June 27 2018 Routine Checkup with Cardiologist
As I may have told you before, there are specialists that I'm to see at least once a year for routine monitoring. I haven't been very good at that. Today I saw my Cardiologist for the first time in, well, let's say it's been well over a year. To refresh your memory, one of the medications that I routinely receive, Herceptin, is known to cause heart trouble.
We talked about my current medications and I told her about how Dr. Pohlman (my oncologist) and I have been talking about adjusting them, which we will talk about again at my visit next week, and hopefully put into place. More details on that next week, if we actually do it.
We talked about an exercise and healthy eating plan. The weight loss is secondary though, although I have high hopes that it will happen. The focus, the goal, is having the heart, lungs, and muscles working together. She thinks that this will help with my exhaustion levels. She gave me an eating plan for Metabolic Syndrome, although she made it clear that she doesn't label me as such. She simply thinks it's a good healthy eating plan. She also said that, with the cancer and the meds, the diet is what will help me lose weight, not so much the exercise. The exercise will help the heart/lung/muscles integrate together.
Another part of having those three organs working together is restful sleep. She wants me to revist using the sleep apnea machine. I'll speak to the pulmonologist about that in two weeks.
As I haven't had bloodwork done in some time, she ordered a lipid panel, a comprehensive metabolic panel, and an A1C glucose. I just need to remember to not eat until after the blood is drawn. The plan is to have the blood taken the day of my next infusion, which is next week, since they'll have my port accessed.
The best news that I got today:
She's very happy about how my routine echocardiograms have gone. My heart has stayed healthy throughout my treatment. I know that is surprising to some of you (Ann 😉) given my weight, but there you have it. So, she is recommending to my oncologist that my echocardiograms go from every three months to every six months. Also, I don't need to see my cardiologist once a year. I'm now on an "as needed" basis.
All in all, it was a great visit!
Here's a youtube video of an interview with my cardiologist, if you're interested:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3wOiTjTcKgs&t=30s
We talked about my current medications and I told her about how Dr. Pohlman (my oncologist) and I have been talking about adjusting them, which we will talk about again at my visit next week, and hopefully put into place. More details on that next week, if we actually do it.
We talked about an exercise and healthy eating plan. The weight loss is secondary though, although I have high hopes that it will happen. The focus, the goal, is having the heart, lungs, and muscles working together. She thinks that this will help with my exhaustion levels. She gave me an eating plan for Metabolic Syndrome, although she made it clear that she doesn't label me as such. She simply thinks it's a good healthy eating plan. She also said that, with the cancer and the meds, the diet is what will help me lose weight, not so much the exercise. The exercise will help the heart/lung/muscles integrate together.
Another part of having those three organs working together is restful sleep. She wants me to revist using the sleep apnea machine. I'll speak to the pulmonologist about that in two weeks.
As I haven't had bloodwork done in some time, she ordered a lipid panel, a comprehensive metabolic panel, and an A1C glucose. I just need to remember to not eat until after the blood is drawn. The plan is to have the blood taken the day of my next infusion, which is next week, since they'll have my port accessed.
The best news that I got today:
She's very happy about how my routine echocardiograms have gone. My heart has stayed healthy throughout my treatment. I know that is surprising to some of you (Ann 😉) given my weight, but there you have it. So, she is recommending to my oncologist that my echocardiograms go from every three months to every six months. Also, I don't need to see my cardiologist once a year. I'm now on an "as needed" basis.
All in all, it was a great visit!
Here's a youtube video of an interview with my cardiologist, if you're interested:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3wOiTjTcKgs&t=30s
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