Flaming Heart

Gretchen Heuring

Heart Failure Is Not Certain Death

By | 08.07.2014


"Heart failure" does not mean a person is dying, or the heart has stopped and is not working. I know "heart failure" is a terrible term because it scares us, but it does not mean certain death.


Heart failure means that the heart is not working as well as it should be. It is truly a serious condition that can be managed with medications and a changed life style.


Symptoms of Heart Failure

Symptoms of heart failure are fatigue and shortness of breath. Often there is swelling of the hands and feet, general confusion, and short term memory loss.


Actually, the heart is not keeping up with its workload. When this happens, the heart enlarges and stretches so it can pump more. It is trying hard to keep up, so it also pumps faster.


Our bodies want to help. Blood vessels narrow to make up for the heart's loss of power. This keeps blood pressure up, much like narrowing the opening of a hose with your thumb to spray water hard. In addition, the body diverts flow of blood away from less important parts to maintain flow to the most vital organs. Our whole body is working to keep us as healthy as possible.


Congestive Heart Failure

Congestive Heart Failure means that blood trying to reach the heart has backed up. The body's tissues swell in response. This means that fluids build up in the body and can settle in the lungs, causing distress.


Sometimes heart failure is caused by a blocked artery to the heart, and surgery might be required to unblock it. It might be possible to surgically clear out the artery (or arteries) or a bypass could be required. It could be that a heart valve has been damaged and needs to be replaced. Mechanical devices can also be installed to regulate the heart.


Heart failure is serious but it does not mean certain death. People have lived with heart failure for very long periods of time before getting treatment. As a result, the heart can be in very bad shape before this illnessis discovered.


This is not so surprising since fatigue, confusion, and short-term memory loss are frequently associated with old age. We just have to get it through our heads that these things are not normal for anyone.



Woman arguing with her older parent

Gretchen Heuring

How To Get Your Older Person To The Doctor

By | 09.20.2011


I've been reading about the "therapeutic fib" best used to get an older person to the doctor. Here's one that seems to work pretty well if you live nearby or are visiting.


Make an appointment for your person with his doctor. Then send a list of your concerns to the MD. Next, tell your person that YOU need to see the doctor and want company and moral support. Of course it will be touchy and difficult but certainly worth a try.


If you don't live nearby, tell your person you need a physical to renew an insurance policy. Sending a note ahead of time to the doctor with a list of concerns is an excellent idea.


There is a great side-benefit here too. You will be in contact with your person's doctor and can establish a relationship that will be most valuable as time goes on.



Old Truck Valves

Gretchen Heuring

Old Valves

By | 08.06.2014


In the past ten years, there has been a big increase in successful aortic valve (heart valve) replacements among people over the age of 65 and an even larger increase of these successful surgeries for people over 85. This is based on a study of eighty-two million Medicare patients reported in the Journal of the American Medical Association in November of 2013.


By "successful," I mean that these people stayed in the hospital for shorter times and lived longer and healthier after the surgery.


This is astonishing when we consider that less than ten years ago, doctors did not believe surgeries of any kind could be successful for older people. What has caused this big change?


This change is brought about by new operating procedures and advancements in the development of replacement valves for hearts.


Newer, less invasive techniques have been developed, requiring smaller incisions and finer instruments. This means less pain afterwards and a shorter hospital stay. The newest one is caled TAVR (Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement.) With TAVR, a replacement valve is inserted into the old valve using very small openings that leave all the chest bones in place.



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