Thoughts and Prayer Please

[Tonya]

My husband (27 years old and in good physical shape) took a blood test a month ago because they found out he had high blood pressure. Well, Friday night, the Dr. called and asked me how Mike was feeling. He asked me to keep Mike rested and come to the lab first thing Saturday morning to retest. The test results came back bad again. Apparently, his enzyme level is super high. The average is supposed to be 10-200, his is 892. That means that something has happened to his heart. -A heart attack, heart disease, trauma of some type. Also, his liver has signs of trauma too.

He did get into a bad motorcycle accident 4 years ago and lose part of his spleen, I am thinking that perhaps his heart was damaged at that time and no one caught it. (Which would be hard to believe, he was in the hospital for two weeks.) -But some type of heart disease is very possible too, since he has high blood pressure and whatnot. High blood pressure does run in his family, several males have died in their early 40's because of it.

Words can't even explain how I feel right now. I can't believe that we are thinking about this at his age. He's never done drugs, never drank much, and always exercised. Please pray that this is all a fluke, or at least something repairable. Thank you.

[slick]

That's so terrible. I have high blood pressure too and my doctor has me on some medication and it seems to have helped. In addition, I monitor my own blood pressure at home on a regular basis.

If it's heart trouble then the doctor will probably put him through a bunch of tests such as an ECG and perhaps an Imibi Scan (sp??). The latter test is where they inject some radioactive dye in your arm then they take scans to see if the blood is flowing to the heart properly. I seem to recall they had me on a treadmill for a stress test at the same time. My tests all came back normal and I pray that things will work out for your husband. At least it's being look at in the early stages and I'm sure the docs can come up with viable treatment.

Please keep us updated. You are in my prayers.

[PayItForward]

Sending prayers and strong positive thoughts.

May your husband get better very soon.

[Cookiebaker]

Yikes! that sounds super scary! I'll keep you guys in my thoughts. I know this can't be an easy time.

[tatsxxx11]

Did you mean his cardiac enzymes were elevated?? Has he ever experienced any cardiac/respir. sympotms such as shortness of breath, chest pain, pain in his neck, jaw, down his arm?? Has he ever had a stress test done? If the restest still shows elevated values, they'll probably do a host of cardiac testing, e.g. EKG, chest xray, stress test and perhaps an echocardiogram. I know you must be terribly frightened, but this could be a blessing in disquise. There are what are called "silent heart attacks," or "cardiac episodes" during iwhich the heart suffers some minor damage, usually not permanent and often the person experiences no signs or symptoms. But is a warning and good thing as it gives the dr. and your family an opportunity to pursue a course of treatment, life style changes that will prevent a much more serious episode. The best thing is that you had a physician who did not just toss some antihypertensive meds at you and send you home. It did some baseline cardiac bloodwork!! And perhaps it could be something totally unrelated to a heart condition as such. Your Dr. can explain that to you, but there are other reasons that may cause these enzyme values to be elevated. I will be hoping and praying for an encouraging report and positive diagnosis. Hang in there...it sounds like he's in good hands. My thoughts and prayers are with you both. {{{hugs}}} Sandra

[Tonya]

We just got back from another appointment. The doctor says that the muscle fatigue from racing can cause the enzymes to stay at high levels in the body for weeks. So, Mike is going to the race this weekend (which I'm totally against!). After that, he isn't going to race for a month, go back and test again, and see if the enzymes went down. Doc also says he has a heart murmor, but that may not be a big deal. The doc seemed confident that this is all probably nothing, but said that we'll keep an eye on it and do further tests. He ordered a whole series of tests.

The doctor says that he doubts that the previous accident caused any damage to the heart, he says there is no way they wouldn't have caught that.

[Tonya]

Did you mean his cardiac enzymes were elevated?? Has he ever experienced any cardiac/respir. sympotms such as shortness of breath, chest pain, pain in his neck, jaw, down his arm?? Has he ever had a stress test done?

Yes, his cardiac enzymes...Ck, I think they are called. No, he's never experienced any syptoms. No, he's never had a stress test done.

[anna_66]

How scary for the both of you.

Let's hope it's nothing, like the dr thinks, but I'll be keeping him in my thoughts.