Good news update on me & my partner

Hi 7 Cup friends,

Sorry I haven't been here in a while, been busy, but I have some very good news that I thought you might like to hear; that test result for my partner Brian's heart we were waiting on when I last posted, was just what we were hoping for, he got the all clear It was a Radionuclide test he had done as it was thought he had angina or some other heart problem but it showed all is working as normal. I can't tell you what a relief this is and how much happier we've both been since.

As a recap for those who might not know; I came to 7 Cups after a particularly bad anxiety episode around the first week of this month. Brian has had issues most of his life, primarily with his lower back (he has non specific lower back pain) but this usually is fairly managable. Things worsened in April when he began feeling really unwell after quitting smoking. He was really worried it might be his heart as they had hinted before at angina and his father has coronary heart disease & arrhythmia (requires a pace maker) and Brian was getting increasingly frightened he might have inherited the problems. I only realised how scared he'd been after we got this result as he told me just how much of a relief it was and just what had been going through his mind; along with his blood pressure (which had gone up during this time) he thought he could have a heart attack or something at any time, was also affecting his sleep. So this was like the weight of eight months of worry and stress leaving us and it's so good. He still has to see his doctor to make sure his blood pressure goes back to normal and has gotten meds to help with this (another good thing; first meds that haven't made him feel worse) and we're more confident now that all will be well in the end. He still gets shortness of breath sometimes and has asked this be looked into, but again doesn't feel this is anything major. His lungs were checked at the hospital in April and were found to be lookin g okay too, no sign of cancer or anything like that. They were focused on finding out about his heart before looking into anything else.

Since getting that result we have both been a lot happier and more relaxed, pretty much back to our usual really. I normally keep my anxiety pretty much in check, with meditation and stuff, but this has been an unusually stressful time, with another thing cropping up just as we thought it was all being sorted out and coming to an end. We're seeing the light at the end of the tunnel now though I think. I've also been able to communicate better how my anxiety affects me, what kind of things I think, feel, etc to him and what he can do to help. Which will help us both I think and something I have found not so easy in the past, although Brian is easy to talk to, I find I can better express myself in writing than verbally sometimes. It does go both ways, he's also let me know better what he needs from me during these stressful periods.

I will still be around here when I can, just been busy at home and with Facebook and a cat rescue I support via their UStream webcam. I socialise at both places daily & also help out with various human rights/animal rights campaigns through FB and there's been a lot happening lately both at Facebook & Friends of Felines (the rescue). I thank all here who have supported me, made kind comments, voted up my posts, etc and still feel this a wonderful site which will continue to be useful for me. I will answer any comments to me soon. Thank you for taking the time to read all this and a Happy Thanksgiving to those in the US. Have much to be thankful for too.

Take care of yourselves, Big Hugs

~ Shona ~