You probably dont know much about this, or maybe have never heard of it? Lets hope not. Up until 5 days ago neither had I. Its not me, but a very close family member.
I would like to take the opportunity here to advise anyone who is afraid of their doctor, or unhappy with their doctor, or has no confidence with their doctor.. just how important this is.
If you are not happy with your GP - CHANGE!!! you can do this, I did.. and its very easy to do. Do not suffer from what can become life threatening symptoms from fear or distrust. Maybe you have little thought of what happens to you? if so please try to think of those around you who love you, and cannot visualise their lives without you.
Symptoms of Congestive heart failure are:
- Tiredness and weakness
- Swelling, usually of ankles and lower legs (Oedema)
- Coughing
- Breathing Difficulties
- Nausea
- Lack of appetite
- Weight Loss
- Confusion or difficulty in concentration
Once the GP suspects Heart Failure he/she will send you for a chest xray, blood tests, ECG so he can find out the level of damage to the heart. Like most things the sooner you present with your symptoms the better chance of treatment.
You can expect a visit from the district nurse, and then to be cared for by specialist heart failure team who visit your home - that is unless you prefer to be cared for in hospital (not many of us do). The heart failure team will help with all your questions, care for your well being and that of your family and carer.
Congestive heart failure is not as horrific as it sounds, it IS treatable. In some cases you will have a comfortable few years ahead. But PLEASE get those symptoms checked out sooner rather than later.
Aside from the above, the other reason you have not seen much of me around is we made the mistake of changing our ISP back to BT, we thought we would try the fibre optic thingy... that was a week last Friday, we are STILL awaiting a new router as this one conks out every ten minutes and is rather frustrating to say the least. We have now been told there have been no less than 3 sent out that have not arrived yet?? funny that.
So far I am clearly NOT impressed with BT service at all.
So sorry to hear of your family member and I do hope things improve. To be honest I have never heard of it. I am also one of those people who never goes to the Doctor, I can't remember the last time I did and won't go unless dragged kicking and screaming!
ReplyDeleteLooking through the symptoms though they look like the type of things you can get with the common flu so I can see how it goes unnoticed.
BT is another one I steer well clear of!!!
No, I'm not one for docs either - been more this year than in the last 20 years, and was still a waste of time. Not as important for us though Mick as for the over 70's.
ReplyDeleteThey do look like flu symptoms yes, but the swelling I mentioned is pretty severe, not a slight condition and certainly not un-noticed, also can be painful.
If the condition is caught soon enough the treatment is very successful, so we will have to wait and see.
As for BT and our internet connection, ggggggggggggrrrrrrrrrrrr.