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Heart Failure

Heart & Blood Health | Last Active: Sep 12, 2020 | Replies (25)

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@shawnb2020

Well let me start with thanking everyone who has taken the time to respond so far. Now to try an answer everyone and everything. At this point i don't have devices. My previous doctor had put me on the life vest for about 2-3 weeks after my second HA. I went for a follow up echo and he said i made it past the ef needed to require it and to send it back and that he would see me in a year even though i was still having problems. So i found the doctor i have now and he said that he would have left it on me for a while longer and a week later i had my 3rd HA. They added another stent and sent me on my way. Have continued to have pain and "palpitations" since. I went back to the ER about a month ago cause they were getting worse, they kept me overnight and did a test i hadn't had before and said they saw the dead spot that the echo had missed. About a week later they had me go for the viability scan (the report is the attached picture) which i was told i was in heart failure and that there was nothing he could do for me but give me a new medication called Entresto which he said might help improve my numbers but that if after a few months it didn't we might discuss the life vest again. But i have read that anything under an ef of 30 is considered high risk for "sudden cardiac death". Topped with these "palpitations" which at times get weird, like it's beat.... beat...beat...beatbeatbeatbeat................beat...beat.....beatbeatbeatbeatbeatbeatbeat............................................beat............beat and then back to normal.So i was told by the last er doctor to seek out mayo or cleavland (mayo being closer to me) i sent the request and all the history. They set my appointment 3+ weeks out cause my doctor has to put in a referral or my insurance wont cover it. Otherwise i'm sure they would have gotten me earlier. I know this was long and i'm sorry and hopefully i answered everything so far. If i missed something feel free to ask again and i'll be more then happy to answer

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Replies to "Well let me start with thanking everyone who has taken the time to respond so far...."

@shawnb2020 Hi and i am also curious why so long when i went to Mayo Phoenix it was a referral from my Cardiologist and i actually went direct by Ambulance. Now i had to wait for the insurance approval for my transplant but they started the process just on my doctors referral. At first it was only an evaluation and i went home after the eval which was inpatient but my symptoms got worse and i went back thru the Mayo er and never left until it i ended up with my transplant. But during that period waiting to get approval from the Insurance i was already at Mayo. Now at the time i had Blue Cross Blue Shield i don't know if that made any difference or not. So my advice would be to go to the closest ER whenever the symptoms appear. I was already an established patient with a history of Heart issues. Im wondering now if my cardiologist at the time pushed it thru. I'm not sure about that part. Hang in there it will be worth it. I am so thankful for Mayo and what they did for me.
Have a Blessed Day
Dana

I have never like responses that start with "I know what you are feeling" because we can never understand what pain means to you both physically and the clear frustration that you are experiencing emotionally. I can tell you that I had good care from many doctors but I never felt hope until I walked into Mayo. The advice I got was consistent and I felt better while waiting for my transplant which happened 8 months ago. My heart was "totally shot" (apparently a medical term). I had similar palpitations as a result of my heart trying to catch up to the needs of the body. I also don't want to minimize your feelings on your EF number. I will share that it is just a number and to not read too much into it. Mine was at 9% and I walked 14,000 steps the day before my transplant.