Anybody know anything about congested heart failure?

[Solon]

OK, I have a somewhat odd story to tell, OK, last week my Grandmother went to the dentist for a root canal, however, he refused to give her anestetics when he noticed she was short of breath. She's the type who "doesn't want to worry the family", so she didn't bother telling us that she has been short of breath for about a week. So, she drove home, called my Aunt, and they drove to the hospital. OK, she stayed there for a couple of days, got prescribed a shitload of pills, and was sent home with a strict no-salt, no-greens, diet. OK, she LOVES greens, and is a salt fiend. I stayed the first few days she was home because she could barely move around, they poked and prodded her pretty severely.

Keep in mind that she is 81 years old, pretty independent, has nothing else wrong with her other than having two knees made out of steel and teflon, and her heart is fine, itself, just has fluid around it. Now, my question is, how severe is congested heart failure, and why the hell do they call it that? We had a family meeting at her house where she described EVERYTHING the doctor's said, but not wanting to worry us, avoided the term "congested heart failure" until the very end. I suspected it, when she mentioned fluid surrounding the heart, but wasn't sure. I know all about heart attacks, but this was a new one to me. The thing of it is that I don't know whether this change in her diet, and the pills, is now a lifetime thing, or only till her fluid level is under control, anyone have any ideas?

[ScreamingMeemie]

1. It is congestive heart failure and it can be very serious.

the good thing is the doctors appear to be on top of it. It happens a lot to the elderly, especially after medical procedures. It is actually sometimes a buildup of fluid in the lungs and cardiac cavity. The heart can not pump properly and blood backs up in the arteries, causing the surrounding tissues to become congested. My grandmother is currently on medication and has been trouble free for over a year. She is 83 and wasn't moving around much.

sometimes it can happen for other reasons...Here is a good site for you:
http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=4585

You will be in my thoughts. :hug:

[Solon]

5. Huh, I wonder if it could be from her second knee replacement surgery...

Of course, its been about 2 years since THAT happened. She is one of those "get up and go" types, nothing really slows her down. The first day back from the hospital, she was forced to use a walker, which she HATED, but that was mostly because of the recovery from what the docs did, including being bed bound most of the time, and them manipulating her knees, checking them to see if they are still fine(they are, thank goodness). Including shots in her belly, which still hurt a day later, and getting a CAT scan and all sorts of other stuff done. She felt like hell for the first day back, but by the second day she was more or less up and about, abandoned the walker, and seemed fine. The big thing was her weight, she HAD to lose some, immediately, and she did, she hates it but she lost like almost 3 or 4 pounds in fluids since leaving the hospital. If she gained any weight, she would have had to go back.

[LeftyMom]

2. Why no greens?

Green leafy veggies are the one of the best things a person can eat. The only justification I can think of is that they're often cooked in bacon fat and other nasty crap, but if she loves them it makes more sense to teach her healthy ways to prepare them than to forego them as they are very nutrient-rich.

Do they conflict with her medication maybe?

[Solon]

4. Don't know, just instructions from the doctor...

They mean really really dark leafy greens, I think, it seems an odd choice, right now her best friend is staying with her a month till everything is sorted out.

[LeftyMom]

6. Okay I looked it up

If she's on a blood thinner like coumadin or some cholesterol meds the high vitamin K in green leafy veggies can reduce thier effectiveness. That's probably the reason.

[Solon]

8. yep, she's taking coumadin...

That makes sense, because she usually takes a multi-vitamin as well, and they told her that she shouldn't because of the Vitamin K in that.

[China_cat]

9. Oxalic acid. Can interfere with beta blockers

[1monster]

3. congestive heart failure

The words "heart failure" sound alarming, but they do not mean that your heart has suddenly stopped working. Instead, heart failure means that your heart is not pumping as well as it should to deliver oxygen-rich blood to your body's cells.

Congestive heart failure (CHF) happens when the heart's weak pumping action causes a buildup of fluid called congestion in your lungs and other body tissues.

CHF usually develops slowly. You may go for years without symptoms, and the symptoms tend to get worse with time. This slow onset and progression of CHF is caused by your heart's own efforts to deal with its gradual weakening. Your heart tries to make up for this weakening by enlarging and by forcing itself to pump faster to move more blood through your body.

more info here: http://texasheart.org/HIC/Topics/Cond/CHF.cfm

[Solon]

7. I'm just glad it didn't suffer any permanent damage...

apparently it was working a little harder than it should, but no damage, that's important, the docs expect a full recovery.

[Deja Q]

10. "Heart Disease for Dummies"

It had cost $3 more than a larger book dedicated to heart disease, but the core information is the same and the advice re: exercise, diuretics (water pills), et al, leaves little room for confusion.

Definitely worth a browse-through if not purchase, if deemed relevant for your circumstances.

[ccjlld]

11. My Grandmother had congestive heart failure

It was ultimately what killed her. She, however, was 93 and had been dealing with it for several years. Her legs and ankles would swell terribly because her heart wasn't strong enough to pump the fluids out and she didn't move around alot. She was old enough when it was diagnosed that the doctors didn't try to control her diet, they said she had lived long enough to eat what she wanted.

All in all, it was amazing she lived to 93. She had a burst appendix in 1927 which should have killed her. She also had rheumatic fever as a child and a heart attack in India in the early 1970's. She had 3 knee replacements and a bout with breast cancer in her 80's. In her 90's she lost her hearing and most of her eyesight due to macular(?sp) degeneration. She was an amazing lady, I miss her a lot.

[Ediacara]

12. Locking

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