Congestive Heart Failure? What is this?

United States
March 15, 2009 11:01pm CST
When I got to my mother's house after taking my daughter ice-skating, my mom told me that her feet were very swollen and every step was painful for her. She said that she was going to go to the clinic and get checked out. My daughter and I have been waiting several hours to hear from her. Well, we finally got a call from her and she told us that she has been taken to the ER and they are running some rather serious tests. It took some probing but she finally told me that they are checking her for congestive heart failure. Now, I know a lot about the medical field but this is something that is beyond me. Has anyone else experienced this with a family member or personally? I really need to know what it is. Can anyone out there tell me? Should I be worried? What kinds of tests will they be giving her? Livy J
1 response
@ElicBxn (63235)
• United States
16 Mar 09
My roomie went to the hospital (and she HATES hospitals) and it turned out the the swollen and painful feet and legs she had been suffering from was just part of a major fluid retention problem she was having. Turned out that the pain in her side, while partly her bad gall bladder, was also the "congestion" in her liver from fluid retention and that she also had fluid around her heart. In fact, if she hadn't gotten to the hospital when she did, she could've easily ended up with congestive heart failure. Now, they are probably running echo cardiograms on her, maybe a sonogram on her as well. They will most likely put her on fuild pills. And, since she is in congestive heart failure, they probably will be monitoring her heart while she is there. I had a friend die of congestive heart failure, in her late 30's, but I also suspect that she might not have been getting the meds she really needed and her family might not have been going easy on her stress wise, her brother was a problem for her. I think her heart attack might've had something to do with him.
1 person likes this
• United States
17 Mar 09
Thanks so much for that bit of info. She actually ended up being just fine. They contributed her symptoms to a side effect from a medication she has been taking. She has an appointment with her doctor to remove her from the medication and find something else more suitable. Again, thank you so much.
1 person likes this