Apparently my mitral valve prolapse (which my cardiologist also heard) is not serious enough to be seen on a ultrasound, so Dr. B (my cardiologist) is not worried about it at all. She DID, however, see that my tricuspid valve (the one between the RIGHT atrium and ventricle) is wonky, but she said that particular valve just isn't all that important. She told me about a 90-year-old Indian woman in the SW she saw once that popped hers completely apart carrying a sheep down a mountain. She declined having the valve repaired, and a year later she was still carting sheep down the mountain. Since I'm probably going to be here until at least February, Dr. B did go ahead and switch my prescription vasodilator to a different one. I take the medicine to dilate the blood vessels in my legs to reduce edema, and turns out a side effect of Adalat (the med I was taking) is edema. Not only that, but it is such a powerful vasodilator that it tricks the heart and makes it pump harder and faster, thus a potential cause of my resting heart rate (80 beats per minute on average, sometimes higher) and my heart palpitations.
See, this is why when taking "heart" medications, you should really be under the care/supervision of a cardiologist. Make a note, kids.
Dr. B had been reluctant to switch the med last month when she wasn't sure how long I'd be here. She's a conscientious doctor and likes to monitor the patients after a med switch. Imagine that! ::grin:: When she heard I'd be here for at least two more months, she switched me to the lowest dose of Norvasc. Now we just keep an eye on my feet. If I notice swelling, I'm to double my dose. If that doesn't work, we try another med. I started the Norvasc today, and I HAVE noticed that my chest doesn't feel as heavy. Keep your fingers crossed.
Now, about being here. UNO has received authorization for 400 single-wide (16' X 32') FEMA trailers for faculty and student housing for next semester. I talked to Barney last Friday, and he said they likely won't even arrive until February -- two to three weeks AFTER the Spring semester starts. I just don't see how I can live in a single-wide with Reba and at least one other person (they are two bedroom trailers), not to mention I'm sure the bathroom situation would be worse than my campus apartment. So I may be here for a while longer. As such, I will probably enroll in nine hours of research and get my review article cranked out. If I don't, I'll receive a U in the said nine hours of research, and then I might as well start looking for that bank teller job my grandmother always wanted me to get. I am not going there! I'm not!
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