Mixed emotions

I had my first follow up appointment with my cardiologist yesterday. It was nice getting out the house in spite of the global warming.

He spent about three minutes with me reviewing my meds (good), reviewing my blood pressure (good) discussing my exercise (do more). He wants me to become really aerobically fit and lift some light weights to stabilize my chest area.

But of course, I had questions...

My lower back is feeling better but not well, did he have any ideas? (no). My center chest and back are now my main pain sources (normal). And then the big kicker...did he believe I had a heart attack before? (Unequivocally no).

So I had been doing some more research on my Aortic aneurysm. Cedars Sinai has done work with patients who have the bicuspid valve and aneurysm. They call it a disease. One of the things I gleaned early on was that the Aorta feels pain. In fact they described my previous heart attack (episode) scenario but attributed it to the aortic pain caused by transient high blood pressure.

So I bring all this up to the cardiologist and I get the cold shoulder. He wasn't aware of the research and findings but said my situation was different. But as I questioned that assumption it continued to be clear he was eliminating something from consideration without understanding it. As I further explained the findings and its obvious applicability to my scenario he said it was possible. This is without him being able to explain what happened during what my previous cardiologist called a heart attack.

The reason for my bringing it up is that this disease can have weakend connective tissue associated with it and they screen patients with my scenario for brain anuerysms. I asked if we knew what the cellular structure (normal or abnormal) of the Aortic walls were in the area we removed? He then read the surgeon's report which made no mention of it...and asked me to call the surgeon!!!!

Basically, if the cellular structure is fine there's no reason to suspect other arteries. If not, its best to get some scans. So I am calling the surgeon today to ask if he looked at or necropsied the Aorta section he removed. That should go over real well with him.

I am scheduled for a follow up echocardiogram to baseline my new parts in a couple months, otherwise the cardiologist is done with me...he took a cell call during our meeting to discuss a valentines gift for his wife...is that a bad sign?