Weird symptom (10 Aug 2010)

For a while mom has been experiencing a weird sensation that is especially noticeable when she bends down to tie her shoes. She says it feels like she has a tight collar around her neck and all her blood is stuck in her head. The cardiac clinic had her have some kind of brain scan, but evidently it was normal. Last week she went over to Medford for an appointment with Dr. Kim, her primary care physician (internist). He explained to her that the problem is her leaking heart valves. He said that the blood is not being pumped efficiently, resulting in a feeling of congestion in her head when she bends over because her heart cannot move the blood as well as it used to. He told her frankly that she just needs to realize that her heart does not work efficiently and to modify her activities accordingly, to slow down, to take things easy and not expect to be able to feel the way she did 20 years ago. Mom was very satisfied with his explanation. She said that he spent a lot of time walking her through the biology of her situation, and now that she feels that she understands what is going on, she can accept it. It's a simple and obvious cause, really. It's kind of surprising that the cardiac clinic didn't recognize it.