The Vent and Rant Thread

[Hitch]

Originally Posted by covingtoncat73

Thanks, CRussel, Eschwartz, Cromag, and Hitch. It went as well as can be expected. The cardio doesn't like the size of my aorta but it is not quite at surgery levels yet and the good news is that the size didn't change at all from last year. This means that next year, as long as the Echo for next year also shows no change, I don't have to have an MRI next year.

Hitch - That is awful! I'm so sorry you had to deal with that. To have the AC go out in heat like that is so dangerous.

CRussel - Mom is one one of the "Discovery Islands," so it is not as bad as inland. Her cabin, of course, has no AC and in the really bad heat, she will sleep downstairs. The heat and drought seems to have broken, too.

CC:

I'm so glad that things went as well as they did. (I have to have some tests myself--they were scheduled before Mr. Hitch had his wee problem, which was ironic), about my own damn aorta, etc., so I'm watching YOU with interest! :-)

Hitch

[covingtoncat73]

Originally Posted by Hitch

CC:

I'm so glad that things went as well as they did. (I have to have some tests myself--they were scheduled before Mr. Hitch had his wee problem, which was ironic), about my own damn aorta, etc., so I'm watching YOU with interest! :-)

Hitch

Thanks, Hitch. Good luck with your aorta, too! Not only is it common for girls with Turner Syndrome to have BAV, members of my family who DON'T have TS have BAV. Two of my three first cousins on my mom's side have it. I suspect my maternal grandmother's aunt had it as she died of a "heart attack" at 39, of course that was way too back in the day to say for sure.

[Hitch]

Originally Posted by covingtoncat73

Thanks, Hitch. Good luck with your aorta, too! Not only is it common for girls with Turner Syndrome to have BAV, members of my family who DON'T have TS have BAV. Two of my three first cousins on my mom's side have it. I suspect my maternal grandmother's aunt had it as she died of a "heart attack" at 39, of course that was way too back in the day to say for sure.

Howdy:

Can't claim to be as unique as that! That's Bicuspid Aortic Valve, right? (In fact, I was always getting checked by Docs for whats-its, that thing that tall skinny folks get...can't think of the name now, the heart thing...) I seem to just have plain-old, plain-old boring clogged up arteries, and apparently, my aorta, too, which is the sore point. (And, man, you want to talk about PISSED. I eat right--never touch fast-food or that crap. I can count on one hand the number of times I've eaten something like MacDonald's, etc., in the past 5 years or more. I do occasionally, 2-3x year, get a hand-tossed pizza. I have exercised the vast majority of my life, cardio, etc. That's just downright damn irritating, arteriosclerosis, for s**t's sake. Of course, given what you deal with, I shouldn't be bitching.)

I was scheduled for a test on that literally the day after Mr. Hitch's heart-explosion, so of course, that got put right off. But, I'm going to head back in. I see how incredibly exhausted and dopey the heart and BP meds make him, (now naps 2-3x daily, which he has NEVER done), and I can't manage that and the business, too, so I literally can't AFFORD to have a heart attack. Assuming I survived, and all that. (That's me--screw my health, I'm always thinking "can I AFFORD to be sick?????"--what a dope!)

Hitch

[covingtoncat73]

Originally Posted by Hitch

Howdy:

Can't claim to be as unique as that! That's Bicuspid Aortic Valve, right? (In fact, I was always getting checked by Docs for whats-its, that thing that tall skinny folks get...can't think of the name now, the heart thing...) I seem to just have plain-old, plain-old boring clogged up arteries, and apparently, my aorta, too, which is the sore point. (And, man, you want to talk about PISSED. I eat right--never touch fast-food or that crap. I can count on one hand the number of times I've eaten something like MacDonald's, etc., in the past 5 years or more. I do occasionally, 2-3x year, get a hand-tossed pizza. I have exercised the vast majority of my life, cardio, etc. That's just downright damn irritating, arteriosclerosis, for s**t's sake. Of course, given what you deal with, I shouldn't be bitching.)

I was scheduled for a test on that literally the day after Mr. Hitch's heart-explosion, so of course, that got put right off. But, I'm going to head back in. I see how incredibly exhausted and dopey the heart and BP meds make him, (now naps 2-3x daily, which he has NEVER done), and I can't manage that and the business, too, so I literally can't AFFORD to have a heart attack. Assuming I survived, and all that. (That's me--screw my health, I'm always thinking "can I AFFORD to be sick?????"--what a dope!)

Hitch

Oh, no! I'm so sorry. I was on Almopodine at first and that was nasty for me. The lisinopril, I seem to be handing great. It works better for my blood pressure, so crucial in aorta issues, and doesn't seem to side-effect me.

Marfan's is what you are thinking of, like Abe Lincoln. My cardio said there isn't literature about TS and this particular drug she mildly suggested to lower heart rate but there was with Marfan's.

Sometimes genetics can be a biatch, yes?

[Hitch]

Originally Posted by covingtoncat73

Oh, no! I'm so sorry. I was on Almopodine at first and that was nasty for me. The lisinopril, I seem to be handing great. It works better for my blood pressure, so crucial in aorta issues, and doesn't seem to side-effect me.

Marfan's is what you are thinking of, like Abe Lincoln. My cardio said there isn't literature about TS and this particular drug she mildly suggested to lower heart rate but there was with Marfan's.

Sometimes genetics can be a biatch, yes?

