(no subject)
May. 30th, 2008 01:11 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sereneSo my cardiologist stopped just short of telling me my GP is on crack for prescribing me all those heart meds. ;-)
Blood pressure was normal (124/80 left arm; 128/82 right arm). The cardiologist took my history and did an exam. All in all, I think we talked for 30-45 minutes.
Basically, my first treadmill test was good, and he's not sure why they stopped me so early (this is something my GP wondered, too, and is why I was sent to the second test). He showed me some images from the second test. There's a spot on the rear wall of my heart that's a little bit darker on the film than normal under stress, which means a little less of the radioactive isotope made it to that part of my heart -- enough less that I could see it on the picture, but not enough to believe any more than one blood vessel could be involved. Importantly, even if that's accurate, the most he might do is put me on a baby aspirin for that level of heart risk.
Thing is, that test is only about 80% accurate, and there are 10% false positives, and he thinks I may be one of them. In some women, the diaphragm gets in the way of that specific area of the image. He looked at all my numbers and said they're in the range he'd want them to be in even if I were a known heart patient, with the exception of my C-reactive protein, which is an indication of inflammation somewhere -- could be the heart, could be a bad tooth. So he'll have me do an echocardiogram (not under stress, just a routine one, which will measure the thickness and stiffness of the heart walls), and then a thing called a calcium score, and I kind of blipped on what that's all about, but it's highly accurate, and if my calcium score comes back as zero, he basically says Have a nice day and sends me home.
I was very happy about how well he listened to me. I am of course happy with his conclusions, but more than that, I was happy with how well he treated me as a person, not as a number or a fat person.
I was VERY happy about his attitudes about fat and meds. Basically, he said being fat isn't a risk factor on its own -- it's a signal to look for other risk factors, such as high cholesterol and high blood pressure, and I don't have those. He said *not* to start the meds my GP prescribed, not even the baby aspirin. He said that women my age shouldn't take that unless it's really necessary, as it may raise the risk of stroke, and that it's not a good idea to throw powerful medicines at a symptom-free, young woman with only one mildly abnormal test result that may be a false positive.
He also agreed that my GP is a bit weight-obsessed. Heh.
He said clearly my mom has good genes that she passed on to me -- her siblings all have heart disease, and so does my dad, and I appear to have dodged the bullet.
I have to remember to recommend this guy (Dr. Richard Terry, Cardiovascular Consultants) for the fat-friendly professionals list.
So the short version is that I have two more rule-out tests to take, just to see for sure if the minor abnormality on my last test is a false positive, and I left the cardiologist's office with the recommendation to take zero heart meds.
Not bad, huh?
Blood pressure was normal (124/80 left arm; 128/82 right arm). The cardiologist took my history and did an exam. All in all, I think we talked for 30-45 minutes.
Basically, my first treadmill test was good, and he's not sure why they stopped me so early (this is something my GP wondered, too, and is why I was sent to the second test). He showed me some images from the second test. There's a spot on the rear wall of my heart that's a little bit darker on the film than normal under stress, which means a little less of the radioactive isotope made it to that part of my heart -- enough less that I could see it on the picture, but not enough to believe any more than one blood vessel could be involved. Importantly, even if that's accurate, the most he might do is put me on a baby aspirin for that level of heart risk.
Thing is, that test is only about 80% accurate, and there are 10% false positives, and he thinks I may be one of them. In some women, the diaphragm gets in the way of that specific area of the image. He looked at all my numbers and said they're in the range he'd want them to be in even if I were a known heart patient, with the exception of my C-reactive protein, which is an indication of inflammation somewhere -- could be the heart, could be a bad tooth. So he'll have me do an echocardiogram (not under stress, just a routine one, which will measure the thickness and stiffness of the heart walls), and then a thing called a calcium score, and I kind of blipped on what that's all about, but it's highly accurate, and if my calcium score comes back as zero, he basically says Have a nice day and sends me home.
I was very happy about how well he listened to me. I am of course happy with his conclusions, but more than that, I was happy with how well he treated me as a person, not as a number or a fat person.
I was VERY happy about his attitudes about fat and meds. Basically, he said being fat isn't a risk factor on its own -- it's a signal to look for other risk factors, such as high cholesterol and high blood pressure, and I don't have those. He said *not* to start the meds my GP prescribed, not even the baby aspirin. He said that women my age shouldn't take that unless it's really necessary, as it may raise the risk of stroke, and that it's not a good idea to throw powerful medicines at a symptom-free, young woman with only one mildly abnormal test result that may be a false positive.
