Fil admitted with Heart failure what to expect

[Perzival]

Dh has just called me. His dm has called to say her and his df are on the way to hospital and he's being admitted with heart failure. I'm assuming a dr has sent them. They don't usuakly catastrophise so i'd imagine this is accurate. His df has been quite ill for a week or so, in bed. His legs are swollen. He's in his 80's. Normally active in good health.

We live about three hours drive away in good traffic, can be much longer in busy traffic.

Can anyone advise what we could expect or have experience of similar. Dh's dm has said for him not to go but i'm unsure.

My father was actually in heart failure for some years and died when he was 89.
A friend's mother has had it for at least two years and is pretty stable.

So it may not be as frightening as it sounds.

My father in law was diagnosed with heart failure at 78. He had swollen legs and shortness of breath. He was put on medication and so far is 4 years down the line and still pretty active for his age.

Has he even had heart related issues in the past?

They are likely to run a load of tests, hopefully echocardiogram, blood work, maybe an angiogram and then start trying to stabilize him with a cocktail of different medications. Key things to ask about are his ejection fraction (how much blood is being pumped out of his heart with each beat) and if he has inflamatory markers like a CRP level. This is liveable with for years if he has a decent ejection fraction, but each person needs a different titrated cocktail of meds, so dont let the doctors try one version and then be done. He will also need close following by cardiology going forward

Dad’s been living well with heart failure for 5 years and was told last week that his life expectancy would be 90+ as he still doesn’t have diabetes at 73 (which makes chf diagnoses worse).

So his prognosis depends on the cause, his age, whether he has diabetes, and his overall health.

It’s so variable.

My Mum ended up in CCU (1:1 nurse and PPE levels the same as ICU) with a heart only working at 18%. She went on to live another 15 years, despite other serious health issues but she not the norm.

My grandad has had heart failure for 2 years, he was moving furniture around when my nan announced this fact to me. He's still very active, even for a "normal" 73 year old without heart failure.

Obviously it depends on individual health and circumstances though.

Thank you all for your replies. Yes, this is the first we've heard about any heart problems. He's normally incredibly fit and strong.

I'm going to encourage dh to go to stay with his dm anyway i think. She will be glad he's there.

Thank you @SeaToSki for the detailed info. I'm going to screenshot it.

If there has been, they haven't shared that with us.

I only know that they called on the way, i've assumed a dr had sent them. Dh said they were told to go. I'm not going to phone dh back to clarify this.

If he has existing heart problems he didn't share them.

@Afternoonbathyou’re lucky to have this opinion because I know many people who have appeared fit and healthy and have suddenly had heart failure.

My own husband who was very sporty and healthy, ate well, never smoked, healthy weight, ran, cycled and swam, dropped dead in his 40s from heart failure, shortly after a well-man check that had said his metabolic age was younger than his actual age.

Another friend was put on a pacemaker in his 30s after sudden heart failure. Other friends and family members have been diagnosed in their 50s, 60s and 70s with no prior symptoms.

If it’s caught early it can be “corrected” with stent(s), &/or by-pass and pacemaker, but equally it can be life-ending and it may take the doctors a while to work out which end of that scale the OP’s FIL is at.

I think your MIL would definitely appreciate her DS by her side during this difficult time.

I keep forgetting my 79 Dad has heart failure too. It slows him down but he is very independant, goes for a daily walk but is often over doing it in the garden - think pruning trees and pulling up decking!

My mum got a diagnosis of heart failure in 2012. She has a leaky heart valve which they believe tl be inoperable as rhey dont thinknshe would survive the anaesthetic at her age (90 next time round). She also has AF, high blood pressure abd diabetes. In her case tho, she just takes a ruck load of pills and gets on with life. She'll probably see 100.

Thank you for the posts especially tje positivd ones. When you hear heart failure it does cause worry.

Just to update. Dh has gone to stay with his mum which i believe is the right thing to do. Apparently this has been going on since last Summer. Fil had been to the dr's with leg problems and they put it down to arthritis in August. He became ill about a week ago. They went to the gp on Friday who gave him antibiotics for a chest infection, mil says he listened to his heart at this appt but no issues. Mil made him go back yesterday as he wasn't getting any better. They saw a locum who clocked the heart problems and sent him to the hospital for an mri. He had water in his lungs and one of his heart valves isn't working properly. The hospital transfered him to a different hospital which is when mil called dh. Overnight he has been moved to a side ward as he has the flu apparently too.

Edit: i wrote going on since last Summer because that's when he went to the GP with leg issues which they've been told at the hosp yesterday are probably down to his heart not arthritus. Heart failure was only brought up yesterday.

you certainly can diagnose acute heart failure in a GP appointment. What's more difficult in GP is diagnosing what's caused it and treating it. You can also develop acute heart failure without much of a cardiac history if other conditions (for example an infection) cause decompensation. Chronic heart failure may also be trickier to diagnose because of overlap in presentation with other conditions.