personally, one of the things that i find difficult in dealing with mvp is the inconsistency. one day, i feel fine - full of energy ... and then i feel downright shitty the next day ... sometimes, we're not even talking of days but hours ... i would be okay in the morning and then sometime in the afternoon, i would start getting woozy. it can be frustrating ... very frustrating.
but whenever people ask me how i am, i have a "standard" answer - "i'm fine and dandy - as always :)" - even when i feel so under the weather. don't get me wrong, i'm not trying to fool anyone. i'm also not telling a lie. believe it or not, i actually meant that answer. i am struggling but i am also doing my best to cope - by being positive.
and so i tell myself while i tell somebody else - i am fine, i am dandy and i will always be ...
Wednesday, September 27, 2006
Sunday, September 24, 2006
hi, i'm anne and i have mvp
i've been diagnosed with this condition (via an echocardiogram http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/echocardiogram/HB00012) about 2 years ago during a routine physical examination. the health report from the hospital indicated that i have mitral valve prolapse. it sounded so big and so alien to me at that time - well, it still sounds big to me ... but thankfully, it doesn't sound that alien anymore :).
2 years ago, i knew so little about mvp. there was really no need to know anything else because i wasn't having any symptoms. what i do know was it's just some backflow in one of my heart's valve and it was something i need not worry about. that's it. end of story. and then middle of last year, a few months after i started living alone here in taipei, the need to know more - to know a lot, actually - presented itself ...
segue - i learned from lyn frederickson's "confronting mitral valve prolapse syndrome" (very informative ... IMHO, a must-read for people suffering from MVP) that "symptoms are biochemically triggered ... patients report a precipitating event" (pg. 28). it can be an illness, a stressful event ... and for me, i think it was that living alone which triggered it. i know i'm not built to live by myself. i need to be with somebody, with someone ... but i wanted to challenge myself ... i was actually successful - lived alone for almost a year - but not without a price.
it all started with difficulty breathing and then the inability to breathe deeply. a check-up and a chest xray ruled out any respiratory problem. maybe it was the altitude ... my apartment at that time was on the 6th floor - *ang taas nyan, grabe! -> i'm being sarcastic nu :P*. there were depressions and emotional breakdowns. it is true that i was having some relationship issues that time; but that definitely doesn't explain why one night i just found myself sprawled on the floor of my apartment, bawling my heart out - and that happened on more than one occasion.
one of the scariest experience i had prompted me to haul my ass to the emergency room at around 1130pm - it began with some difficulty breathing then palpitations then wooziness and then the numbness and tingling sensation on my left arm and then the shaking. i was thinking - "i'm too young to have heart a attack!" (not that it's unheard of -> http://www.c-r-y.org.uk/heart_attack_young_healthy_people.htm. i grabbed my keys, my money, my cellphone, my health card. at the ER, my temperature, blood pressure and oxygen level were checked. the doctor asked me what was wrong and was later told - "don't worry". he prescribed xanax (an anti-anxiety drug, http://psyweb.com/Drughtm/jsp/xanax.jsp) to soothe me. i was back at home before 1230 midnight.
and then there were other manifestations - chest pain, nausea, palpitations which wake me up at night, fatigue, pain in my arms and legs and the list goes on ...
2 years ago, i knew so little about mvp. there was really no need to know anything else because i wasn't having any symptoms. what i do know was it's just some backflow in one of my heart's valve and it was something i need not worry about. that's it. end of story. and then middle of last year, a few months after i started living alone here in taipei, the need to know more - to know a lot, actually - presented itself ...
segue - i learned from lyn frederickson's "confronting mitral valve prolapse syndrome" (very informative ... IMHO, a must-read for people suffering from MVP) that "symptoms are biochemically triggered ... patients report a precipitating event" (pg. 28). it can be an illness, a stressful event ... and for me, i think it was that living alone which triggered it. i know i'm not built to live by myself. i need to be with somebody, with someone ... but i wanted to challenge myself ... i was actually successful - lived alone for almost a year - but not without a price.
