Just The Two of Us
5/29/2009
May 29th
I scheduled an appointment with my regular cardiologist and followed up four hours later with a consultation for a second opinion with the “new” doctor.
If one saw the old cardiologist as night. The new one could be called day. Her whole manner was engaging. She directed her questions with a smile and went looking and listening for answers.
She referred to studies and statistics as if they were part of family. It was from her that I learned that the heart meds don’t always work. “In a third of the cases they work. In a third of the cases the patient stays the same and in a third of the cases the patients fail to show any improvement whatsoever. We won’t know if you’ll respond for several months. The rule of thumb is six months.”
I asked her about my “thuds.”
She responded. “Actually, I was going to ask you if you were experiencing anything like that. Your cardiac ejection fraction was so low I would’ve been surprised if you’d said no. That’s something that we can fix by putting in an internal cardiac defibrillator. I think you should have one but we’ll know for sure after your next echogram in October. Until then I don’t think you should travel out of the country.”
I greeted this news with mild alarm and some skepticism. “But, that’s another surgery.”
She broadens her smile. “We prefer not to think of it as surgery.”
“Weeell, what do you call it, then?”
“We prefer to call it a procedure.”
Clearly, as I left the office that day I knew the news wasn’t all good. And yet I felt like a weight had been lifted. At least, I thought, as I walked down the hallway towards the elevator, my burden would be shared. I left with three different avenues of contact for her. I could E-mail her. Contact the office or page her. “For better or worse you can always reach me.” At last, I didn’t feel so alone in this new world of dis-ease in which I’d recently taken up residence. ”
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Posted 5/29/2009 in Misc | |
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