Angioplasty surgery / stenting..

[realzed]

Anyone have any good stories to tell me about getting stents and how much (if any) they were either a waste of time or brought about improvement(s) in your life..
As if severe osteoarthritis problems wasn't enough to grow old dealing with - I'm guessing now from some latest tests done today that some of this 'black magic' is also on my horizon in the next couple of weeks..
I need some encouraging stories to help me pass the time until then! 
Thx.. Randy

[rusticretreater]

My dad had a cardiac event and managed to survive it.   We found him passed out in a chair.  If he had fallen to the floor, the doctor said it might have been over.  He had surgery and a stent inserted.  He went on to live another 15 years.

[Chuck White]

I had an angioplasty performed back in March 1995, but back then stents weren't an automatic thing, I was prescribed meds and went home!

In August 2005 during my school bus driver physical it was discovered that I have Atrial Fibrillation (AFIB), I went to the hospital for a couple of days as a safety measure and was prescribed more meds and went home.

Over the years, some of the meds have been changed, but I still live with the AFIB and take my daily meds!

[mike_belben]

An encouraging story i can offer is that after a month or two of making major dietary changes for the purpose of reducing inflammation, i looked down on the ground at a glinty sparkle beneath a truck id been working under.  At first i thought it was a keyring, and which kid was i gonna chew out for messing with my critical sacred key collectionthat is off limits unless i send them for one.

  I picked it up and it was my wedding band, which has always been snug enough to have never come close to clearing my knuckle to fall off.

Thats how much my fingers shrunk in just a month or so of getting off this poisonous industrial diet i spent my life on.  Ive had pain in nearly every joint since my early 30s, have spinal stenosis, a fusion, degenerative discs etc.  Most of it has improved save for elbows and wrists.  If i eat mayo or salad dressing my knees will swell back up and ache within hours from the excessive omega 6 fatty acid in vegetable oils. Every time.

My blood pressure and heart rate were always great.  My heartrate was typically 55 to 59.. Now its like 50 to 52 and pressure came down even more.  

There was an initial hurdle and week of misery. It took some time but i dont crave the old junk any more and do crave the good stuff i have switched to. My face looks younger and i feel a bit younger. I wasnt a fat guy so its not really a weight loss thing for me but my belt had to be tightened. I havent weighed myself.


My point is between arthritis and heart problems i already know your diet is a major problem. If you go on an anti-inflammatory diet you can eat as much as you want and still be getting better rapidly without being a slave to the side effects of bottled cures and follow up visits that pharma has devolved our system to for their quarterly earnings statements.  I pile it on and eat til im happy without paying the man for "anti-inflammatory" pills that DESTROY your mucosal gut lining and microbiome, which causes all this collateral damage.  

Long term NSAIDs to control the inflammation caused by seed oils is a double whammy.  Its causitive.  Quit one and you can quit both.  If i wanna pop a naproxen now i go eat a pile of high fiber fruit and glass of water.

[Magicman]

I have several friends who have had various stent procedures that were literally life saving.  Medical technology is saving lives every day.  My wife, PatD's, "TAVR" last year is a new aortic valve within a stent.

[realzed]

I never had heart issues (aside from my wife occasionally telling me during a bad day, she didn't consider, I had one  ) that I ever was told to be aware of, but over the last 10 months I have found my recently again operated and 'new to me' revised 'TKR knee'/leg has been constantly swollen badly to the point where I now have to wear compression stockings and prescribed diuretics.
Next, in the past few months I found I barely stroll a couple hundred yards without arm and shoulder pain and shortness of breath and feeling like 'someone is parked on my chest'.
After a couple of days of fairly severe chest heaviness and arm/shoulder pain, I a month back dropped by the local ER and they thought my symptoms were sufficiently serious to keep me there for 14 hours until I was sent home with a Rapid Access Pain Clinic app't in hand which just happened yesterday..  
That brought me a half day of nuclear imaging sessions and a non-treadmill medically-induced 'stress test' which I know from the feel as well as the expressions of the nurses and doctors at hand, that I failed quite decidedly.
I assume when you're told in an in-hospital cardio clinic after testing "if you don't feel well - you should consider going downstairs to the ER - and not drive home"..  as idiotic as it sounds - it isn't very good or encouraging news either.. I chose stupidly to drive anyway..
Regardless, I'm booked to see a cardio surgeon for factual results early next week, and not expectant of any good conversation or news.
Never as I said, had heart issues previously - always been told despite everything else seemingly going off the rails, that my heart muscle was strong and healthy even up until just recently - but now this..
Thinking now, that my leg swelling symptoms were a precursor / warning that my blood supply and/or flow was over the last year getting compromised and no one took note of that being a possibility or cause..
I'm pretty fed up (as is my wife understandably - I get a lot of eye rolls :) with all of the medical drama by now - but here we go again it seems. It's a treadmill I certainly wish I could get off of..
Thanks for some of the tales and suggestions so far!
I wish Mike, I didn't have so many natural food/fruit allergies - since many of the suggestions for diet alteration sound like they have a lot of validity, but I know I couldn't handle much of what you suggest without incurring other problems from doing so!
Thx - Randy

