Myrna had a check-up Thursday with her cardiologist, the
first since mid-September when she had her heart attack.
The news is decent enough.
She is very stable. Nothing is
worse and some things are getting better.
Lungs are clear!
Her blood pressure is 99, up from 97 at the end of September
and up from 90 when she had her heart attack.
BP should be more normal around 120 but she is tolerating this low level
very well.
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| Myrna Loy |
Her heart rate is 176, down from 200 in September. Heart
rate should be more around 150 to 160 but again, she’s tolerating this very
well.
The heart wall damaged by the heart attack-made thin due to
being deprived of oxygen during the attack is only a tad thinner and not as far
along in being damaged as the cardiologist feared we would see. A thin heart wall is as bad as a thick one as
both impede the heart’s ability to function correctly. But again, Myrna is tolerating this well.
The cardiologist did do a urine culture and a urinalysis to
see how Myrna’s bladder and kidneys are functioning. She did an ultra sound of her kidneys and
bladder and said they look fine. But
with all the lasix, the recent urine leaking, she wants to make sure everything
is functioning well and there are no latent UTIs.
If all goes very well, we will not return until
January. Myrna has seen the cardiologist
June, July, September, and now in October when normally she would have seen her
in the summer and in the fall. And of
course, Myrna has been to the other vet for so many other issues since June
that I think she has been about 10 times.
So, a quiet winter is what Myrna now needs.
And to ensure things are as quiet and stable as can be, we
will forgo doing Halloween at our house, not handing out candy or bringing out
the decorations. And, aside from lights
and decorations for Christmas on the house, we will not decorate the inside of
the house. I will probably put up
lights-what is Christmas without lights.
But I don’t think she needs the excitement and hullabaloo that comes
with boxes coming downstairs, days of endless unpacking of things, and the tree
going up, etc.
Of course, last year she seemed to handle it all just fine
and in fact, she and the other cats enjoyed not only playing with the ornaments
on the tree but laying underneath it as well.
But there’s always enough going on and I would like to keep things
simple for now.
She still cannot have her vaccines. And while she skipped Revolution (flea, tick,
mosquito control) since August (August, September, October) she will need to
receive it next spring and summer because there are just too many bugs getting
in the house to risk months of the possibility of her getting heartworm let
alone fleas.
But that is next year’s issue. For now, we will keep up with the meds, the
litter box schedule (need to prevent leaking), and will keep her warm. Here in Michigan, it’s already down to 35
degrees-unusually cold-and it snowed a bit on Thursday, although it did not
stick around. But the heat in our house
is up to 74. I’ve convinced my husband
it is necessary for Myrna’s health. Any
excuse to keep me warm, also, I will use!
Here are the doctor’s notes:
“Myrna’s cardiovascular status appears to be stable at this
time. There has been no further decline
in cardiac muscle strength and no progression in left atrial enlargement. The clot in the left atrium has not changed
in size/appearance. The left ventricular
wall that was affected with the heart attack has thinned a bit more compared to
last month (currently. .89cm, was .0.94cm in September and greated than 1.0cm
for many months prior.) There was no
visible congestion (pulmonary edema) on her radiographs and the pulmonary
vessels look normal today.”
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