Small squirt of blood

[Tigger1]

Last week I had my follow up visit with my local heart DR. On the echo, he saw a small squirt of blood coming out of my heart where the septal myec was done. He told me he didn't know what it was but he didn't think it was anything to worry about. I wouldn't either if it wasn't my heart.

When I got home I called the Cleveland Clinic, to talk to my cart. Dr up there. He said it was a common thing and it happens in about 80% of myectomy cases. He said it was nothing to worry about but he did want to see the echo.

Has anybody heard of this before and why wasn't I told before the surgery if this is such a common thing.

I did start cart rehab this week. All the nurse's were amazed at how well I was doing. I walking 2-3 miles a day and now with the rehab I'm really getting a work-out. Still having trouble sleeping, hopefully that will go away someday...

Tigger1

[Fred]

Re: Small squirt of blood

Tigger1,

Yes it is normal. I had the same thing happen to me. The echo tech was freaking out and pulled in a some other people that also where freaking out about it. But then when the main doc walked in he told them that it's normal after a myectomy. I do not remember why it was happening. But then again there is a lot of stuff I do not remember. I think I will be the youngest person with altsheimers (I'm 31!!! )

Keep up the hard work as it will pay off in the end. I can say that from experience!

Fred

[mtlieb]

Re: Small squirt of blood

Patrick,



Small squirt of blood you say? Well, this is most disconcerting. Nobody told me anything about small squirts of blood. Does this heal up quickly? Can a small squirt of blood become a large squirt of blood, for instance if someone had been overdoing it during their recovery? How does one know if THAT happens? This makes me want to go out and have an echocardiogram done immediately!

By the way... i'm very glad to hear that you are doing so well! Keep up the good work, Patrick!

Jim

[shirleymahoney]

Re: Small squirt of blood

I think i will ask my doc about it when i go back to him, i go at the end of the month, i did find out my CHF was worse my blood test have come back and the doctor doubled my spirinolactone to 50mg x2 a day, i told him i wasn't taking anymore diuretics and it was time to find out why i was retaining instead of throwing diuretics at me i think 160mg a day is enough

Shirley

[Ronnie]

Re: Small squirt of blood

Patrick-
I can't contribute to "small squirt of blood", but will definitely be asking my Dr.
Isn't Cardic rehab WONDERFUL? I feel stronger now everyday-it has made a real difference in my life!
Keep up the Great Work and

BE WELL

[Linda]

Re: Small squirt of blood

Patrick, They seem to have given you a very vague description of whatever was happening. If it was a small squirt of blood going back thru the valve, it probably isn't so unusual. If it was a small squirt of blood actually going thru the septal wall from one ventricle to the other, 80% seems to be a pretty high estimate. If it was blood squirting somewhere else, it certainly seems like something not many of us have heard of. Ask them to give you a better description and then set all our minds at ease! I've always been in awe of the doctor who can look at you with a straight face and say, "I don't know what it is but I think it will probably be alright." Hope you get some good answers soon. Linda

[mtlieb]

Re: Small squirt of blood

As long as we're on this topic, I was wondering if somebody could please explain to me exactly what does hold your heart together after a myectomy? The heart is such a dynamic muscle, surely they can't use the same kind of sutures that they would use elsewhere... for instance, in a flesh wound or incision. What keeps the whole thing from simply unravelling and splitting open? Is this one of the reasons behind the ten-pound lifting restriction after surgery? Thanks much!

[shirleymahoney]

Re: Small squirt of blood

I would freak out if a doctor said something like that to me , i don't know what it is but it's ok i would be coming off that table and demanding some answers, i wouldn't think any blood squirting would be normal, patrick i hope you get answers soon so it will ease your mind

Shirley

[Sarah]

Re: Small squirt of blood

It is my understanding that the myectomy is more like trimming a piece of fat off of a steak than anything else. I don't think they suture anything.

[Linda]

Re: Small squirt of blood

Jim, They don't cut the heart open, they go thru the aortic valve and work down thru the heart (as Sarah described). It's very precise, fine work with limited visual access. That's why you want the "best of the best" to be doing your surgery. But then, I guess you'd want the best for any surgery, regardless of how "minor" it might be. Linda

[mtlieb]

Re: Small squirt of blood

Wow. That is so cool! So in other words, my heart wasn't cracked open like a walnut and sewn back up with tiny thread that could burst open at any minute and cause me to bleed to death internally? Honest to God, i had just assumed that open-heart surgery meant open heart surgery. (That's what i get for not watching the video.) You guys have just made my day!

[Sarah]

Re: Small squirt of blood

dude,

always watch the video!!

open heart just means they crack open your chest to get at the heart. you are right, you can't go cutting the heart up and sewing it back together like a little purse.

rest assured, your heart isn't full of thread!

S

[Burton Borrok]

Re: Small squirt of blood

In many cases conditions will correct themselves with no intervention, while there are other times when the condition just should not be ignored. Let us say that I would be less then happy with a doctor that told me he didn’t know what it was, - but it was probably OK - and lets it go at that.

Reminds me of a man who got a $50 doctor’s bill in the mail. He called the doctor to ask what it was all about and the doctor said, “I thought I saw you last Friday and crossed the street to ask how you were feeling.” The man said, “I didn’t see you last Friday.” The doctor replied, “That’s true. It turned out to be somebody else.” “Then why the $50 bill?” “Well, I did cross the street. If it actually had been you, and I asked you how you were, the bill would have been for $100.”
Burt

[mtlieb]

Re: Small squirt of blood

I dunno Sarah...

I've done quite well so far living in blissful ignorance of exactly what occured during my myectomy. I had a chance to see a video, but declined. If i can't do anything about it... sometimes i'm just better off not knowing all the gory details

This does lead me to ask however... where exactly is Patrick's little squirt of blood coming from? There has to be some stiches somewhere around the heart... the docs didn't simply 'beam' the septal material out.

Jim

[shirleymahoney]

Re: Small squirt of blood

Jim

I asked my husband because i wasn't sure as to what the doctor said now, he said he went through the aortic , they bent mine and made a generous cut in it that is where it is stitched, but they did go in through the aorta

Shirley