please give me some hope for my Dad

I am posting this on behalf of my Dad and also myself cos' i a m so worried about him. He has had a medtronic dual chamber fitted back in december last year after suffering myocarditis 5 yrs ago and his heart function has slowly got worse even tho he was on meds. Initially he showed quite a good response to the pm fitment for a couple of months but has since gone down alarmingly to the point where yesterday 10 paces was leaving him very breathless.He was admitted to hospital last weekend as he had been sick for a couple of weeks and was bringing up blood. (he is home now)They are suggesting he has a stomach ulcer bought on by taking asprin 1 a day. Is it possible that this other illness or medication he has taken for it has affected his breathing ? He is going to be ringing the pm clinic first thing mon morning. He has no stents or otherwise as checks on that were ok. The breathlesness goes away very quickly if he just sits down and does nothing. I am hoping this is a pm adjustment issue. He is 63 years old and was in good health prior to this mycarditis attack . any advice greatly appeciated we are so worried about him .
thanks in advance

7 Comments

further update

by rd350lc - 2012-05-27 04:05:53

we went to see him in hospital this afternoon and remarkably his condition has changed for the better. he was put on a drug to get rid of fluid but the crazy thing is the doctor is saying he has no fluid around his heart, i thought the only way they could tell this was via an echo and he said he hasn't had one, he has now been put on a saline drip because they want to do a scan tommorow to rule out a blood clot on the lung. the plot thickens as to what is going on with him and the only thing he has had in the last 24hrs is the fluid reducing drug so by my reckoning it must be related to excess fluid.

update

by rd350lc - 2012-05-27 06:05:03

update , my mum rang me 10 mins after i wrote this and he is in hospital again with suspected fluid around heart and in his legs , explains a lot to his breathing problem. ever since the pacemaker was fitted he was taken off of water tablets which suprises me .

Someone will be by...

by donr - 2012-05-27 06:05:08

...when the US/Canadian world wakes up in about 3 hrs. I'm guessing you live in the UK BUT - being Sunday, sometimes the traffic is light early in the AM.

Sounds like this came on him suddenly. Did they go into his stomach & VERIFY that he really has an ulcer? Or did they just guess? That makes a big difference. You might answer this question before others read it so they will know.

Also - a bit more detail as to what his PM does for him. EXACTLY why did he get the PM - bundle block, whatever.

Hope for the best for Dad.

Don

all the best

by idgie - 2012-05-27 07:05:46

Hi rd, just read your posts. All the best to your dad. Pls keep us posted. I know what you must be going through.

not pm related

by Tracey_E - 2012-05-27 09:05:41

It sounds like the fluid build up has been the problem. This is unrelated to the pm or its settings or whether or not he was on water pills. If his only problem was fixed by the pm and his heart was functioning well, it would make sense to take him off the water tablets.

There are minor risks to taking aspirin, just like any medication, but there are also benefits. You'll need to discuss with his dr to decide if the benefits outweigh the risks.

Good luck. Now that he has a proper diagnosis, hope he is back on his feet soon.

thanks

by rd350lc - 2012-05-27 10:05:02

i'm off to see him in hospital in the next hr. thanks very much for the replies

further update

by rd350lc - 2012-05-28 04:05:11

He has been diagnosed with 2 clots on his lungs and is being treated with warfren , that explains a lot ,i just hope we have caught them early enough and he responds to the treatment. I now am wondering why they have appeared on his lungs and are heart patients more at risk to developing clots ? makes me wonder if the drugs to treat ulcer have created these clots . thanks idgie for your support

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