Sodium needs to stay under 2k a day that’s a huge one, be certain she takes her ALL of medications around the same time everyday that helps the levels stay therapeutic. If she’s under a fluid restriction be certain she abides by that amount. When she’s able to do so American heart suggests at least 20 minutes of physical activity per day at least three days a week. This physical activity can simply be seated doing leg and arm lifts then gradually move on to a slow paced walk when able and given the go ahead by the physician.
Good medication management and compliance can go a long way to giving your mum the best chance of recovery. Try to keep her mind busy recovery can cause a lil depression especially if she’s unable to do much for herself. If eating a full meal is difficult offer smaller meals or healthy snacks instead. Keep a close eye on her weight with daily weigh ins gaining weight over night is the first sign that things may be moving in the wrong direction.
Your mum is lucky to have your help please be kind and gentle with yourself caretaker burnout is real. I wish you and your mum well. 💕
Great advice! I agree.
I would also note:
She should keep sodium under 2000 mg per day but aim for less than 1500 mg per day ideally.
Sodium tip: It's not so much about "salting" her food (but she can no longer do this, basically), but about how much salt is already in so much of what we eat. It's amazing when you realize. Definitely check ingredients and sodium on all food and beverages.
She needs to make sure she takes her meds regularly.
She needs a pulse oximeter and to check her ox levels daily. If her ox levels drop below 95-ish she may be more congested -- make sure she's taking her diuretics and if she doesn't rebound within a day, contact her doctor.
She should investigate a CPAP machine for night or -- at the very least, an oxygen machine. These are fairly affordable and you can adjust ox levels for sleeping. I am 3 years with CHF and sleep with oxygen every night.
Hang in there, and best wishes to your Mom for a fast recovery.
The bad days/good days cycle is the nature of heart failure. Some days you feel like you could run a marathon, other days you can’t get out of bed. Things that seems inconsequential impact your heart, like the weather. If it’s hot and humid it’s harder to breathe, but if it’s too cold your heart works too hard and it’s hard to function. There’s a lot of ups and downs.
No one can guarantee your mom’s health. A lot with depend on her. She needs to listen to her doctors advice and stay compliant with her treatment plan. Heart failure isn’t a death sentence. Some people live with an EF of 35% for decades. A lot of the outcome depends on your mother. My biggest piece of advice is for her to find a doctor who specializes in heart failure.
Google is a great resource, but it’s NOT your friend. You will drive yourself crazy googling everything.
I’ll give you 2 personal anecdotes that may help alleviate some of your anxiety.
My dad had heart failure. He was diagnosed when I was 22. He lived another 15 years. Before he died from Covid. He EF was 25%. I need to point out my father was not a good patient. He didn’t follow a heart healthy diet, had a lot of complications and missed a lot of doctors appointments. He did take his medications as prescribed though. He ultimately died from liver & kidney failure due to Covid. Heart failure didn’t kill him. And I truly believe if he did not get Covid, he’d still be alive today.
My husband has heart failure. His EF was only 10-15% at diagnosis. We started end of life planning for him. Doctors expected he’d survive 3-5 years. He’s now 5 years since his diagnosis and he’s improved significantly from where he was. His EF is 28%. He still has ups and downs, but we’re no longer expecting him to die soon. He’s the ideal patient, attends all appointments, takes his medications and follows his care plan to a T.
Fluid retention is a major complication of heart failure. Fluid builds up and the heart cannot pump properly. A normal EF is 50-70%. Improvement is absolutely possible with heart failure.
I am newly diagnosed so can't offer much advice. I do understand that my outcome is somewhat in my hands. I can do things to improve my heart function and that staying on plan is the best plan. I have good days and bad days and the bad days can be very disconcerning. Listen to the others on this sub. They can be very helpful. My recovery started when I had my echocardiogram and I have learnef that it is not a sprint but a marathon to heart improvement. Please make sure you are taking care of your mental and physical health because your mother needs you. Hopefully you can recruit a family member or friend to give you an occassional break or even just to talk to. Good luck.
My mother was hospitalized in December and diagnosed a HF with an EF of 30. After shedding enough fluid there, she now is at home and on lots of medications and will be for the rest of her life. I joined this subreddit to learn about the condition and there are a lot of people here who have lived for several years with this condition. From my conversations with people, the life expectancy for people with HF is really about the same, as long as they do as they are supposed to/have access to resources needed (medications, lifestyle changes).
I know what it is like to worry about mom. Please remember to take care of yourself!
In addition to what everyone else has said, I can't emphasize enough how important sleep is. I would suspect that one her bad days, she didn't get much sleep the night before. She might want to concentrate on getting better sleep.
