Starting at the beginning, there are not many or any other places left to start. So the problem started about 24 May 2018, when we had to move due to renovations and replacement of things such as central heating/boiler, electrics, kitchen refurbishment etc.
The first night I noticed my ankles were swollen, but was more than happy when they had gone down the next morning. Hold on - don't get excited, next night - same problem, just a little bit worse. This has gone on getting worse since then, never looking like it's going to get any better.
Tuesday last week, I got Chris to do my blood pressure, and our new machine looked like it was going to have a Coronary, So with this info I managed to get an appointment for the Friday. Explained to the GP, about the blood pressure, swollen ankles, head pain and breathlessness etc. He took my blood pressure - normal - typical make me look stupid! Looked at my legs and ankles, I told him that by the evening, my legs would be red and shiny, and in the morning the skin would be flakey and not nice.
He then started listening to my heart, in various places - allowing me to breathe - occasionally as well. I sort of knew he had found something, when he asked me to stop breathing, so he could listen. He then told me that he could hear a heart murmur - an extra random beat to the heart. Next he wanted me to have an X-Ray - local Hospital, extra blood tests and an ECG, and he was getting me a scan on my heart - not sure what that would show.
Moving on to Monday this week, I went to the local hospital for the X-Ray, being told the results would be back with my GP by the end of the week.
Today, I went for the extra blood tests and the ECG. When Sister had completed the ECG, she took it to show the Doctor, then came back and asked me to wait in Reception, and Dr would call me through. Sorta knew that the ECG had found something or confirmed that the heart murmur was real. I wasn't worried about the heart murmur, as my Late Mother had one all her life, and I have a feeling her Mother - my Grandmother had one as well. I clearly remember Grandmother taking Dispirin daily, a form of Aspirin.
Doctor said that I did have a heart murmur, this was shown by the ECG, the X-Ray showed that my heart is enlarged. Then the Doctor did shock me, not much does shock me anymore, but he said that I have had a Heart Attack as well!! I told him I had very bad indigestion/heartburn - well that's what it felt like - about 3-4 weeks ago. He said he doubted very much that it was either of those, and was in fact a heart attack. He said I would still be having the heart scan, but also now he was sending me to the Heart Specialist, and this would happen within the next 2 weeks. I know from the time my previous GP had reason to believe I had a secondary tumour at L3-4, that 2 weeks in Dr speak means it's being considered very seriously.
So I have been having a read on www.bhf.org.uk and it says that us ladies are less likely to take the pain associated with Heart Attacks as seriously as the men, and we treat it more like indigestion etc. meaning that more of us suffer needlessly. Have a read, take it seriously, don't let your family suffer with loosing you, because you thought it was indigestion.
As you can imagine, it's been a rather strange feeling day. I'm not sure "strange" is the best description, but it's the best I can come up with at this time. If it turns out to be innocent and just the heart murmur, then I for one will be more than happy, if not and it's more, then I will share with you what goes on, and how I feel about it. Hopefully my sharing will prevent others suffering or worse. Remember the cost of of a funeral is rising all the time, and I for one want to give my family time to save for it - seriously though, I want to stay around much longer so that I can annoy them more than I do already.
You will be reading this well after the date I have written it, this is so that I can inform my close family members personally, rather than have them reading about it in public on Facebook, which is not a good place to read about things at the best of times.
Can I also remind you that this is not a medical reference, just a diary of my experiences, and as such, you should not use this as a reference for your own medical conditions. I can only speak about how I view things from my own perspective, and this could differ from others. As a personal blog, I do not seek permission from others to write about myself, and do not seek comments of a negative nature. I would like to keep things positive until, they are proven otherwise.
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