Pericardial Effusion Part III

October 24, 2014

Pericardial Effusion Results

 

Today has seen the receipt of some positive results regarding my Pericardial Effusion, extra fluid around my heart!

 

Dr. Raisinghani informed me that the Cardiac MRI did show the extra fluid around the heart, but it was very minimal; all other heart functions are perfectly normal!  The blood results checking for my Thyroid function also came back normal.  Finally, the second Echocardiogram that was just done a week ago shows the fluid around the heart has decreased!

 

This is all fantastic news, and helps clear up a great deal of uncertainty.  One of my main conclusions about the Pericardial Effusion is that the cause could infact have been the Coxsackie virus.  Since the fluid is decreasing, it seems that the Golden Flower Chinese herb is working.  Huge thanks to Dr. Rich Olree for his insights!

 

This news also means that I am cleared to move ahead with surgery in November. Surgery will be at Memorial Sloan Kettering in New York City.  I am ready to move forward with this part of my treatment plan- moving forward with faith, hope, healing and positive thoughts, and an insatiable desire to live, love, and fulfill my dreams!

 

Thank you to all of my family, friends and supporters  for being part of my journey!

 

Namaste,

Ivonne

http://www.iminmotion.net

 

 

Pericardial Effusion Part II

October 5, 2014

The Coxsackie Virus

 

I decided to check in with my main naturopath, Dr. Rich Olree regarding my Pericardial Effusion.  He told me that the extra fluid could be a result of a virus called Coxsackie.  His recommendation was to take a specific type of Golden Flower Chinese herb.  Never having heard of such a virus I immediately turned to Google as my research tool!  Below is information from Web MD,

http://www.webmd.com/a-to-z-guides/coxsackie-virus

 

What is coxsackievirus?

Coxsackievirus is a member of a family of viruses called enteroviruses. Enteroviruses are made up of a single strand of ribonucleic acid (RNA). The enteroviruses are also referred to as picornaviruses (pico means “small,” so, “small RNA virues”).

Coxsackievirus was first found in the town Coxsackie south of Albany, New York.

What are the types of coxsackieviruses and what can they cause?

There are two different types of coxsackieviruses: A and B. Type A viruses cause herpangina (sores in the throat) and hand, foot, and mouth disease. Type B viruses cause epidemic pleurodynia, and inflammation in the chest. Both types A and B viruses can cause meningitis (inflammation of the spinal cord or brain), myocarditis (inflammation of the heart muscle), and pericarditis (inflammation of the sac surrounding the heart). They also may have a role in the development of acute onset juvenile (type 1) diabetes.”

Wow, I couldn’t believe I had just read that…Perhaps this was the cause of my Pericardial Effusion!

When I asked Dr. Raisinghani about the Coxsackie Virus,he told me two things:
1. How do you know about Coxsackie? (I just smiled…)
2. No, not likely to be Coxsackie; well, Western medicine doesn’t typically test for the Coxsackie virus, and there are no medications to treat it.
Interesting to ponder?  Yes, mainly because it seems much more economical to test for a virus than to go for an MRI.  Sure, the MRI is an extremely useful tool, but it could be the second/next step after investigating something like a virus!
Nonetheless, I also realize that at this point, time is of the essence since I need to resolve the Pericardial Effusion cause in order to proceed with the next steps of treatment.  My corse of action now is to start taking the Golden Flower Chinese herb, go for the Cardiac MRI, and get blood drawn to check my Thyroid function.  Then Dr. Raisinghani will repeat the ECG in two weeks as well.
Stay tuned for the results of all of these tests!
Namaste,
Ivonne