got to wait 2 months after having heart symptoms

[alypaly]

recently had a nasty virus which has given me pericarditis ,which i was admitted to hospital with. Was discharged home by chest physician(not cardiologist) with anti inflammatories and now i have received a cardiolog appt in 8 weeks time. I was under the impression that a swollen membrane round the heart ,accompanying high BP and difficulty walking upstairs might have given me a slightly more urgent appt.

What do i have to do to be seen quicker.......collapse....bloody NHS.

A collapse usually does it. That or a heart attack, really.

But both are life-threatening, so I wouldn't recommend it though.

That said, cardiology doesn't get many referrals from women under 70, so the "but I've got a small child at home" may tug heart strings with a receptionist...

wish i had a small child at homemy small kids are 17 and 21.5years

Ooops sorry. I shouldn't have assumed that .

But still, you've got a teenager to look after, which surely requires energy...

not half.....just for his ironing

no, it's not the "bloody NHS".

Your general physician should have called for a cardiology consult whilst you were an in-patient.

See you GP and ask him to fax a letter to the cardiology dept requesting an urgent out-patient referral. You'll be seen within a week, if it's deemed urgent. But your GP must say it's urgent.

sorry, that should read respiratory physician in the first sentance

they have and 8 weeks is deemed as urgent in our local hospital. My friend had to wait 8 weeks for a bypass and one of his arteries was 92% blocked......i dont get this lack of urgency..its peoples lives. How come if i pay for it i can see someone tomorrow.

Its peoples lives

If you can afford to pay, then I would pay. Life's too short to get annoyed with the NHS.

sorry you are still suffering aly its horrible waiting especially when you like to keep so active normally, ive posted on the thread looking for me

if a 92% blockage has developed slowly then that vessel will have sent out collateral vessels. if you're asked to wait then you have stable angina, which is not life-thratening.

The actual vessel affected is impt to - there is one which is more critical than the other 2.

it was in 3 of his vessels...the other 2 were 85 and 70 % blocked and he has just had a triple by pass as he was nearly dead.
Then when they let him go to the shower,he was left unsupervised on his first shower and he collpased due to his blood pressure and broke his collar bone in 2 places.

They wont operate on him because its too soon after the heart op....and hes now in agony and cant move his arm or shoulder.Also his lung was nicked by the scalpel during his op and it collapsed....then he got pneumonia.....I have lost a little faith at the moment as i nearly lost a good friend.

i have found all this pretty scary.

aly - You've probably got a wait because they need to see how it settles and it can take quite sometime. Are you thinking you have an underlying problem with your heart?

Aly did you have all the basic tests done as an inpatient ( ECG and echo)? You may not have seen a cardilogist to speak to, but results may well have been looked at if unusual. It is very unsettling being left in limbo (as one is after discharge from hospital usually still far too unwell to do anything) but I think they espect it all to recover on its own with rest. However if you get suddenly worse you must go back to the hospital. You can always ring the ward you were on for advice if you have concerns. I saw a cardiolgist privatly because I was not sure about work and what it was safe to do(actually I got tired so fast my body sort of told me!) Also had passed out several times when in sole charge of sn child - so was a bit concerned. It cost about £200 all in with 7 day tape/ ECG etc. It was helpful to be told that it was normal to take time to recover. All was well - just needed time to recover. (It has taken a year but that was the lung trouble too)
Hope you are feeling better. Take it slowly.

saggar....i have a systolic heart murmur and really low pulse and normally spot on blood pressure.

magso..had a chest xray and ECg...no echo...only saw chest physician not cardiologist.....pain is diminishing now but have been warned that pericarditis comes back.I have a weird cough at night but no signs of asthma. I had chronic parvo virus(slapped cheek) for 3 years before it was diagnosed( doctors didnt know what was wrong) and i think the legacy from that is coming back to haunt me. Chest infections,pneumonia,arthritic feelings in joints

Interesting! I had arthralgia (still have but not as bad - I just look drunk when I walk but at least I can walk!) pneumonia and every chest/sinus infection going. I think they did the echo to rule out valve problems (I was very hypoxic and tachicardic) but it can pick up inflammation around the heart too. I do not know if it is standard to check the echo with pericarditis.
I do feel the nhs - brilliant in some ways is let down by poor post discharge care - particularly after emergency admission.
Hope you feel better soon, but take it slowly.

thanks magso...i think im on the mend as i have quite alot more energy but still concerned about my ticker.

Did you have the murmur before your pericarditis aly? If so the cause of it may be masked by the pericarditis - the inflammation can make the valves temporarily leaky.

Worth mentioning the parvo to the cardio though if the symptoms don't settle when the pericarditis has gone.

Could your wait be for clinical reasons, as saggar suggests, to see how it settles?

they have already referrred me back to my rheumatologist who gave me immunoglobulins when i had chronic parvo..apparently pericarditis is linked to parvo and athritis,pneumonia so i am hoping i will eventually get some answers

the letter has come through for the cardiologist and it is with choose and book and at the moment the whole clinic has no appts and it has 5 consultants.....so i recken it is going to be longer than 2 months. hmmmm