Echocardiogram image (Photo from https://www.thevesey.co.uk/new-patient-information/echocardiogram)

Dear Readers, as you might remember a few years ago I was diagnosed with a congenital heart condition – the valve in my heart that feeds the aorta should have three ‘leaves’ but instead it only has two (bicuspid aortic valve). So far it’s not really caused me any problems – I’m a little more breathless than I think I should be, but that could just be because I’m not as mobile as I was following my broken leg/peripheral neuropathy diagnosis. Anyhoo, once a year I toddle down to the Whittington Hospital to have an echocardiogram – this is an ultrasound of the heart, and enables all sorts of measurements to be taken, which can then be compared to my previous report.

If you have to have a medical procedure, it’s rather a nice one to have – you lay comfortably in a darkened room while someone pushes a probe gently into your ribs and takes a series of photographs. They also listen to your heart as it swishes away. An extra bonus this time was that the person doing the procedure was left handed, so I could see the screen as she went through the process. It was rather lovely seeing my heart lit up in shades of blue and red – it was as if I had a miniature Aurora Borealis going on in my chest. Sadly, the reason for the colours is rather more prosaic – it shows the operator of the machinery the direction and strength of the sound waves. Sigh.

And on 30th January I’m actually going to meet the cardiologist dealing with my case in real life – I’ve had a chat with him, and received a report, but it will be good to actually see him. I want to find out if there’s been any deterioration in my heart function over the past year – over time, this condition can lead to heart failure and clearly I want to avoid that if possible. I also want to get some clarity on exercise – one of the risks with my condition is that the wall of the aorta becomes thinner, and lifting heavy weights could cause an aortic dissection, where the aorta actually splits. Yikes! I’ve been told that I can lift up to a third of my body weight, but it does mean that my promising career as an Olympic weight-lifter has had to go on hold.

In the end, I might need a replacement heart valve, but even this isn’t as bad as it sounds – in the past it would have meant open-heart surgery, but these days they can do a procedure rather like popping in a stent – they go in through an incision in the groin and manoeuvre the new valve into place. Doesn’t exactly sound like a bundle of laughs, but then neither is heart failure. Anyhow, let’s see what the cardiologist says at the end of the month, and do shout if you have any experience with heart conditions – there are so many of us about that we should definitely form a club!

Olympic weightlifter Kuo Hsing-chun lifting 105 kg at the Paris 24 Olympics. She won’t have to worry about me! (Photo By 教育部體育署, Attribution, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=151473490)