Yesterday Jim had the "rest" part of the two-part Stress Test at PCI Cardiology. He had his weight taken -- he is 4 pounds lighter, down to 129. Geez, I don't remember when I last weighed that!
The tech injected meds, then told him to get something to eat and be back in an hour. Jim thought we could walk to Wendy's rather than drive. He also thought it was closer. Walking over in the humidity wasn't too bad. Walking back seemed to take 3x longer, as I stopped frequently, but we made it back to PCI inside an hour. Then Jim had pictures taken with the gamma camera.
Today Jim had the "stress" part of the Stress Test. That required walking on the treadmill. The plan was to walk on it 5 minutes. His blood pressure before exertion was 82/52. The tech was somewhat concerned, because after injecting more meds, his BP would definitely drop. But he proceded, doing his best. He walked 1 1/2 - 2 minutes before getting light-headed and dizzy. His BP dropped to 68/41. He had to sit/lay down and it took 10 minutes or so before his BP rose to 90/51. The gamma camera was available, so pictures were taken then rather than waiting until later.
He hadn't been this dizzy until he came home from the hospital the second time, so we're wondering if some medicine he's taking is causing the problem. The only new one he is on is coumadin. We checked that out on the Internet and discovered, yes, low blood pressure is a known side affect of Coumadin. Interesting. The whole reason he is on Coumadin is because he acquired A Fib as a complication from his Esophageal cancer surgery May 12. His heart has stayed in rhythm since his second surgery June 11.
The tech injected meds, then told him to get something to eat and be back in an hour. Jim thought we could walk to Wendy's rather than drive. He also thought it was closer. Walking over in the humidity wasn't too bad. Walking back seemed to take 3x longer, as I stopped frequently, but we made it back to PCI inside an hour. Then Jim had pictures taken with the gamma camera.
Today Jim had the "stress" part of the Stress Test. That required walking on the treadmill. The plan was to walk on it 5 minutes. His blood pressure before exertion was 82/52. The tech was somewhat concerned, because after injecting more meds, his BP would definitely drop. But he proceded, doing his best. He walked 1 1/2 - 2 minutes before getting light-headed and dizzy. His BP dropped to 68/41. He had to sit/lay down and it took 10 minutes or so before his BP rose to 90/51. The gamma camera was available, so pictures were taken then rather than waiting until later.
He hadn't been this dizzy until he came home from the hospital the second time, so we're wondering if some medicine he's taking is causing the problem. The only new one he is on is coumadin. We checked that out on the Internet and discovered, yes, low blood pressure is a known side affect of Coumadin. Interesting. The whole reason he is on Coumadin is because he acquired A Fib as a complication from his Esophageal cancer surgery May 12. His heart has stayed in rhythm since his second surgery June 11.
