Enlarged Heart

[Janice]

John found out a couple weeks ago he has an enlarged heart. His chest xray last year was fine, this year it showed up. So, he went to a special cardio yesterday and he gave him some samples of toprol=xl and Coumadin. The doctor wants to know how these will work for him. John stopped this morning to get another xray. The doctor said it is not life threatening. He also wants John to go into the hospital for a couple days to get a series of tests and check out his diabetes good too.

Oh, these Golden Ages are really an adventure.

[feederband]

I have a enlarged heart..There are several reasons for this...Does he have High Blood pressure? That what caused mine...The heart is a muscle if you over work it the muscles will get bigger.. The test should find the cause...Hopefully no big deal...

[Janice]

Yes, he does and he is taking medication for it. He discovered he had diabetes a couple years ago and lost 50 pounds in a few months. Since then, he has been on a special diet. He takes his pressure every morning. It is fine. He went to his regular diabetes doctor and got a checkup. He came home with these two meds yesterday, I think they are both from the cardio. Are you taking medication for your heart?

[furluvcats]

Good luck with Janice. I can only imagine how scary it must be to you both to have to deal with health issues/unknowns, etc...thinkin of ya!!!

In the last two weeks my son has been referred to nuerologist from 2 different doctors, about two different issues...I know its a little scary here too. The waiting is what stinks the most...he can't get his cat scan and tests until June 7th...I just want life to flow perfectly...no onstacles...pipedream, huh?

[Janice]

Thanks, fur. and it is good to hear Feeder is doing so well too.

This just goes to show everyone should get a good work up once a year, lab tests, xrays, etc.

[MScoast]

Toprol is a cardo drug, a beta-blocker. It's given most of the time for angina, hypertension, etc... It wouldn't be a bad idea to get an electric blood pressure monitor to keep at home. It does lower blood pressure, and if it's already low, you wouldn't want to lower it even more. At least until you know what kind of reaction he's going to have after starting it.
Coumadin is a blood thinner, it helps prevent blood clots. LOTS of caution should be taken when on Coumadin. Be careful when shaving..probably better to use an electric razor. When getting cut, it's harder to stop bleeding due to slowed clotting times due to thinner blood. Might even want to ask the doctor to run a blood test called PT (prothrombin time),and INR (International Normalized Ratio)
which checks how long it takes the blood to clot.

hope this helps a little, Janice...If you already knew this stuff, sorry...It's just the nurse in me typing away

[Janice]

Thanks so much. Yes, that is probably why his cardio wants him to go in for a couple days of testing at the hospital. John is a Phd chemist who makes drugs. I am sure when he left the office, he immediately went to his office and looked up these drugs.

Yes, we have a monitor at home. His is a little high, but it wasn't that much of a concern before this came up. John had all his lab work done too, so he may have had a PT test too.

Thanks

[george_r_1961]

Toprol is a cardo drug, a beta-blocker. It's given most of the time for angina, hypertension, etc... It wouldn't be a bad idea to get an electric blood pressure monitor to keep at home. It does lower blood pressure, and if it's already low, you wouldn't want to lower it even more. At least until you know what kind of reaction he's going to have after starting it.
Coumadin is a blood thinner, it helps prevent blood clots. LOTS of caution should be taken when on Coumadin. Be careful when shaving..probably better to use an electric razor. When getting cut, it's harder to stop bleeding due to slowed clotting times due to thinner blood. Might even want to ask the doctor to run a blood test called PT (prothrombin time),and INR (International Normalized Ratio)
which checks how long it takes the blood to clot.

hope this helps a little, Janice...If you already knew this stuff, sorry...It's just the nurse in me typing away

One more thing..NO products containing asprin and NO alcohol. Both have anticoagulant properties (in other words they inhibit clotting). If he takes any other meds do not assume the doctor already knows..even if they are presctibed. Make sure he tells his doctor about every medication he takes. If he follows his doctors advice he should be fine. Best of luck to him

[Janice]

Yes, George. He was referred by his regular doctor. He took his xrays and copies in the origional file, with his meds, etc. with him to the cardio. John got a blood thinner of sort today and another medication. He goes in Friday so the doctor can check to see how these two are working. If he is concerned, then John will go into the hospital for a couple days of tests. He told the doctor yesterday that he has one drink when he gets home from work each night. At this point, the doctor said he is not concerned if he only has one.You can bet John checks them out. He asks all kinds of questions and can tell if they keep up on new things and reading medical publications and journals. John has never been bashful, haha, he just comes out and asks them. John will discuss medications with them, etc. We have wonderful doctors down here. All the major pharmaceuticals are down here, Pfizer, Merck, etc. So the medical arena is full. John is in good hands. Thanks

[george_r_1961]

Well one drink wont hurt I imagine..I think between the two aspirin is the one id leave alone. Another thing I forgot to mention is NO grapefruit; for some reason it interacts with the toprol and can cause a dangerous drop in blood pressure.

[Janice]

Thanks, John cannot have any fruits, citrus too because of his diabetes. John was taking one asirin a day before getting this new blood thinner. John said his doctor is aware he is taking one aspirin and is taking in account the dosage of his new med. He feels the aspirin tends to help prevent heart attacks. John eats absolutely no fruits, they contain natural sugars which he cannot eat. When John gets finished will all these tests, I am sure he will have a new series of meds to take. John is seeing two speciaists now, a cardiologist and endracrinologist (sp). graci.