Ahhhh....Emails.... (Updated)

Emails You Don't Want to Wake Up to First Thing in the Morning:


Subject Line: Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy

Message: I got home Wednesday night after 19 days (and nights) in the (local) VA Hospitals. The subject line is my main problem. They refuse to give me credit for getting that condition on my own, and insist that it was inherited.

The doctors highly recommend that you get checked for this condition.

The good news is that if I behave myself I've got another 15 or 20 good years to go.

Love, Jim

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Yeah...That would be an email received from my biological father this morning~a rather rare ocurance.

Totally thought this was going to be a forwarded message about CHDsas this is Heart Health Awareness Month and this happends to be Congenital Heart Defect Awareness Week!

But no! My first thoughts:

a) thanks to all my CHD friends and contacts I actually had a vague idea of what that condition was before looking it up

b) Thanks to Jim the heads up that he was in hospital! (not)

c) thanks for another genetic condition from that side of the family to worry about!

d) glad he was ok and sense of humor was in place

After looking up the condition, I've had several of the screening tests a couple years ago but I will follow up with my GP and at least I already know a cardiologist in the area that I like thanks to my stupid "I think I just have a pill stuck in my throat but it could be a heart attack" episode 2 years ago.

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Update

After speaking with Jim, I learned that he had to have a pacemaker installed.

He is on some meds but as my step-mum put it: he is strong as an ox and as soft as a grape.

:-)

And, as some patients with mild forms of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy are only diagnosed by screening echocardiograms because of their known family history, I will probably follow up with my GP to see how to go about having this done.