Heart myxoma
Posted: Sat Oct 09, 2021 9:08 amIf you’re wondering what a myxoma is, I was too, until they told me I had one and explained what it was. Tumor in my heart? After a few fainting spells after long bike rides, and normal ekg and stress tests, an echo finally found the problem: a 3cm by 3cm mass attached to the wall of my left atrium. Lucky it hasn’t broken off yet and killed me, so am scheduled for surgery very soon to remove. I never even knew tumors could grow inside the heart, but fortunately, these are almost always benign (fingers crossed) and highly operable with normal prognosis assuming everything goes well.
Now I’m even more thankful I’ve been plant based for over fifteen years. Now in my early 60’s, the docs expected to see more atherosclerosis in my system in the angio scans, but apart from very slight signs in one artery, everything is completely clear. Since I never had scans before, for all I know, the very slight stuff they saw might have been worse years ago after fifty years of Meat heavy SAD. This will at least improve my chances of success in removing the tumor, and allow them to use less invasive techniques than full open chest surgery. Whatever caused this tumor, genes, or some environmental exposure, I’m so thankful for finding this way of eating 15 years ago to at least give me a better chance of survival. I’ll check back in after surgery next week.
Now I’m even more thankful I’ve been plant based for over fifteen years. Now in my early 60’s, the docs expected to see more atherosclerosis in my system in the angio scans, but apart from very slight signs in one artery, everything is completely clear. Since I never had scans before, for all I know, the very slight stuff they saw might have been worse years ago after fifty years of Meat heavy SAD. This will at least improve my chances of success in removing the tumor, and allow them to use less invasive techniques than full open chest surgery. Whatever caused this tumor, genes, or some environmental exposure, I’m so thankful for finding this way of eating 15 years ago to at least give me a better chance of survival. I’ll check back in after surgery next week.
