I see some new girls posting Introduce yourselves

[mikeyandBellesmommy]

We'd lvoe to hear your stories and get to know you! When you have time, let us know where your from who you are and your PPCM story! I also want to say WELCOME and I am glad you found us!

Cari

[Mindyt]

Hello to all,
I have posted a couple of times here and have gotten some really great advice and support. Just wanted to respond to the request for an introduction. Here is my story-
I had an uneventful pregnancy and c-section delivery (wasn't progressing). I started noticing shortness of breath and extreme fatigue when my son was about 8-9 months old. When I went into the doctor my EKG was abnormal and I was sent for an echo. The echo showed an EF of 30-35%. It is unclear whether my cardiomyopathy was caused by pregnancy (PPCM that was not diagnosed earlier) or was caused by a virus. It doesn't meet the criteria for PPCM but I am living with a cardiomyopathy either way. My doctor has oficially called my diagnosis idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy. It has been a little over 6 months since my diagnosis and my EF is now 40%. I am on Coreg and Cozaar. I am starting to feel better emotionally and am looking forward to a long and happy future watching my son grow up.

I live in Spokane, Washington with my husband and my now 17 month old son. I work part-time as a pediatric speech-language pathologist which is a job that I love.

I would love to hear stories from other women here. I think you are all amazing for being here to support each other. Thank-you all for being here.
Mindy T.

[mandyb]

Welcome Mindy!

Glad to have you here. I was curious when your son was born? I think it is probably right around the same time I had my little boy! He is sixteen months. I was diagnosed four days after delivering. I am glad you are here!

Mandy

[Nails]

Hello ladies!
My name is Neely Pennington and I was diagnosed with PPCM in July of 2004 when my son was just over 2 months old. I had all the signs 3-4 weeks before that but you all know how long this diagnosis takes!
Anyway my EF at my diagnosis was below 10% but I am happy to report that at my 3 month echo/muga it had gone up to 20-25% and at my 6 month echo/muga it had gone up to 30-35%. I have my monthly appointment with my internist June 6th and I think I may also have another echo/muga at that time (it will be the 9 month mark) and I fully expect to have an EF of 40-45% at this rate!
I take coreg: 25 mg twice a day, digitek: .25 mg once a day, furosemide (lasics): 60 mg once a day, altace: 10 mg twice a day, and aspirin: 81 mg once a day. Oh yeah, then there is the new thyroid problem so I also take synthroid: 25 mcg once a day! Yay meds!
I am learning so much from these forums and reading the bio's has been so inspirational and given me such a feeling of camaraderie with all of you.
I live in Lexington, KY and I would love to meet people who share PPCM so if you live near me let me know, we can do lunch!! <3
It is great to be here!

[Lisa V]

I would like to welcome these 2 new woman to our boards...................You will find some great comfort and advice here........................You will also notice that we were all in the same shoes as you were when you were first diagnosed and we are all living proof that we can survive this horrible heart condition and go on to live as much as a normal life as before. Keep your chins up and always stay positive and you will receive positive results. Glad to see you here and hope you come back to talk with us all the time.

[dawn]

Glad you both found us, Neely and Mindy.

Hope you'll find lots of support (and a few goofy laughs) here. We're all proof that you can get through this, and it does get better.

Welcome!

[Mindyt]

Thanks for the welcome. I am really glad that I found this board. It is a nice place to go for information and reassurance. It is great to know that I am not alone!
Mandy, my son was born December 9th, 2003. When was your son born?
Mindy

[potstigger]

Hi. I'm so happy to find this wonderful message board.

My name is Alison and I live in San Francisco. I'm 36 years old and had a wonderful first pregnancy without any complications, until delivery when I was diagnosed with PPCM. I was diagnosed with PPCM the day after my son was delivered when I became extremely short of breath. My shortness of breath actually started the day before delivery and I went to see my OB/GYN who dismissed it as symptoms of pregnancy in the last trimester, suggesting it was just the baby who had yet to "drop" and therefore was sitting high on my lungs. My EF when diagnosed was around 10%. I stayed at the hospital for 2.5 weeks and upon being released from the hospital, my EF had increased to 20-25%. I took an echo last week (2 month mark) and my EF had increased to only 25-30%, although apparently, my heart is no longer enlarged and back to a "normal" size and there is no longer any leaking.

My list of medications includes:
Lopressor (12.5 mg - twice a day)
Magnesium Oxide (400 mg)
Calcium (500 mg - three times a day)
Prenatal Vitamin
Folic Acid (1 mg)
Aldactone (25 mg)
Potassium (10 mg)
Calcium (500 mg)
Coumadin (4 mg)
Vasotech* (5mg)

My doctor is planning to switch me from Lopressor to Coreg next week.

I honestly feel blessed that I have a great husband, son and cardiologist who are all helping me through this recovery process, but it's been a difficult road since prior to being diagnosed, I was an active and healthy person. I'm still learning to live within my "limits" and I often dream about recovering fully so there may be a small chance that I could have another child.

Are there others out there who are willing to share their stories of "recovery" and how much time their recovery process took?

Thanks to all.
Alison
:)

[JenniV]

Hi everyone! My name is Jenni and I have been here reading about you all for a few weeks now. It is great to find other that have gone through this. I have been working on my "story" and plan to post the full version later. It is kind of long, so I will only give you the short version here.

I am 30 years old and diagnosed with PPCM in Sept. 2004 after the birth of my daughter. I had an uneventful pregnancy and delivered via c-section a week late. A few days later I started having problems breathing. After going to the ER, I had several tests done. My echo showed an enlarged heart, valve leak and an EF of around 30%. With the help of Lasiks and another hospital visit, I lost over 30 lbs of waterweight in a few days. My crappy cardiologist (who was too busy to come see me the first time I was in the hospital) still won't diagnose me, but three other Drs. have. My OB, Internal Med. dr. and a Perinatologist all agree that I have PPCM.

Six weeks later, my follow up Echo showed my heart no longer enlarged, the leak almost non-existant and my EF at 40-45%. After this appt. I plan to find a new cardiologist for a second opinion. Someone I feel I can trust.

I am currently on 5mg of Lisinopril per day and go back for another Echo next week Wed. Wish me luck! I really would like to have more children and not have to worry about it so much!

[Nails]

Awwww thank you guys so much. It is great to be here. I have learned more about PPCM in the last week than I have in the last 9 months. You are all great, and a special thanks to JennNIN for telling me about this site!! <3

[Nails]

Oh and welcome Alison and Jenni! You are going to love it here, these women and Dr. Fett are amazing!
Jenni I wish you the best of luck on finding a good cardiologist, maybe if you post up where you are from someone can recommend a good one in your area!