Heart Sick (2)
What has happened to me?
I later found out what I experienced during my cycling session was a heart attack. The water found in my stomach and the cause of my swollen feet are symptoms of a post-heart attack. The majority of patients with coronary artery disease will have chest pain, especially during exertion, unfortunately I belong to the 5 to 10% group of patients truly has no chest pain even with very bad disease. The doctors described it as a dangerous situation.
No intrusive tests were done on me for first 7 days while I was warded in the hospital as my cardiologist’s priority was to stabilize my condition. During this period I was given medications to ‘drain’ the water via urination and Warfarin to thin my blood; on top of that there are also needles that the nurses poked through my stomach everyday… that’s PAINFUL! An ultrasound scan was also done; it’s called Echocardiogram, which is something like the instrument used to scan the baby in a pregnant woman; only this time it's to scan my heart's conditions. My doctor told me it didn't look too good.
On day #8 I was put on an intrusive procedure called Angioplasty, where a catheter is placed through my blood vessels and heart to see how well (or bad) they are functioning. The eerie thing about this is it went through one of the main blood vessels from near my groin area and I have no clue how did the tube reach my heart and take video of it!
If a minor blockage in the vessels was detected, a balloon could be inserted right then and there to open the blockage, and a device called a stent may be placed in the new opening to prevent it from closing again. I was not so ‘lucky’ as my cardiologist confirmed what I feared most… I had 3 blockages; one of them 100% and two others 80%+.
I had a large bandage bound tightly after the procedure, and asked to lie on bed and not move for 6 hours. That was my most agonizing 6 hours with all thoughts and fears and uncertainty flying in my head… What’s NEXT?
-HS
I later found out what I experienced during my cycling session was a heart attack. The water found in my stomach and the cause of my swollen feet are symptoms of a post-heart attack. The majority of patients with coronary artery disease will have chest pain, especially during exertion, unfortunately I belong to the 5 to 10% group of patients truly has no chest pain even with very bad disease. The doctors described it as a dangerous situation.
No intrusive tests were done on me for first 7 days while I was warded in the hospital as my cardiologist’s priority was to stabilize my condition. During this period I was given medications to ‘drain’ the water via urination and Warfarin to thin my blood; on top of that there are also needles that the nurses poked through my stomach everyday… that’s PAINFUL! An ultrasound scan was also done; it’s called Echocardiogram, which is something like the instrument used to scan the baby in a pregnant woman; only this time it's to scan my heart's conditions. My doctor told me it didn't look too good.
On day #8 I was put on an intrusive procedure called Angioplasty, where a catheter is placed through my blood vessels and heart to see how well (or bad) they are functioning. The eerie thing about this is it went through one of the main blood vessels from near my groin area and I have no clue how did the tube reach my heart and take video of it!
If a minor blockage in the vessels was detected, a balloon could be inserted right then and there to open the blockage, and a device called a stent may be placed in the new opening to prevent it from closing again. I was not so ‘lucky’ as my cardiologist confirmed what I feared most… I had 3 blockages; one of them 100% and two others 80%+.
I had a large bandage bound tightly after the procedure, and asked to lie on bed and not move for 6 hours. That was my most agonizing 6 hours with all thoughts and fears and uncertainty flying in my head… What’s NEXT?
-HS
Labels: My Brush With Life
posted by HS & SC at
10:42 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home