@"Polly Rose" - putting a 'like' on your post isn't really appropriate - we really DO need a 'sympathetic button' ...
Oh my gosh - you've been thru the mill and back - I am so sorry that you've had that diagnosis! As you say, they read you the list of possible side effects & you just hope that it won't happen to you .... but sadly this one appears to be 'not that uncommon'! I'd never heard of it before - so can only guess a lot of others haven't either.
Your description sounds like Gail's - (her treatment was probably nearer to 10 years ago - probably the same as yours - she said it was something like 'ABC' - so AC would probably be right. She called it 'non systemic' - but I am sure it is the same as yours - 'non ischemic.) She was getting very short of breath doing just simple things. She would have to sit down to pre-empt passing out, then had the heart attack .... So yours is in the Right side of the heart? I hope the catheterisation works for you. Is that the 'cooking one' or the 'freezing one'? I know quite a few triathletes who've had that done, as well as non-athletes! Have they mentioned the possibility of a pacemaker? Some ended up with them after the catheterisation wasn't 100% successful. I am pretty sure hers is the left & more difficult/impossible to treat.
Gail was actually diagnosed with ASTHMA just the week before she had her heart attack, when attending her local GP, as she presented with breathlessness and wheezing - and they KNEW about her BC/Chemo history!! Not good!!
Have you also lost weight? She is much thinner than when I saw her last - about 2-3 months ago. Tho I guess stress etc may also impact that.
You are SO RIGHT - Knowledge is Power! We need to let all our BC Chemo people know for the symptoms to look out for! Breathlessness, feeling faint, actually passing out ..... and of course the persistent cough & any chest pains - go straight to hospital! Call the ambulance!
@Sister - Well done, for being aware of it - just one more thing to keep a track of, eh .... it might even be an idea to have that ECG yearly - as it appears to take 'time' to get to the 'noticeable' stage of breathlessness & passing out. I would imagine the exercise thru chemo would be a very 'fine line' - do enough but not too much, as the chemicals are already impacting your heart? Sometimes 'more' is not necessarily 'better'? I know that Keith exercised all thru his chemo & luckily 8 years later, he is fine & has competed at top level for his age group ever since 3 months after finishing chemo! (3 times World Champion Triathlete as well!) He has an incredibly strong heart tho (probably a bit like Phar Lap) .... but who knows .... Gail had her treatment before Keith was diagnosed in 2010, and it has only impacted her severely this year.
Take care, ladies xx
