a blab by idle

The only test I wasn't familiar with from the appointment was the BNP. Turns out that it's a highly correlative marker for CHF.

So I finally have an (implied) diagnosis based on the result (199.9).

The thing that gets me is: in four years of living in Arizona and three years of interacting with medical professionals there, why did nobody ever order this for me? It's a simple test, part of a standard venipuncture series. I had blood drawn several times between 2000 and 2004. Once the puncture's been ordered, it's nearly trivial to draw a standard 5mL lavender tube off the same stick.

*sigh* The more I read about the bumblings of adult cardiologists in dealing with ACHD issues, the more I realize that the recommendations put forth from Task Force 4 at the 32nd Bethesda Conference may actually be important to consider implementing.