I just caught this strand in my weekly updates and did not go back more than a few pages, so if I'm redundant, I apologize. 6 years ago, I was diagnosed with COPD and Lung Cancer stage 2B. I went to Mayo for surgery with follow-up chemo (it had spread to one lymph node). I have remained cancer free, and the only sign of COPD is when I carry something heavy in front of me or try to hike up more than a small hill or 1 or 2 flights of stairs. This year I noticed my normal pulse was increasing, but not to the level that concerned my doc. Then, I had an episode of shortness of breath. I got issued a rescue inhaler and was sent to the pulmonologist, who tested my lung function and said I was worse than I realized and gave me Trelogy. A month later I renewed it but called to say that if anything, I was worse. So, she said keep taking it and added prednisolone. Meanwhile, now my pulse was routinely hitting 130, which I used to only see in an exercise class. So, my doc did an ECG. He said there were no issues but if I wanted, he could give me medicine or a heart doctor referral. Thankfully, I opted for option 2. I had to wait 2 1/2 weeks and by then I could not get down my driveway without shortness of breath and I was using the rescue inhaler to go to sleep, When I got to the cardiologist he repeated that test and asked me if I would be willing to go downstairs to the Emergency Room for more tests. Absolutely! It turns out my blood flow that should be 50-60% was down to 12%. I spent 5 days in the hospital while they started me and then adjusted me on several meds. I seem to be doing well now but need to wait until January to retest my heart function.
I'm sharing this because we did not realize mine was a sign of heart, not lung. So, if applicable to anyone else, keep it in mind.