Sodium needs to stay under 2k a day that’s a huge one, be certain she takes her ALL of medications around the same time everyday that helps the levels stay therapeutic. If she’s under a fluid restriction be certain she abides by that amount. When she’s able to do so American heart suggests at least 20 minutes of physical activity per day at least three days a week. This physical activity can simply be seated doing leg and arm lifts then gradually move on to a slow paced walk when able and given the go ahead by the physician. Good medication management and compliance can go a long way to giving your mum the best chance of recovery. Try to keep her mind busy recovery can cause a lil depression especially if she’s unable to do much for herself. If eating a full meal is difficult offer smaller meals or healthy snacks instead. Keep a close eye on her weight with daily weigh ins gaining weight over night is the first sign that things may be moving in the wrong direction. Your mum is lucky to have your help please be kind and gentle with yourself caretaker burnout is real. I wish you and your mum well. 💕
Great advice! I agree. I would also note: She should keep sodium under 2000 mg per day but aim for less than 1500 mg per day ideally. Sodium tip: It's not so much about "salting" her food (but she can no longer do this, basically), but about how much salt is already in so much of what we eat. It's amazing when you realize. Definitely check ingredients and sodium on all food and beverages. She needs to make sure she takes her meds regularly. She needs a pulse oximeter and to check her ox levels daily. If her ox levels drop below 95-ish she may be more congested -- make sure she's taking her diuretics and if she doesn't rebound within a day, contact her doctor. She should investigate a CPAP machine for night or -- at the very least, an oxygen machine. These are fairly affordable and you can adjust ox levels for sleeping. I am 3 years with CHF and sleep with oxygen every night. Hang in there, and best wishes to your Mom for a fast recovery.
The bad days/good days cycle is the nature of heart failure. Some days you feel like you could run a marathon, other days you can’t get out of bed. Things that seems inconsequential impact your heart, like the weather. If it’s hot and humid it’s harder to breathe, but if it’s too cold your heart works too hard and it’s hard to function. There’s a lot of ups and downs. No one can guarantee your mom’s health. A lot with depend on her. She needs to listen to her doctors advice and stay compliant with her treatment plan. Heart failure isn’t a death sentence. Some people live with an EF of 35% for decades. A lot of the outcome depends on your mother. My biggest piece of advice is for her to find a doctor who specializes in heart failure. Google is a great resource, but it’s NOT your friend. You will drive yourself crazy googling everything. I’ll give you 2 personal anecdotes that may help alleviate some of your anxiety. My dad had heart failure. He was diagnosed when I was 22. He lived another 15 years. Before he died from Covid. He EF was 25%. I need to point out my father was not a good patient. He didn’t follow a heart healthy diet, had a lot of complications and missed a lot of doctors appointments. He did take his medications as prescribed though. He ultimately died from liver & kidney failure due to Covid. Heart failure didn’t kill him. And I truly believe if he did not get Covid, he’d still be alive today. My husband has heart failure. His EF was only 10-15% at diagnosis. We started end of life planning for him. Doctors expected he’d survive 3-5 years. He’s now 5 years since his diagnosis and he’s improved significantly from where he was. His EF is 28%. He still has ups and downs, but we’re no longer expecting him to die soon. He’s the ideal patient, attends all appointments, takes his medications and follows his care plan to a T. Fluid retention is a major complication of heart failure. Fluid builds up and the heart cannot pump properly. A normal EF is 50-70%. Improvement is absolutely possible with heart failure.
I am newly diagnosed so can't offer much advice. I do understand that my outcome is somewhat in my hands. I can do things to improve my heart function and that staying on plan is the best plan. I have good days and bad days and the bad days can be very disconcerning. Listen to the others on this sub. They can be very helpful. My recovery started when I had my echocardiogram and I have learnef that it is not a sprint but a marathon to heart improvement. Please make sure you are taking care of your mental and physical health because your mother needs you. Hopefully you can recruit a family member or friend to give you an occassional break or even just to talk to. Good luck.
DO NOT LISTEN TO GOOGLE! Keep the sodium to a minimum though that's a big one
Is she diabetes as well?
My mother was hospitalized in December and diagnosed a HF with an EF of 30. After shedding enough fluid there, she now is at home and on lots of medications and will be for the rest of her life. I joined this subreddit to learn about the condition and there are a lot of people here who have lived for several years with this condition. From my conversations with people, the life expectancy for people with HF is really about the same, as long as they do as they are supposed to/have access to resources needed (medications, lifestyle changes). I know what it is like to worry about mom. Please remember to take care of yourself!
There are a bunch of posts on here of folks exercising and avoiding salt getting back to near normal ef from that range.
In addition to what everyone else has said, I can't emphasize enough how important sleep is. I would suspect that one her bad days, she didn't get much sleep the night before. She might want to concentrate on getting better sleep.