Anyone here improve or fully recover from Congestive Heart Failure? I just spent 9 days in the hospital with doctors telling me they may move me to Tufts medical center and put me on a heart transplant list because I have a refraction rate of 10%! Normal heart is 70% refraction. Means its barely beating enough to keep me alive. Huh? What? All this is a shock, haven't been to the doctors in maybe 20 years. Never get sick. And there I was with a horrible cough struggling to breathe in the ER. It felt like I was drowning. And chest pains as I bloated..
I turned 54 Jan 5 in the hospital. Had not been to the doctor in 20 years, never sick (I know, I know). Was leading a normal life, full of daily physical work tinkering under the hood, landscaping, walking, lifting weights, etc. Worked out and ate healthy most of my adult life. At 5'9" I try to stay under 200. But suddenly I was 216 and my stomach was like a rock. Not hungry. Not thirsty. My feet got huge. Then my legs and knees. Then it got hard to breathe. I thought I'm just gonna wait till after Christmas.. I waited.. Up all night cause i can't lie down. My weight surged so i stopped eating thinking I was getting fat. then I couldn't breathe lying down. All symptoms.. Finally my GF said thats it were going to the ER right now. They snatched me out of the ER waiting room cause I was passing out. Doctors said she saved my life.
My BP was through the roof.. 160 over something.. Partly cause I was scared as heck.. They gave me a battery of tests.. A cardio cath shows my arteries as "squeaky clean". Random drinking, liver and kidneys tested good. Quit smoking a year ago after 10-15 years of 1/2 pack a day. Had a cough for a month, turns out its another symptom. Thought it was allergies or my lungs cleaning out. Then suddenly everyone wearing a mask, why? I was diagnosed with the flu in addition to CHF. Never had the flu before in my life. So I was really bad, I could see it in the doctors eyes.. They put me on all kinds of meds lowering my BP so much I could barely move or remember anything. 60/X hard to remember. I couldn't sit up, exhausting. I remember family in masks crying. They gave Viral meds to contain flu. Then lasics to remove fluid. 23lbs was gone in 4 days! Then they cut the BP meds in half, and to this day I'm under 120/75 avg. Was up and walking after 5 days. Doctors kept saying no, they were liable. Finally they said go ahead and were very surprised I felt so good that fast.
I'm home exercising and feel fine. Best I've felt in a few years. Can breathe perfectly. My GF is scared to death watching me lift light weights in the basement. Have a stress test tomorrow to see if I'm ok for some kind of cardio rehab. I think I am. I saw the Ultra scan of my heart barely beating. 3 different Cardio doctors confirmed the refraction rate. I know I was dying in hindsight. But here I am at home almost 2 weeks after release and I feel fantastic. 193lbs. But... My toes lose circulation and go white if i stay up too long. So thats clearly telling me to watch out, this wasn't a dream its real.
Anyone else out there have a similar experience? I'm wondering what my future is going to be like.
I turned 54 Jan 5 in the hospital. Had not been to the doctor in 20 years, never sick (I know, I know). Was leading a normal life, full of daily physical work tinkering under the hood, landscaping, walking, lifting weights, etc. Worked out and ate healthy most of my adult life. At 5'9" I try to stay under 200. But suddenly I was 216 and my stomach was like a rock. Not hungry. Not thirsty. My feet got huge. Then my legs and knees. Then it got hard to breathe. I thought I'm just gonna wait till after Christmas.. I waited.. Up all night cause i can't lie down. My weight surged so i stopped eating thinking I was getting fat. then I couldn't breathe lying down. All symptoms.. Finally my GF said thats it were going to the ER right now. They snatched me out of the ER waiting room cause I was passing out. Doctors said she saved my life.
My BP was through the roof.. 160 over something.. Partly cause I was scared as heck.. They gave me a battery of tests.. A cardio cath shows my arteries as "squeaky clean". Random drinking, liver and kidneys tested good. Quit smoking a year ago after 10-15 years of 1/2 pack a day. Had a cough for a month, turns out its another symptom. Thought it was allergies or my lungs cleaning out. Then suddenly everyone wearing a mask, why? I was diagnosed with the flu in addition to CHF. Never had the flu before in my life. So I was really bad, I could see it in the doctors eyes.. They put me on all kinds of meds lowering my BP so much I could barely move or remember anything. 60/X hard to remember. I couldn't sit up, exhausting. I remember family in masks crying. They gave Viral meds to contain flu. Then lasics to remove fluid. 23lbs was gone in 4 days! Then they cut the BP meds in half, and to this day I'm under 120/75 avg. Was up and walking after 5 days. Doctors kept saying no, they were liable. Finally they said go ahead and were very surprised I felt so good that fast.
I'm home exercising and feel fine. Best I've felt in a few years. Can breathe perfectly. My GF is scared to death watching me lift light weights in the basement. Have a stress test tomorrow to see if I'm ok for some kind of cardio rehab. I think I am. I saw the Ultra scan of my heart barely beating. 3 different Cardio doctors confirmed the refraction rate. I know I was dying in hindsight. But here I am at home almost 2 weeks after release and I feel fantastic. 193lbs. But... My toes lose circulation and go white if i stay up too long. So thats clearly telling me to watch out, this wasn't a dream its real.
Anyone else out there have a similar experience? I'm wondering what my future is going to be like.
