(Note to readers: For the ultimate entertainment experience, run the "Iron Man" riff in the back of your brain while you read this missive.)
In December, before I started chemo, I went to Kaiser for a "muga scan" to make sure my heart was functioning normally. Some of the chemo drugs can cause heart damage and the doctors wanted to make sure that everything was in order before getting started.
If you want to read all about muga scans, this is a pretty good explanation: http://heartdisease.about.com/cs/cardiactests/a/muga.htm
The long and short of it is that after the muga scan, you get a result known as the LVEF (left ventricular ejection fraction) The ejection fraction is simply the proportion of blood that is expelled from the ventricle with each heart beat. So, for instance, if the left ventricle ejects 60% of its blood volume with each beat, the LVEF is 0.6. (A normal LVEF is 0.5 or greater.)So, back in December, I got an LVEF of 64%, which was considered very good.
Last week I went back for my post-chemo muga scan. This involved going to Nuclear Medicine, where they took some of my blood, made it radioactive, and then put it back in me. Then they put me in this big machine and took some impressions of my heart. Believe it or not, I love this kind of thing. It is like a kid's science project kit come to life.
A few days later I got the results. Is everyone ready for big excitement? My LVEF was actually better - 72% - which means that even though they tried to knock me out with those chemo drugs I actually improved the functioning of my heart with all those visits to the gym.
If you aren't humming "Iron Man" yet, what is holding you back?
Of course, some might say that improved heart function could be a result of finding Phred and Flora, or the wonderful outpouring of love I have received from all of you. Flora definitely gets some of the credit as her desire to walk around the neighborhood has me exercising above and beyond my fitness routine at the YMCA.
Meanwhile, I seem to be resting when I am not exercising. These last few weeks I have become quite a soccer nut and soon I will have the tour de france to keep me entertained. I do feel as if I am regaining my energy level but I think it will be a long time until I really feel like "me" again.
Well, thanks for reading the latest news on me. Radiation starts in mid-August. Hope all is well on your end.
Go Argentina! Go Jan! Happy Fourth of July y'all!