"I do have the EKG results and some of the blood work " announced fellow ER physician DR. Ryan Tenney.
Abbey looked up "And?"
"I wanted you to take a look but the blood work does show cardiomyopathy."
Abbey and Jesse both looked up at Dr. Tenney. "So I have a murmur and cardiomyopathy. So I have a heart condition"
Jesse laid his hand on his chest over his heart. Abbey gently laid her hand over his. "Honey its treatable. Ok? And there's many types of cardiomyopathy so we need to narrow that down. And we can start treating it before it becomes serious"
"Jesse how long have you been experiencing these symptoms?" Dr Tenney asked.
Jesse looked over at Abbey and she nodded for him to continue. "A few weeks."
"A few weeks?! Jesse!"
"It wasn't like this at first. It started out subtle. Like a little twinge here" he pointed to his sternum " then it was a little more gradual then the tightness started and the heaviness and then I noticed trouble breathing at things that never would have bothered me before. I had a big running scene today and I couldn't catch my breath after that's when the pain got really bad today What about work? " Jesse asked
"Well you need to take it easy for a bit but I don't see any problems with returning to filming"
Jesse looked over at Abbey.
"He does his own stunts on the show. He's pretty active" Abbey explained.
"I see. Well lets take this one step at a time for now. But I do have somewhat good news"
"What's that?"
"Jesse, your cardiomyopathy may be reversible." Dr Tenney directed at Jesse.
"Ryan what are you talking about?" Abbey asked her colleague.
He handed her the EKG strip
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Abbey studied Jesse's EKG. "Oh God. This is Takotsubo Cardiomyopathy"
"What is that? My mom's a nurse practitioner. Ive never heard of that"
Dr Tenney commented. "Its known as Stress Induced Cardiomyopathy."
Abbey had gone silent.
"Stress Induced? Like anxiety? So I did this to myself? I was giving myself panic attacks? And it can go away? So it's not really a big deal?"
"Its a bit more complicated than that. And I still want to do some more testing. But the good news is Stress Induced Cardiomyopathy can be a temporary type of cardiomyopathy and be reversed unlike other types where there is a blockage. But the symptoms you were experiencing, the chest pain and tightness, the shortness of breath, even the heart palpitations and drop in blood pressure, those symptoms all mimic those of a heart attack even on a heart monitor. Only the EKG can show us that it was stress induced cardiomyopathy rather than an mitral infarction. So thats the good news and yes it is stress induced but it's a little more complicated than anxiety and panic attacks. Anxiety you can control, but stress induced cardiomyopathy does need to be taken seriously. And Abbey and I both did detect a murmur so like I said I'd like to do some more testing to see the best form of treatment"
"Ok so did I do this to myself?
"Not exactly. It usually comes on after a traumatic event such as the passing of a loved one, or losing a job, an emotional breakup or divorce, a car accident, usually some type of trauma in the person's life. Often it's reffered as - "
"Broken Heart Syndrome" Abbey finished for him "but it is an actual diagnosis and disease. Jesse I did this to you"
Jesse knew the minute Dr Tenney mentioned an emotional breakup, he wished he could give the words back to him. He knew Abbey would blame herself for this.
"So you want to do more testing?"
"I'd like to do an echocardiogram, it's like an ultrasound of the heart. Once we get those results, we'll know if we need to do any more"
" And does this need to be done right away?"
" Well we'd like to do it in a very timely manner, it will show us more in depth about your aortic murmur."
"Ok is there anyway you can come back in like an hour to do that? Maybe give us some time alone to discuss some things?"
Dr Tenney nodded "Sure take your time. I'll be back to check in " and he left his patient and colleague some privacy.
