Stable!

I had my biennial echocardiogram last week, and saw the cardiologist yesterday for the results. Good news! My heart is stable. That's four years in a row of stability. The murmur first appeared when I was 41. Then for a few years, it was a little worse each time I went in, but now it appears to have stabilized. My blood pressure is under control, and the leakage is mild.

I guess I should confess that I started training for marathon last summer based on how I felt, and never actually checked in with the cardiologist. I wanted to see how things went, how I felt when I pushed the distance, and I was afraid if I asked first I'd get a "no" response without a discussion. This cardiologist is the fourth one I've seen since the problem was found. The first one died of a heart attack (!), the second one I really liked but lost when my health insurance changed, the third one was an out-of-shape, heavy, older guy who thought I should stop running and told me that "everyone feels short of breath when they run". He wouldn't listen when I explained that I had been running for nine years and these symptoms were new. I changed to my current one two years ago (there are only four choices in the managed care plan I am in, I picked the one that listed a sport as a hobby - tennis).

Sometimes I wish I could get back to number two - he was very clear about everything that was happening and what I should expect. He gave me straight answers. I like the current doc, but he doesn't explain things very well. Anyway, when we talked about running, he asked me what I meant by "running". We talked that through, and I mentioned marathons. He thought it was fine to keep doing them. I was thinking about it later and realized he probably doesn't know the distance of a marathon, or that it means I'm at it for six hours. No matter, because I know my set of symptoms well, and know when to stop. He did warn me that running is hard on the knees and I'd better be careful or I'd ruin them.

I've mentioned before that I've had all the symptoms of a heart attack a number of times while I'm running, and that I've had multiple tests that have not shown anything but the leak and the skipping. The cardiologist doesn't think the leak causes the symptoms, but admits that he doesn't have other patients that run like I do. He says that it is idiopathic - meaning from an unknown cause. He has said that we may never find the cause, that there is likely some other minor defect of the system that wouldn't be found without invasive measures, if then. Apparently there is some kind of spasm that can occur in the arteries or veins or something, and it could even be something like that. Who knows? Since I can manage the onset and relieve it if it does happen, I am just moving on. If I start having problems again, I'll reassess.

On another note - I had to look up biennial. I couldn't figure out the proper term for "every two years" - I was pretty sure biannual was not it, nor was semi-annual. Fortunately, when I was typing in biannual the google toolbar fed me biennial, which was the correct term. Cool!

And finally, I ran yesterday morning for five miles with Barb, but played slacker last night and skipped the track. For some reason - probably a week of 6.5 hours a night of sleep - I was too tired to move. Eric was stuck in traffic and wasn't going to make it in time either. He went to coffee anyway, I just flopped in front of the TV. Reruns of Friends and American Idol. Then I managed to fritter away the time till once again, I set myself up for a short night. I don't have to be in to the office today till noon, and I don't have to go by any of the schools...so next on my agenda is a nap!

MM #402, signing off from the Evergreen State, where the nights are short, the mornings are early and the runs grow ever longer!