And The (Heart) Beat Goes On

This morning I had a constructive meeting with my GP. I turned up in time for a 9.20 appointment, the surgery had no record of me having an appointment today. I went home, picked up the appointment slip and saw it was 9.20 yesterday, went back (feeling more gormless than Mr Gormless of Gormlesstown). They saw it as a simple error, and booked me in for an appointment later this morning.

One issue the GP has is whether all these heart problems are actually heart problems, or have we been barking up the wrong tree? Is it all a side-effect of something else? Yes, the echocardiogram I had in February showed an enlarged left ventricle, which came as no surprise, but, as he pointed out, it showed nothing else to worry about.

On Monday I have a fasting blood test, which will be to look for diabetes, anaemia and an underactive thyroid. I have had urine tests for diabetes, but he said that these tend to detect it when it's bad, not in the early stages.

Of course, it is easy to self-diagnose, but when I look at the underactive thyroid symptons, it all leaps out at me.

The one thing that has caused all the stress has been the uncertainity, the inability to put a name to what is happening. It may be an unpleasant name - but at least it is a name.