[NE Woodburner]

My FIL had stents put in over 20 years ago after a heart attack. He had a couple put in the worst blockages right after being taken to the hospital with a heart attack. Once he was stabilized they did a couple more that were not blocked as bad.
He is in his mid-80's now and although he has slowed down some and has some back and joint issues, he has not had heart issues since the stents went in.

[hacknchop]

First off I grew up in the Flour Mill but now live 3 hrs west of Sudbury but I ended up in the hospital in Sudbury 20 yrs ago and I have nothing but good to say about the care I received there and in particular a certain Dr Syan.

[realzed]

Interestingly enough Hack - he is exactly the guy I am scheduled to see on Wednesday!
Don't specifically know what he will be addressing with me then - but it is great to hear that you had good success under and with his treatment and I hope I can mimic that !
Thanks..

[hacknchop]

He is the real deal told me he would have me leading a fairly normal life within 5 yrs using nothing but medication if it didn't work he said he could do it surgically now I pass the tread mill stress test and last yr a different cardiologist in the SAULT made me have an angiogram claiming that he wanted to make sure I wasn't missing symptoms the angiogram revealed exactly what Dr Syan said would happen the arterial blockages are still present but my body has manage to increase the surrounding veins to somehow get bigger and handle the blood flow which is now in the high 90 percentages.You will do well to be a patient Patient in that it is not unusual to spend hours and hours waiting for him in the waiting room.

[mike_belben]

i understand randy.  dont give up hope, spend your time reading stories of what other people have done with your conditions and gotten better. theres always someone else with the same ailment, youre never the only one.  my wifes "incurable" autoimmune disease has her depressed and me saying no, were gonna get you better. if other people got better you can get better.  i spend the rainy days inside digging and sifting info to get my family healthy and it has turned up a whole lot of hope.  not losing hope is step 1. 

[realzed]

Mike - you certainly are her best advocate and are most certainly a very diligent one at that.. she is fortunate..

[realzed]

You will do well to be a patient Patient in that it is not unusual to spend hours and hours waiting for him in the waiting room.

Oh Boy - I can hardly wait for the possible waiting...  ;D  
Guess it would be a small price to pay if I get answers and good ones at that.. 
I automatically assumed that the only way out of what may be troubling me would be surgery - but I guess there is some alternatives.
Did he give you a choice - surgery verses medications?
I have heard and talked to people in the past (before this all came up in my own case) that said how much more energy they immediately recovered after undergoing surgery - and given a choice - if it cured some of my leg issues as a byproduct, that is why I would probably opt for that - but before I go off on a tangent, it certainly would be better to see what he and his 'team' found out from yesterday's visit with me..

[doc henderson]

lack of this technology and understanding of diabetes and hypertension is why people used to die in their 40s among other things.  If you are to the point of having a big blockage in a tiny coronary artery, and it clots off, a stent is lifesaving.  you can die suddenly from an arrhythmia, or slowly if the muscle is damaged from blood supply deficit. called and acute MI.  If it is nearly blocked and you have CP with exertion (supply and demand) then the stent gets rid of the CP and protects the heart muscle and that is called angina. coronary issues are from a lifetime of habits, and some genetic traits.  good habits help, but some people are screwed genetically.  If the muscle is damaged, you get congestive heart failure from the loss of muscle.  It can damage the electrical system, and you may get a-fib or need a pacemaker.  If a person has issues at age 90.  what other things like a machine, or article of clothing is good as new after that amount of time.  Older folks suffer when they have one big problem, but other systems are holding on by a thread, and it all falls apart like a house of cards.  If you need a stent, I recommend you get it.  I have participated in thousands over the years, and I expect it will make you feel better, and live longer.  good luck.

[doc henderson]

finding something on a non-invasive test, just pushes you to the next test.  the STEMI goes straight to cath.  if you are found to have coronary disease, many cardiologists can also put dye into the peripheral (arms, legs) arteries to check those arteries (if it fits the symptoms).  good luck.  I consider a heart cath. to be a procedure, not a surgery, but not important to you.    If it is really bad, or over a long length of the artery, that is when you would need an open-heart surgery like a bypass.  

