One of those weeks!

It's been wet and rainy all week and I've been feeling very unmotivated. There's also been a few family dramas this week, which have kept our stress levels a little higher than usual.

The cardiologist rang me on Wednesday as well. This guy is awesome, but more about that later. So he tells me what the specialist in Sydney pretty much said, but asked if I'd like to come and speak to him face to face to discuss options, and to bring Andrew as well, as it was good to have a second voice there. So he said he could come in at 8:15am the next morning if that was good for me, and I could see him then. So we did that and rocked up on Wednesday morning.

So basically, I have a 50/50 chance of having the same condition that my dad and aunt had. There seem to be 5 things that cause aortic dissection, and the only one they can actually test for is Marfan's syndrome, which is characteristised by having a very long slim body, really long limbs, and fingers, curvature of the spine and a few other fairly obvious signs. So the other 4 causes they haven't been able to develop a test for gene wise (which makes me wonder how they know there's 5 causes if they can't test for the other 4).

Due to this, the cardiologist wants to take the cautious approach, which I can fully understand. So he's put me on beta blockers to lower my heart rate and blood pressure. Both my blood pressure and heart rate are normal already, but it's a preventative measure to ensure they don't get too high, especially during exercise as it can put extra strain on the aorta and cause dissection if I have the condition. He's also said to try to avoid getting my heart rate over 120-130. With the beta blockers, easy exercise should ensure this. Unfortunately it may make me feel lethargic and not feeling like exercise. I'm on a low dose though, so hopefully this will be a happy medium.

The only problem is that I'm quite sensitive to medications, and after starting taking them on Wednesday I was feeling quite ill yesterday!! As well as that I had swollen glands, feeling generally achy and started getting a sore throat today.

So went along to the GP today just in case it was some weird reaction to the medication, but no - it's sensitivity to the medication which should settle down and a virus on top of that. Throat infection, swollen glands, achy body. Just got to rest and drink heaps of water. Just what I need right now!!! Oh well, better than getting it in a few weeks time. No riding for me tomorrow!