Abnormal tests

Husband 7 1/2 years ago was diagnosed with dialated cardiomyopathy, cause unknown, but a few weeks earlier he was exposed to a lot of bacteria & viruses in a massive flood, he was involved in the cleanup of state school afterwards. 

I believe he caught a virus but I could not prove it and the public hospital would not test him for possible water borne viruses.

He has followed exactly what the Dr's have told him to do, firstly stay busy, walk every day gently without getting toooo breathless, and extend his distance slowly, 10 - 20 steps change every ten days, by 18 months he was walking 3.5 miles, cardiologists amazed as while in the hospital with initial diagnoses he needed help getting to and from the en-suite toilet, he had collapsed at home with congestive heart failure.

He has also taken the tablets, as given by heart hospital, reported any changes and or presented at the heart hospital with any changes, recorded his weight every morning, and any sudden changes also reported them to hospital, a number of times the hospital has photocopied my booklet of recordings of weight, blood pressure, and heartrate.

If I consider he is off colour and or just not well, I also have a blood pressure monitor which I use to monitor where he is at, it not only takes his blood pressure, it also gives me his heartbeat rate, I asked the cardio specialist to write in his weight booklet what he thinks his normal reading should be, and I use that as base line, any difference has to be considered carefully, and reported again.

In these last 7 years he has been back to the heart hospital every six months for a start, and as his health slowly improved that was extended out to a year, which I suspect they will keep him on for any years yet due to damage already done, also been back to the hospital a couple of times when his blood pressure got too low for my comfort, he became de-hydrated due to overdoing work on too hot a day, like mowing the law, on a 30C degree morning, and combined with the humidity tipped himself into dehydration, the last time this happened much to my GP's horror I managed him at home and re-hydrated him slowly over a few hours at home, and reported to the GP the results of my treatment, he was very relieved, after 7 years practice I dooo know how to treat him even though I have no nursing qualifications, cardiologist has told me if I had my nursing degree he would have me on his staff, as I am better than most of his staff, and once when his heart rate fell to 30BPM, when they installed a pacemaker.

I have during this time hit the local library books, the GP's cardiology books, andeven read university papers available on the internet, some of these terrifying, but I am one of those who prefers to know and understand rather than not know, in husbands case I believe the knowledge I have gained via my studying has saved his life a number of times even at the heart hospital, I let fly in anger at a junior cardiologist and told him he did not know what he was talking about, and consultant told me and husband he agreed with my diagnoses in front of his junior Dr, we never saw the junior after that, only the consultant.