Just found out I have Cardiomegaly?

Hi Aunt, DzooBaby is right on! I just want to expand a little. Cardiomegaly is not really a disease, but rather a symptom of another condition. Like DzooB says an enlarged heart. Some times the heart enlarges and becomes weak for unknown reasons. There are some conditions associated with an enlarged heart. HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE, (your heart has to pump harder to deliver blood to your body which enlarges or thickening the heart muscle.) HEART VALVE DISEASE.(There are four valves with in your heart that keep blood flowing in the right direction. These valves may become damaged by such conditions: RHEUMATIC FEVER, CONGENITAL HEART DEFECT, INFECTIONS ENDOCARDITIS. an infection inside the heart. CONNECTIVE TISSUE DISORDERS, CERTAIN MEDICATIONS, AND WHAT DzooBaby referred to (COPD). CARDIOMYOPATHY IS A DESEASE OF THE HEART MUSCLE THAT MAY PRESENT ON CHEST X-RAY AS "CARDIOMEGALY" that is the thickening and stiffening of the heart muscle it' self.

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Another condition is (PULMONARY HYPERTENSION) High blood pressure in the artery connecting your heart and lungs, your heart has to work harder to move blood between your heart and lungs, As a result, the right side of your heart will enlarge. There are a few other disorders I cannot remember what they are but they are rare. OH Thyroid disorders can contribute to an enlarged heart either an underactive or overactive thyroid. There are some other obscure blood disorders and proteins that can enlarge your heart, I can't remember. Their is another chronic condition of (ARRHYTHMIA) Abnormal heartbeat that can make your heart have to work harder, and may enlarge it. It is treatable! By correcting the underlying cause with medication "rarely" surgery is indicated. Most treatment's are controlling risk factors. No tobacco use, controlling high blood pressure, getting high cholesterol down and diabetes, helps your enlarged hart to remain stable, and can prevent the disease from worsening. There are millions of people walking around with enlarged heart's (Of course stay off that cocaine)Ha! I hope I did not muddy the water with all of this, I just tried to give you an over view of what is happening, and not to worry! It is mostly treated with medication. Take care Dave

Hey Sweet Lemon, this is my 2nd bout of pneumonia since last November and that is exactly how I feel! The elephant that was sitting on my chest all the time must be taking more breaks! Someone should fire him, so he would go away for good! At least it isn't all the time anymore! I shouldn't have read information on this until I was feeling better because when you are sick everything seems worse! Lesson learned! I was getting things back to normal and having some good days, my pain was much more under control and the weather was beautiful! I opened the windows, turned on my ceiling fan and turned the AC off to enjoy my favorite time of year! I live across the street from a small University and I can hear all the bands from the fraternity parties! The one I can hear from our bedroom was playing great 70's music! But I woke up with a cold the next morning!

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I should have gone to the doctor the following Monday, but without Insurance I put it off until it got so bad I had my first ever panic attack and I'm 57 years old! For some reason I was worrying about everything, even things that I would usually not give a second thought to! In two weeks I had 8 panic attacks. My daughter has had them before, but I never believed they were as serious as they are and I thought mind over matter could control or stop them from happening at all! Boy, was I ever wrong! Xanax didn't even stop them! Don't have a clue what that was all about, but my sweet doctor said they were from all the stress placed on me from the extra exertion my body was going through fighting off the pneumonia! I'm sure I need to apologize to my daughter for making me miss riding rollercoasters, climbing to the top of Look out Mountain, and going in caves on vacations over the years, but she is at a conference and will not be back for another week! I always thought that was her excuse because we didn't go where she wanted to go!
I am going to do exactly as my doctor tells me to on this one because things can go bad very quickly when you can't breathe! I have to go in this week for blood test, so maybe it will just be from the extra work my heart had to do while I had pneumonia! Love ya, Niki

I changed machines so maybe I can complete a message before it post!
send 5 or 6 guys to pre-fish a lake for a week for the next tournament! Someone drives their vehicle and boat and the Pros fly in so they will not be so tired! Before, you could earn your way to the top, then if you were lucky you got sponsors to help with your expenses After BASS was purchased by ESPN everything got so expensive it put a lot of the young guys out. They will be really good one day, but they have to get there another way unless they have a lot of money or they know someone.

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After he broke his hip he was able to help a friend with all the info for an FLW tournament and he won! He didn't need a new boat so he all but gave it to my husband. We were able to pick out everything we wanted on it, I picked the colors and the radio and he chose the rest! It was a 2009 Triton X3 serial number 0006! We drove to their factory in TN to pick it up! What an exciting day to see something you designed as a finished product! And a great way of incorporating what I love with fishing! Isn't he clever? It is white w/silver sparkles and little black pin stripes with gray leather seats and gray carpet, just like his truck, without the sparkles! The first 5 boats went to the showroom at the Classic! We have really had a lot of fun, seen some beautiful places, made a lot of friends and memories along the way. We've been downtown New York City, Washinton D.C., Philadelphia, and Chicago pulling that boat! It was a great excuse for him to not have to park so I could shop! LOL. Later Pledge, Niki

PS The friend who won the FLW Tournament also won a Kentucky Derby!

Ha! :-0) good for you, niki and your husband. You must be proud and rightfully so. Sounds as if he and yourself really got to get into something you love and got paid to boot for it. My father-in-law, now passed on, was an avid bass fisher. When, we still lived in Florida, and he was still then alive, we'd meet at say my home, he'd either leave his boat at his home (lived off a small canal) or just drive up to our place (we also then lived on a canal) and whichever spot was hot, we'd take that boat, head out to the river or one of the lakes and cast away. Miss those times. We'd spend hours fishing. Telling stories, lots of lies, but it was and they still are good memories. We moved up from Florida, here to South Carolina, get away from the hurricanes. Back in 04 or 05, we had two, that came and did a number on our property. Well, just tired of picking up after storms. Thats life.

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Now, we live about a 2 and a half hour ride from the coast and about a 7 hour ride from where we once lived in Florida. All my in-laws as well as my son and grand kids live throughtout the northern, gulf coast side of the state, Panhandle and such. Time for a cuppa ( instant, Nescafe) and I'll say goodbye for now then.

Pledge,
We are only 2 hours from the gulf coast. This is the first year that I can remember that we haven't been to the beach. My brother-in-law has a beach house at Gulf Shore, AL, we like Perdido Key! Our son-in-law lost everything in Katrina, including a new car he didn't even have insurance on it! He was a chef for Emerill, but if not for that he wouldn't be our son-in-law! Can't blame you for running from the storms, as we get older rebuilding and starting over gets harder!

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We fished near Jacksonville one time and Ricky took me back in a slew and alligators were everywhere. He had to take me back to where we were staying! Being in real estate he always found us amazing places to stay and got great deals by returning the favor! Before fishing he taught me to love bow hunting. We has a camp and my parents would bring their motor home and stay a week or more. We really have awesome memories cooking on an old wood stove, loading the kids in a trailer behind the four wheeler going to get the Christmas tree, and all those fun outdoor things! We had Thanksgiving and Christmas there for many years, but we finally decided to sell it after the kids married and moved away and our parents died. Too much work for two!