Well, I can say everyone was very surprised at my echo pressure being that high, I know I certainly didn't expect that. I honestly don't know why they didn't follow that result up with at least a repeat echo sooner than the one I have upcoming on June 12th, or possibly a right sided cath, but honestly I was happy they didn't and I didn't have to face these things ( especially the cath) and could just wait and see if the furosemide helped. I'm sure I'd have felt differently if I were symptomatic, but honestly it doesn't seem as though things have progressed symptomwise in the last year or so. I didn't want to rock the boat, so to speak, by insisting they do further testing at that point. So I laid low and took the meds!

We'll see what the upcoming echo brings, I'm sure there will be more testing in my future should the pressure continue to be as high as it was. As I'd mentioned in an earlier post, I've had several chest CT scans ( for cancer surveillance) that all noted a significantly enlarged pulmonary artery base ( including measurements) that suggested pulmoInary artery hypertension, so it would seem that something is afoot. I'd say that if the pressure is significantly lower ( thanks to the furosemide, or lower salt diet, or my dogging through exercises, whatever it is), I probably never had PAH/PH at all, but I don't know what would have caused the high pressure and enlargement.

I don't know if this is the most realistic way to look at things, but I've had a number of health scare/issues in the last few years ( including colon cancer), and other serious health issues in my close family members. I've always been a "half-glass full" type gal and have found the best way to deal with these issues was to look on the more positive side of things. I've been lucky in that we're all doing well with our issues and things have, at least so far, turned out as well, or better, sometimes, than could be expected. At this point, as I told my oncologist at one point, that I "was not going to worry about anything until someone who knows what they are talking about tells me it's time to worry". He agreed with me that this was a good way to look at things, though I know it's easier said than done for many people.

So, we'll see about my "furosemide cure" for PAH! Just kidding, but who knows?