Yes, he's having a really hard time. Between the half-unconscious the whole day part, and the "everything tastes weird" part, poor kid, he's just not having fun. BUT: he's alive. And based upon what his cardiac guy said, we're lucky. So...

And that's the way I feel about the genetics. I was really lucky in a lot of things, so I guess I gotta take the crap with the good.

Yes, Marfan's: it killed a friend of mine, a horse trainer. She was horseback one day and simply keeled over dead. She wasn't even 30. Shocking as hell, although she knew she had it and knew that her lifespan wasn't going to be normal. Bugger.

Hitch

[covingtoncat73]

Originally Posted by Hitch

Yes, he's having a really hard time. Between the half-unconscious the whole day part, and the "everything tastes weird" part, poor kid, he's just not having fun. BUT: he's alive. And based upon what his cardiac guy said, we're lucky. So...

And that's the way I feel about the genetics. I was really lucky in a lot of things, so I guess I gotta take the crap with the good.

Yes, Marfan's: it killed a friend of mine, a horse trainer. She was horseback one day and simply keeled over dead. She wasn't even 30. Shocking as hell, although she knew she had it and knew that her lifespan wasn't going to be normal. Bugger.

Hitch

I hope he feels better! Ask the Doc about other medications he might switch to that might help.

Yeah, sometimes all you can do is pour yourself a drink and play your "Monty Python Sings" album.

Or read. There is one surprising benefit of TS. We may be short and infertile (actually, I consider that one a plus), prone to hypothyroid and BAV,prone to being hard of hearing, be somewhat aspburgery and social-awkward-penguinish, and bad at math but, by God, we can rock some reading skills:


http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8800619

[CRussel]

Originally Posted by covingtoncat73

I hope he feels better! Ask the Doc about other medications he might switch to that might help.

Yes, good point. His doctor needs to know the effects of the current medication because there are often alternatives that might not have such a negative effect.

[Hitch]

Originally Posted by covingtoncat73

I hope he feels better! Ask the Doc about other medications he might switch to that might help.

Yeah, sometimes all you can do is pour yourself a drink and play your "Monty Python Sings" album.

Or read. There is one surprising benefit of TS. We may be short and infertile (actually, I consider that one a plus), prone to hypothyroid and BAV,prone to being hard of hearing, be somewhat aspburgery and social-awkward-penguinish, and bad at math but, by God, we can rock some reading skills:


http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8800619

Well, there you go: you got SOMETHING. And it was a good something to get, all in!

Originally Posted by CRussel

Yes, good point. His doctor needs to know the effects of the current medication because there are often alternatives that might not have such a negative effect.

I told his Doctor, when we went in. He said that my spousal unit should adapt to it, but so far, not so much.

I'm actually thinking of switching my cardio/vascular tests to this guy's practice, (sleepiness or not, apparently, my husband IS lucky to be alive, and this guy saved him, twice in the same day, after all...) and if I do, I'm going to grab him by the ears and say, "hey, listen, buddy, about Mr. H...." The zombie craze may be popular on TV, but not so much in my house.

Hitch

[Fbone]

Originally Posted by cromag

Were you at least able to get his autograph?

Things are back to normal now. Just the usual day trippers at the beach.

Except one of my local pizzerias burnt down while American Pharoah was on display. It's located next to the racetrack. Cause unknown but my guess it was electrical. The bldg was flooded during Hurricane Sandy and the electrical system probably wasn't replaced.

[Cinisajoy]

Hitch first sorry about everything going wrong.
Second, I will now not whine about our "cool" temperatures of 102. Dry heat my tail. Even 26% humidity is a doozy.
I would give you a virtual hug but it is way too hot for both of us.

[Hitch]

Originally Posted by Cinisajoy

Hitch first sorry about everything going wrong.
Second, I will now not whine about our "cool" temperatures of 102. Dry heat my tail. Even 26% humidity is a doozy.
I would give you a virtual hug but it is way too hot for both of us.

Cinisajoy:

Yeah, I know. I remember, we had a new "weather girl" (yeah, yeah, outdated sexist term: "woman meteorologist") start here some...hell, 15-20 years ago? It was a long time, I know, because we stopped watching local news about that far back. Anyway, she'd come from some other, normal place. It was the middle of summer. When she went to read the temps, she literally stopped and sputtered, and said "that's not a WEATHER temperature. That's an OVEN temperature!" I laughed about it then, but the other night, not so damn funny.

That "it's a dry heat" crap is for the birds. Sure, it's a dry heat. So what? I've been here when it's been 122F, and I'm here to say, screw that, you won't care that it's bloody dry. Humidity is RELATIVE (most folks don't get that), and 25-6% humidity when it's over 103-5 or so, gets pretty damn miserable. It's beyond grim when it gets over 110.

Hugs to you, too! From a safe, not-sweaty distance, LOL.

Hitch

[wodin]

Well, another hurricane is headed our way, Hilda was a cat 4 yesterday, but has weakened to cat 2. Looks like we may dodge yet another bullet.

[badgoodDeb]

Oh my goodness! Batten down the hatches (first time it's been really appropriate to say THAT) and take care!

[Hitch]

So....

for a mere $15K....we can replace it, 'cuz it's not really working right. Can I scream now?

{sigh}

Hitch

[CRussel]

Yes, you may scream now. I don't, however, know if you can scream now.