He also agreed that my GP is a bit weight-obsessed. Heh.
He said clearly my mom has good genes that she passed on to me -- her siblings all have heart disease, and so does my dad, and I appear to have dodged the bullet.
I have to remember to recommend this guy (Dr. Richard Terry, Cardiovascular Consultants) for the fat-friendly professionals list.
So the short version is that I have two more rule-out tests to take, just to see for sure if the minor abnormality on my last test is a false positive, and I left the cardiologist's office with the recommendation to take zero heart meds.
Not bad, huh?
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2008-05-30 08:19 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-05-30 08:20 pm (UTC)Basically, he said being fat isn't a risk factor on its own -- it's a signal to look for other risk factors, such as high cholesterol and high blood pressure, and I don't have those.
I *LOVE* this. I've tried to hard to educate people, fat does NOT cause diabetes. Sometimes fat is an indication of poor diet and exercise habits- which can lead to diabetes. Making weight little more than a marker.
no subject
Date: 2008-05-30 08:24 pm (UTC)P.
no subject
Date: 2008-05-30 08:29 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-05-30 08:30 pm (UTC)Yay!
*dance of happy one-for-the-good-guys feeling*
no subject
Date: 2008-05-30 08:37 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-05-30 08:38 pm (UTC)good news for you, sweetie.
no subject
Date: 2008-05-30 08:41 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-05-30 08:43 pm (UTC)I also think that it's really great that you found someone who listened to you and treated you well.
no subject
Date: 2008-05-30 08:45 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-05-30 08:48 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-05-30 09:12 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-05-30 09:24 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-05-30 09:25 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-05-30 09:51 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-05-30 10:05 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-05-30 10:08 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-05-30 10:27 pm (UTC)Richard Terry, M.D., Cardiology
Offices in Oakland and Castro Valley
I was very happy about how well he listened to me. I am of
course happy with his conclusions, but more than that, I was
happy with how well he treated me as a person, not as a number
or a fat person. I was VERY happy about his attitudes about fat
and meds. Basically, he said being fat isn't a risk factor on
its own -- it's a signal to look for other risk factors, such as
high cholesterol and high blood pressure, and I don't have
those.
no subject
Date: 2008-05-30 10:28 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-05-30 10:28 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-05-31 04:51 am (UTC)Richard W. Terry, M.D., Cardiology
http://ccmgonline.com/bios/Terry.htm
Current Practice: Cardiovascular Consultants Medical Group, Inc.
1974-Present 365 Hawthorne Avenue, Suite 201
Oakland, CA 94609
(510) 452-1345
(510) 452-1102
20126 Stanton Avenue, Suite 100
Castro Valley, CA94546
(510) 537-3556
(510 537-3610
I was very happy about how well Dr. Terry listened to me. I am happy that he gave me a clean bill of health, but more than that, I was happy with how well he treated me as a person, not as a number or a fat person. I was VERY happy about his attitudes about fat and meds. Basically, he said being fat isn't a risk factor on its own -- it's a signal to look for other risk factors, such as high cholesterol and high blood pressure, and I don't have those. And he didn't want me going on the medications my GP prescribes for every fat patient -- my GP thinks every fat person is a ticking time bomb, and Dr. Terry clearly does not.
His staff was very friendly and efficient. His medical assistant went and got me a large blood-pressure cuff with no fuss. My consultation with the doctor, not counting the pre-doctor workup, lasted a full hour (I checked my cellphone records), and he never made me feel he was rushing to get to the next patient. Basically, I felt like an important patient all the way around, and this was a last-minute appointment for which I was being squeezed in on a Friday morning.
no subject
Date: 2008-05-31 06:54 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-05-30 10:42 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-05-30 10:48 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-05-30 10:53 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-05-30 10:55 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-05-30 11:02 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-05-30 11:06 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-05-30 11:38 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-05-31 12:09 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-05-31 01:22 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-05-31 04:36 am (UTC)WHAT IS IT THE FUCK THAT IT IS with all the people who treat it as a primary problem?
I like how the GP who diagnosed my thyroid disease didn't say, "My goodness you've gained weight, what are you eating?" but "My goodness, let's do thyroid tests!"
no subject
Date: 2008-05-31 04:43 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-05-31 04:40 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-05-31 08:28 am (UTC)-J
no subject
Date: 2008-05-31 08:34 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-06-01 08:36 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-06-23 05:26 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-06-23 06:10 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-06-23 06:10 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-06-23 01:04 pm (UTC)I really like her, quite a bit.