Ejection What?

There are lots of things I could write about.  Like I said, I have a lot to say.  It’s hard to know where to begin. I’ve never been a fan of linear storytelling when I write fiction, so I might jump around a lot, but I promise that if I do, I’ll try to be clear about where we are in my timeline of heart-related events.

I want to talk about my ejection fraction. What, you are probably asking, the hell is that?  Basically, it’s the volume of blood your heart pumps in one beat, expressed in a percentage.  A healthy ejection fraction (EF) is anywhere between 55-70%.  Anything below 40% is considered heart failure.  30% is considered very bad.

My ejection fraction was measured twice during two different tests.  The first test was an echocardiogram, AKA a heart ultrasound, and that measured my EF at 25%.  Later on in the month, I had a cardio MRI, which measured my EF at 17%.

No wonder I was so weak and fatigued and generally feeling crappy.

I am almost obsessed with this number.  The heart health clinic I’m going to is using the higher number, but I really believe that the medications I’m taking (2 specifically for the heart) and the rest and activity I’m getting have increased the EF considerably because I feel so much stronger than I did before I was admitted.  Still, I will not find out my new EF until May, when I have a follow-up echocardiogram.

Meanwhile, I take two heart meds, one, ramipril, is an ACE-inhibitor and the other is bisoprolol, which is a beta blocker.  They are not without their side effects, let me tell you.  My blood pressure is quite low now – so low I feel crappy at times (light-headed, woozy, nauseous) which is why I went to the ER on Thursday afternoon.  My blood pressure got as low as 96/54, and at that point I had a hard time getting up.  But the doctors love that I have this low blood pressure because it means that my heart isn’t working as hard as it was. I, however, was in a bit of a panic when I watched the heart monitor register the numbers.  This is why I’m not going to get a home blood pressure monitor; I’ll be checking it every 10 minutes!