32yr female with CHF.... Just diagnosed ... no answers or instructions

[iperfect923]

I was diagnosed three weeks ago. I had given birth to a baby girl and 24hrs later I couldn't breath, called.the.nurse and within two minutes blacked out as they were trying to put oxygen on me. I had a heart.attack, woke up next day in ICU. Had an ultrasound done of.my heart. The hospital thought I had a hole in my heart, had me airlifted to another hospital within 15. Min. That had a special cardiologist department. They did.an echo after.their ultra sound did.not.show any holes. Then they released me the next day. Told me my heart only works at 30-35% vs. 50%. I was told to follow up with that team of.drs. medi-cal is.the only insurance I have.so now I have no.Dr to follow up with. No answers, no instructions...just as they were releasing me from the hospital my nurse said "your condition is much worse than I had thought when I talked to u earlier, take care and make sure u follow up within a week." Besides having a newborn, I have a six year old, my husband is in county jail three hours from where I live, doing a year...... I'm overwhelmed to says the least.  Any instructions or advice or anything at all?  I'm clueless and scared.

[Bhupinder Kaur, MD]

Hello,
I can understand your concern but you need to consult a cardiologist immediately. First of all you need to be started on medicines like angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitor (ACE inhibitors) or angiotensin II receptor blocker or beta blockers. Surgery should be taken as last resort.

It is very difficult to precisely confirm a diagnosis without examination and investigations and the answer is based on the medical information provided. For exact diagnosis, you are requested to consult your doctor. I sincerely hope that helps. Take care and please do keep me posted on how you are doing.

[csc5502]

Use your medi-cal and get to a doctor...any doctor,, and tell him what they said.  He should be able to refer you to a cardiologist.  You can also try the help line or get a social worker to help you.  If what they were referring to was an ejection fraction, then 30-35% is well below normal and you could be in some danger of passing out or worse under stress or exercise.  Get back to a doctor asap.