things medical

It occurs to me this morning that some of you might be wondering: Why a heart procedure? Aren't Col's lungs the issue?

Yes, Colleen's fibrotic lungs remain front-and-center. Everything in the body is interconnected, however, so think of the lungs as a fulcrum, in particular in relationship to the heart. The heart nestles between the two lungs. Its right side pumps blood into the lungs that enrich the blood with oxygen. The lungs then pulse the newly oxygenated blood to the heart's left side, which then pumps the oxygen-rich blood throughout the entire body, intercellular-deep. When the lungs are compromised--literally hardened in Colleen's case from scleroderma--the heart can't help but be affected and, over time, seriously affected. Its right side tries to do its job of pumping blood into the lungs, but when the lungs are hardened or inelastic they act as a kind of dam. The right side of the heart, therefore, has to work harder and, as a result, it eventually enlarges. The artery between the right side of the heart and the lungs--called the pulmonary artery--also enlarges, a condition referred to as pulmonary hypertension or PHT. Ultimately, the right side of the heart goes into "failure"--"right-heart congestive heart failure" to be exact. ("Failure" is such an unfortunate choice of words.) 

Damage to the heart's right side eventually affects the left side as well. The enlarged right encroaches upon its other half. Right heart failure and a swollen right side impinging on the left is what Colleen's experiencing right now. In addition, her whole heart, is now pretty much always in a state of atrial fibrillation ("a-fib") and atrial flutter ("a-flutter"). 

For Colleen, these unwanted changes in the heart, particularly in the past few months, have meant  increased and escalating breathlessness. Imagine walking two steps and getting out of breath. That's what she's experiencing right now.

When the Johns Hopkins cardio "electricians" correct Col's a-fib and a-flutter through one of the available heart procedures, her breathlessness and extreme fatigue will ease, and hopefully ease considerably.