Stephanie78
04-12-2012, 04:12 PM
So, today John had an appointment with his cardiologist at UNC. Johns heart is pumping at 30% (Normal is 60%). Last summer during his flare it was at 40% but had gotten back to 55% before he got sick this past month.
He is on Metoporal (50mg twice a day) and Hydralazine (30mg three times a day). Our plan is to do a diary of his BP and Pulse rate for the next 2 weeks continuing on these medications at these doses. Dr Vidwan will then make the decision on if he wants to raise the dosage of either of these medications.
He believes that Johns heart can go back to where it was, his only concern is that IF he continues to take hits to his heart that it will get to a point where it can not rebound. He did speak with us about possibly in the future having a pacemaker put in. He also expressed his want for John to exercise. He stated that the heart will heal quicker with exercise.
The bad news of the appointment.... Dr Vidwan will be leaving Chapel Hill in June. His wife who is a resident in Ohio will finish her residency in May and he will finish his fellowship for UNC. So they both have taken jobs in Atlanta GA where she will do her fellowship. Although I'm happy that they will now be able to be together with their new baby boy I'm devastated that we will lose him as a doctor.
John is continuing to taper off of Pred and will be off next week which is awesome. It has a horrible effect on his skin making it paper thin and dry. His poor hands are cracked open in places due to it.
Other then that he's great. His BP is 138/80 (which we will take right now). His pulse was 88 (which is higher then we would like but we will still take it). He gets tired very easily but hey, that's a reason for "US" to lay down and take a nap!
He is on Metoporal (50mg twice a day) and Hydralazine (30mg three times a day). Our plan is to do a diary of his BP and Pulse rate for the next 2 weeks continuing on these medications at these doses. Dr Vidwan will then make the decision on if he wants to raise the dosage of either of these medications.
He believes that Johns heart can go back to where it was, his only concern is that IF he continues to take hits to his heart that it will get to a point where it can not rebound. He did speak with us about possibly in the future having a pacemaker put in. He also expressed his want for John to exercise. He stated that the heart will heal quicker with exercise.
The bad news of the appointment.... Dr Vidwan will be leaving Chapel Hill in June. His wife who is a resident in Ohio will finish her residency in May and he will finish his fellowship for UNC. So they both have taken jobs in Atlanta GA where she will do her fellowship. Although I'm happy that they will now be able to be together with their new baby boy I'm devastated that we will lose him as a doctor.
John is continuing to taper off of Pred and will be off next week which is awesome. It has a horrible effect on his skin making it paper thin and dry. His poor hands are cracked open in places due to it.
Other then that he's great. His BP is 138/80 (which we will take right now). His pulse was 88 (which is higher then we would like but we will still take it). He gets tired very easily but hey, that's a reason for "US" to lay down and take a nap!