We already know that mom's heart is not in good shape. Besides having one mitral valve replaced in the early 2000's, her other mitral valve is leaking, and so are the tri-cuspid valves between the lower and upper chambers. Mom says that has been going on for a while, so that's nothing new. I remember mom saying a year ago that the only thing keeping her alive is the drugs.
When she was in the ER in April I think one of the docs told Bill that her heart is enlarged, and I know that happens when it has to work way harder than usual because it's not pumping efficiently.
Yesterday when mom expressed some frustration at not knowing the cause of her current problems--the spells and the fatigue-Dr. Kim said, "heart failure."
Last Monday at the Wound Clinic, when Dr. Fried was analyzing why the sore on her shin is not healing, he eventually said that the root cause is her heart, and that if we could get her heart functioning better, her wound would heal.
Mom's older sister died suddenly of heart failure. She had a pacemaker, but mom is dismissive about it, saying that it was put in by a country bumpkin doctor and probably wasn't working right.
Putting all this together, it seems very plain to me that her heart is wearing out and that the root cause of all this is exactly what Dr. Kim says: heart failure.
The only unknown is how much of a decline there has been in recent months. She is seeing her cardiologist Dr. Kubac tomorrow, and I will ask him.
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My mom was declining after her pacemaker and, unlike Aunt Florence, didn't take care of herself. One thing to remember is that Grandma and Grandpa also had bad hearts -- including both having enlarged hearts. Gramps had an aortic aneurysm and had his aorta replaced with basically a plastic tube. Grams passed at 73 and gramps at about 83. so it isn't surprising for her to have these heart issues because of the family history. Y'all probably knew all this but wanted to make sure.
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