So my Echocardiography showed a mildly dilated left atrium as a result of eccentric hypertrophy which eventually resulted in distolic dysfunction grade one. I was livid and utterly devasted when I saw this result. Throughout the echocardiographic process, I nearly lost my mind due to anxiety, and just routinely doing a checkup and finding such is too much to stomach. Throughout the process, people like JAYDR here on Hive have been helpful.
I began immediate research on the cause of this. Firstly, the major cause of this diagnosis is hypertension in regular people, bad cholesterol, and unchecked and prolonged hypertension which damages the diastole and creates pressure or volume overload on the heart, which eventually increases the left atrium, making it bigger and weaker over time, if not managed. I went to the general hospital and gave the doctor the report, unfortunately, he told me they were already on strike and he only wanted to attend to me because he wanted to help me.
He wrote me some medications and asked me to come back some days later, after I came back, I still couldn't meet any doctor to attend to me except him. He said it was because they were on strike. However the most concerning thing was that this doctor wasn't a cardiologist and no matter the medications he wrote me, I didn't think it would address my situation. There weren't many specialists in that general hospital and I was already too exhausted after two weeks of constantly going for tests and appointments.
The doctor asked me to come back in a month after all that he recommended I purchased in the hospital. But I didn't trust the medications he recommended for me. I bought them anyway. One of them was a blood thinner, to prevent blood clots and complications of the already mildly enlarged heart. the others were mainly anxiety medications and because my blood pressure was not high, he didn't write me any anti-hypertension medications.
For my blood disorder, he wrote me Hydroxyurea, but I was just too into the complications of the drugs, like the possibility of infertility, electrolyte imbalance, and even mass reduction of white blood cells. I felt I needed to use the medication under the supervision of a hematologist and the doctor wasn't. In reality, my enlargement isn't my concern, the concern is making sure it gets managed without worse over time. I've spent a fortune on medications and I'm still not able to secure a hematologist. All the causes of these heart issues are something I don't have.
My scan never showed valve regurgitation or stenosis. I did cholesterol tests yesterday and sugar levels and they were all normal. It now boils down to the fact that my enlargement isn't caused by a cardiovascular problem. I've had hypertension in the past, but I didn't think it was enough to cause left ventricular hypertrophy, and after over 5 to 6 tests, I'm beginning to look at my blood disorder as a reason for this heart disease. Being severely anemic is another thing that overworks the heart, and causes pressure overload, but I guess it's hardly looked at because not a lot of people have LVH for reasons that are not vascular.
That being said, I'm exhausted from going to any general hospital. I'm mentally drained, financially exhausted, and psychologically depressed. If not for the early doctor's medication of bromazepam, I don't think I'll be able to sleep at night. That I think I need to see a hematologist quickly. I have to privately get this and I checked the cost of doing this and it was exorbitant.
At this stage, I have no option anymore. One thing I need is for a hematologist to give me a proper prognosis of how to improve my anemia and reduce the workload on my heart to prevent failure. Secondly, I need to see a cardiologist to affirm or rule out anything vascular as my scan and my blood results are not showing hypertension or cholesterol as the main reason for this enlargement. It's been the toughest two months of my life. With a better market situation, I'd have chosen to go overseas.
However, the funds I currently have will not do that while buying me the medications I need at the same time. I have tried contacting a friend about the possibility of the sale of some of my physical items. I attempted contacting a person I know yesterday to guide me on seeking treatment elsewhere, but the cold reception I got and the feeling that I wanted to beg them for money only signaled one thing: when it gets tough, the battle is only yours to fight. I will begin to seek to meet a hematologist. Timely intervention is everything I just want. I've endured weeks of sleepless nights and I don't think I can do it anymore.
