Wednesday 02.16.2011 Cardiology

I finally slept last night. Daniel said he had to nudge me a couple times, that I was "cuttin 'em down". (sawing logs/snoring) Yeah, well, I was really tired. And I snore when I'm really tired. Which means I finally slept.

I woke shortly after 8 and got up. Just as I was getting into the shower, the phone rang. Dr. Eisenberg's office, rescheduling my 11 o'clock this morning for 1:45. So I had a nice morning at home and was able to do a yoga sequence.

The doctor's office was nice, in a new office park. A guy named Alex told me he was a medical assistant, took me back and did height and weight (still 5'4", and still 169#) and blood pressure (106/64). There was a computer in the room, and he entered all of that, then pulled up my electronic chart, which has all my information from the cancer treatment. That was pretty cool. We went through the basic information--allergies, current medications--and went out to get the doctor.

Dr. Joel Eisenberg was a pleasant, though kind of funny-looking, man. Maybe 6 foot tall, pale, kind of hunched over, with mostly salty and very little pepper hair, on the long side. He was lean and fit-looking, which is a good thing in a cardiologist. Or any health care person, I think. He reviewed my chart, asking questions, and talked about the chemotherapy. As he was flipping pages/screens, the radiation caught his attention. He said that the data is coming in, showing that women treated with radiation for breast cancer, as well as other cancers, including men, are developing athersclerosis 5-20 years post treatment. I'm coming up on 3 years.

So, after more discussion and a stethoscope exam, he offered that the first thing to do would be an ultrasound/echocardiogram of the heart, to see if it's enlarged, and how the blood flow is, and strap a 24 hour holter monitor on, to see if it catches any abnormal beats. If that looks ok, then labs in 6 months, to see if anything is changing. If there is something odd, we'll discuss it and review options at that time. Overall, it was a very good visit.

From there I went to Leah's for the reflexology appointment. She did a marvelous job, as aways. I do feel better after.

Back home, I fixed supper and ate, and closed my eyes for a few minutes. Until I remembered that I had a Board meeting tonight. I got up and gathered my things and went up to the clubhouse. Only one other board member attended, and the association manager. So we had an "informal meeting", and will wait until next meeting to do any official stuff.

Dan got home shortly after I did.

Tomorrow he works, and I might take my car back to the dealer, as the engine light came on again. I hope it's not going to be an annoying recurrence that is an obscure problem.

Thank you for reading. Hugs.