In the beginning of this month, I went in for my routine lipid and liver levels blood tests. The liver was fine, and the lipid levels were actually lower than in July - below - which is always a plus. The only thing I did differently is adding back the zetia to my drug cocktail. My new cardiologist seems to believe this definitely will help with the numbers.
As you know, any improvement is a great thing in this world, so I was grateful for this. The happiness was short lived, however, as my annual echocardiogram was due also - where they are monitoring the regress of my stenotic aortic valve. The results from this test just came out this week and it's not looking good. There is a sudden drop in the area of the valve (from 1.1 cm2 to 0.5 cm2) and a sudden increase of the velocity of the blood through it (from 3.5 m/s to 4.86 m/s) - which my doctor considers to be "a huge jump". My angina symptoms are not worsened, however, and that's the only saving grace at this point.
Usually, any aortic area less than 0.9 cm2 is considered dangerous and it begs for open heart surgery to replace the leaking/ broken valve. An idea which I have been "playing with" for the past couple of days. It's living me speechless and numb at this point.
I called for a repeat of the test, which the doctor was onboard with, so this is to be done tomorrow. And then, we wait and try to make a decision.
Surely, not what I had in mind for food-for-thought material for Christmas and open hear surgery was definitely not on the menu for the new year. I'll try to stay positive, but it's hard, as the numbers and the statistics you read are pretty telling and grim. And, alas, there is no more "alternative" way around this - no more diets, meds, or lifestyle changes that can fix a broken valve.
I hope everyone's load is light this Holiday season and into the new year! Be grateful for today.
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