I am sitting in the ER with my brother. We went to dinner for his 60th BD he was wheezing and could barely stand. It took 3 of us to get him in the truck.
So I brought him to ER.
He has a lot of fluid on his lungs.
I found out his cardiologist says he has congestive heart failure. He told us everything was good see you in 6 months but left out the part about CHF.
He's going to stay overnight.
I'll be talking to that cardiologist Tuesday.
When you talk to the cardiologist ask him point blank about the diet. My wife has had CHF for over 20 years and we switched to an extremely low salt diet, most people would call it a NO SALT Diet and she is still here. Over the years, we have had a lot of friends who also got CHF and didn't think that salt was a big deal or that they would just switch to sea salt. Salt is salt and all but one of the other people have passed, the other person has spent most of the last year in the hospital because of fluid retention because they can't give up chips and fast food.
The wife's doctors have written her off long ago, she is so far outside the norm that they really don't know what to do anymore. But she is able to keep the fluid off and stay home, which is a real blessing. This week the wife turns 71 and is starting on the 4th year since the doctors gave her just a few months to live.....
I encourage you to ask the doctor the following questions point blank:
1) I would ask how his heart function is? (what % of normal is it). When the wife first got CHF she was down in the high 20s, she eventually got up into the mid 40s, now she is in the teens.
2) I would ask them for specific diet instructions, ask about fish, meats, veggies, and salt, don't let them give you soft answers, most doctors are afraid of the truth. Our doctor told us to cut out beef because of the fat, I got the nutritional data on venison (compared to other meats) and we were allow to keep eating the venison.
3) I would ask them about exercise, what kind and how much.
4) I would ask them about the prognosis. Doctors used to say that CHF is a progressive disease (meaning that it will get worse over time and eventually it will contribute to your demise, but they will never say that straight out).
Don't lose hope, through determination, long term focus on meds, diet, and exercise you can exceed any expectation that they have for you.
Finally
@backlash know that we are all rooting for you and your family, if you need anything (personal) just send me a note and I'll share what I can.