heart to make it easier for it to pump blood everyday. Thus, allowing my heart to work a little less with each pump and not tire so easily. I am also taking 81 mg aspirin and 1200 mg of fish oil. The fish oil is for my good cholesterol - which apparently is not high enough - though my other readings were perfectly fine.

Treatment plan for the future: This is a work in progress, obviously, because I do not truly know how what my body can handle until I get back into a normal routine. But here are the initial guidelines I have been given:

1. Medications: as described above. At a later time, when I have researched more about my medicines exact benefit to my body, I will blog on them each individually. Because if you know me.... I am very picky about medications! Which makes this very ironic... you should have seen me in the hospital, I think I asked more questions than the doctors. Finally, about the 3rd day one of my nurses brought me in printed paper work of detailing all of the medications I was taking and information pertaining to everything the doctor's were using. She told me that this is usually for the doctor's, but I seemed to need this information for myself! We laughed! At least somebody understand me! HAHA!
2. Salt intake: My daily salt intake must be between 1800-2000mg. The perfect diet from the government says 2400mg daily, so a bit less than that is acceptable for me.
3. Liquid intake: I have learned that the amount of liquid I put in my body has a direct correlation to how hard my heart works. Therefore, I can have the average 6 cups of liquid (48oz.) per day or less. This includes liquid in foods such as fruits and vegetable, anything frozen that turns to liquid such as ice cream, frozen mocha cappuccinos (we all know how much i love those from sonic!)... This will take a little adjustment.
4. Exercise and rest: The doctor's explained that stress, overworking and anxiety would not directly affect my heart, however it could indirectly cause problems. If stress, overworking or anxiety is causing me to not get adequate rest, exercise and eat properly, then that would begin to cause further damage to my heart. The doctors were thrilled at my weight loss of 75 lbs. this past year and have encouraged me as I feel better, to continue with that weight loss, because it will take even more pressure off my heart. So a normal work week (40hours) is doable, give or take a little.

So, if you've made it to the end of this blog.... congratulations... you now know most everything I know, to date, on my condition. If you have questions or comments, please ask them and I will gladly post further clarifications. As a side note, my good friend, Jamie Lee Allen (you can link to her blog from my list on the right side) wrote a few post about concerning me. I do not deserve any of the accolades she gives to me and want God to receive all the glory... but it is encouraging to me that God can use me to be a testimony to others through my trials. Go check her out! You won't be disappointed! She's so much funnier than I am! God Bless you Jamie!

Okay, folks, time for me to get some rest... until next time...