Allie Morgan – Writer & Cancer Survivor

Hello wonderful people!

I haven’t checked in with you in a good few months &, as I’ve been keeping you updated on my heart troubles post chemo, I thought I’d let you know the latest 🙂

After my last appointment with my cardiologist (which you can read about here), I was left feeling a little bit daunted by the possibility of going on tablets for life.

I came out of the hospital with more questions than I went in with & I was really worried by what he’d said about not having children while I’m on the tablets – if I’m on them for life, would I ever be able to have children?! Could I come off them to get pregnant or would my heart just go to shit? SO MANY QUESTIONS!

Anyway, in December I met with a doctor who specialises in heart problems during pregnancy to discuss things in more detail & she explained how exactly being on these tablets would work. She also told me that the actual name of the condition I have is chemotherapy-induced cardiomyopathy.

So the plan is that I’ll be on a tablet known as an ACE inhibitor & then, when I want to have children – which won’t be for a good few years! – I’ll come off the tablets for about 3 months.

After those 3 months, I’ll then have some tests done – like being put on a stationary bike for a while – to see how my heart can cope with stress.

When the results from that come back, they’ll let me know how my heart’s doing & how they think it’ll cope if I got pregnant. Obviously, if it’s not doing so well then the risks will be higher but either way, it’ll be treated as a moderate risk pregnancy.

Hopefully, the ACE inhibitor will have strengthened my heart a little in the interim so it’ll have that extra little boost & I’ll also be on a beta-blocker while I’m pregnant. Then once I’ve had the baby, they’ll review me again & most probably, put me back on the ACE inhibitor – if I want another child after that, we’ll just go through the same process.

At my most recent appointment, I found out the tablet that I’m going to be on is called Ramipril & I’ve been taking it now for a couple of months.

I’m only on a small dose so I haven’t noticed any major changes but I’m really interested to see how it will affect me in the long run. Ooh and also, I don’t have to have another ECG until next year – woohoo!

And there you have it – I’ve got some new best buddies fo’ lyf 🙂

I hope you’re all doing okay – let me know what you’ve been up to…

Allie x