it all started with difficulty breathing and then the inability to breathe deeply. a check-up and a chest xray ruled out any respiratory problem. maybe it was the altitude ... my apartment at that time was on the 6th floor - *ang taas nyan, grabe! -> i'm being sarcastic nu :P*. there were depressions and emotional breakdowns. it is true that i was having some relationship issues that time; but that definitely doesn't explain why one night i just found myself sprawled on the floor of my apartment, bawling my heart out - and that happened on more than one occasion.
one of the scariest experience i had prompted me to haul my ass to the emergency room at around 1130pm - it began with some difficulty breathing then palpitations then wooziness and then the numbness and tingling sensation on my left arm and then the shaking. i was thinking - "i'm too young to have heart a attack!" (not that it's unheard of -> http://www.c-r-y.org.uk/heart_attack_young_healthy_people.htm. i grabbed my keys, my money, my cellphone, my health card. at the ER, my temperature, blood pressure and oxygen level were checked. the doctor asked me what was wrong and was later told - "don't worry". he prescribed xanax (an anti-anxiety drug, http://psyweb.com/Drughtm/jsp/xanax.jsp) to soothe me. i was back at home before 1230 midnight.
and then there were other manifestations - chest pain, nausea, palpitations which wake me up at night, fatigue, pain in my arms and legs and the list goes on ...
Friday, September 22, 2006
mitral valve prolapse - some definitions
= if you have mitral valve prolapse, the flaps of the valve don't work well. one of the flaps moves back into the atrium when
the heart beats. this can let blood flow from the ventricle back into the atrium. (http://familydoctor.org/598.xml)
= mitral valve prolapse (mvp) is a disorder that affects one of your heart's valves — the mitral valve. it occurs when the
valve doesn't close correctly, allowing backward leaking of blood in your heart.(http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/mitral-valve-prolapse/DS00504)
= in a normal valve the flow of blood goes from the left atrium to the left ventricle. upon closing it prevents blood from
going back into the left atrium. with mvp the flaps don't close evenly. One or both flaps collapse backwards, sometimes
allowing a small amount of blood to leak through the valve. mitral valve prolapse is a genetic disorder and seems to affect
women three times more than men. it is one of the most common cardiac findings. there is usually no need to be concerned. the
heart is functioning perfectly normally and does not tend to degenerate over time. diagnosis is usually confirmed by an
echocardiogram, which provides an actual picture of the valve. (http://www.mitralvalveprolapse.com/INDEX.htm.htm)
= mitral valve prolapse (mvp) is a heart valve condition marked by the displacement of an abnormally thickened mitral valve
leaflet into the left atrium during systole.(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitral_valve_prolapse)
the heart beats. this can let blood flow from the ventricle back into the atrium. (http://familydoctor.org/598.xml)
= mitral valve prolapse (mvp) is a disorder that affects one of your heart's valves — the mitral valve. it occurs when the
valve doesn't close correctly, allowing backward leaking of blood in your heart.(http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/mitral-valve-prolapse/DS00504)
= in a normal valve the flow of blood goes from the left atrium to the left ventricle. upon closing it prevents blood from
going back into the left atrium. with mvp the flaps don't close evenly. One or both flaps collapse backwards, sometimes
allowing a small amount of blood to leak through the valve. mitral valve prolapse is a genetic disorder and seems to affect
women three times more than men. it is one of the most common cardiac findings. there is usually no need to be concerned. the
heart is functioning perfectly normally and does not tend to degenerate over time. diagnosis is usually confirmed by an
echocardiogram, which provides an actual picture of the valve. (http://www.mitralvalveprolapse.com/INDEX.htm.htm)
= mitral valve prolapse (mvp) is a heart valve condition marked by the displacement of an abnormally thickened mitral valve
leaflet into the left atrium during systole.(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitral_valve_prolapse)
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