Fluid Around My Heart

As it turns out, I wasn't able to attend my Discharge or GVH Class yesterday as scheduled. I haven't been feeling very well the last few days so after a battery of tests and scans it was found that I have some fluid around my heart. Today I'll get an Echo-cardiogram to determine what the next step(s) will be. It's likely that Gleevec is the culprit since one of it's side effects is congestive heart failure. Congestive Heart Failure (CHF) is when the heart can't pump enough blood to the other organs in the body. As blood flow out of the heart slows, blood returning to the heart through the veins backs up, causing congestion in the tissues. Often swelling (edema) results. Most often there's swelling in the legs and ankles, but it can happen in other parts of the body, too. Sometimes fluid collects in the lungs and interferes with breathing, causing shortness of breath, especially when a person is lying down. Heart failure also affects the kidneys' ability to dispose of sodium and water. The retained water increases the edema. An Echo-cardiogram will determine if any of my heart valves have been damaged and to what extent the fluid is present. Maybe Gleevec isn't so "smart" after all.