[hacknchop]

The reason for not going with stents for me came down to 3 main reasons, 1) my blockages were around 40 percent and only caused angina when I exerted myself,
2) consisted of 3 blockages in 2 arteries and are iffy as far as having room for stint as opposed to perhaps having to take a chunk of artery out of my leg, 3) i was in my 40's and DR Syan explained that by controlling my blood sugars and eating less fatty foods (I love poutine) along with the meds he put me on, my body might respond favorably your case may be different. As Mike said keep doing your best to help your body and your chances of getting better go up.We will keep you in our thoughts and look forward to you getting better.

[realzed]

Hack - your (and everyone else's) comments and wishes are very much appreciated - as is some of the medical information.
I'm sort of looking forward to my Wed, visit - if for no other reason than to try and gather as much info as I can, as this is getting worse by the week now and something needs to get done before it gets to the point where it may be too late to easily (if that is possible) repair whatever issues are present right now..
Thanks again everyone!! 

[doctorb]

Realize that while angioplasty (stent) procedures are common and generally well tolerated, your cardiac angiogram dictates if you are a candidate for stenting, or a more aggressive open coronary bypass would be necessary.  Stenting has supplanted many bypass procedures, but, in some patients, the vessel disease is too extensive to stent.  Your leg swelling and chest symptoms are a sign something cardiac is stressed and needs help.  I wish you the best.  Keep us informed.

[firefighter ontheside]

My mom worked for 20 years in a cardiac cath lab.  I remember her telling about folks who would have died had they not had their cath and or stent.  She made friends of pts. and kept in touch with them.  My mom was just a tech, but they felt like everyone in that lab had saved their life.

[realzed]

  Your leg swelling and chest symptoms are a sign something cardiac is stressed and needs help.  I wish you the best.  Keep us informed.

I too feel and sense this is all related and my hope is that possibly one procedure will help set me off in a direction that results in a situation that may clear up a few issues in one shot.. at least that would be ideal!
Thanks..

[mike_belben]

One procedure that can improve everyones life, is eliminating sugar.  No one is allergic to water but everyone suffers something from sugar whether it gets a label or they just take it quietly to the grave of 'natural causes.'  

Drink more water and consume less sugar. Put the pepsi down. Skip the brownies and back off the vegetable oils and soy and high fructose corn oil.

Atherosclerosis is associated with chronic inflammation (like your knee) and excess glucose in the system which is all a package deal with obesity, hypertension, diabetes, insulin resistance and perhaps leptin resistance.

Tons of things can cause inflammation.  Omega 6 fatty acid is highly inflammatory and is in just about everything you didnt catch yourself. The immune system trying to rid the body of tissues built from proteins that were erroneously built from non-nutrative imposter amino acids like canavanine and azetidine 2 carboxylic acid will cause inflammation.  You said you had food allergies, well look close into those.  They are in legumes like soy and peanuts and sugar beets, the latter which are where cheap sucrose sweetners come from.  Soy and beet pulp are cattle feed so thats in your cheap drive thru burger.

These amino acids are toxins for defense of the plant, that our bodies mistake for other amino acids and build faulty proteins to create tissues out of.  Our immune system then finds that improper colon wall or joint or hair follicle built with an imposter protein and tries to eradicate it. Result is Inflammation and disease.  

We are all headed for one form or another thanks to all this soda and candy and corn syrup.  Gatorade and fruit loops are pretty much lethal.  

The information is at your fingertips and the choice to improve your chances is waiting patiently for you. Its never too late to make a change.

[sawmilllawyer]

Hey Realized,
In July of 2017 I went in for a Stent and during the procedure and after the Cardio Doc had inserted the Sleeve in my femoral artery to place the stent I was informed it would not work because I had four different blockages, they would not let me leave the hospital and scheduled open heart surgery the next morning, I met the surgen that afternoon, He performed a quadruple by pass the next day, I remained in the hospital from Thursday until the following Tuesday evening.  The first thing they had me do was walk with a walker so many steps each day. After a day or so and with the help of my wife  I walked at least twice as many steps. The whole open heart surgery, started with a cardiac event on a sunday evening. My advice is go and get medical attention they can save your life, literally.

[realzed]

 My mom was just a tech, but they felt like everyone in that lab had saved their life.

When I was leaving the clinic on Thursday and doing so well - at least I thought, I was stopped by a different nurse who hadn't been dealing with me who asked me to stop and sit down so she could take my BP a couple of times.
She said "I don't like the way you look right now and I don't feel you should be waking out of here like this - so sit down and let me take your BP and rest up a bit"..
So she parked me for a while and I realized then that I was still breathing shallowly and fast and very cold, yet sweating.. although dressed warmly already for -25F outside.
She mentioned she had followed me watching my gait and mannerisms and said she was "worried and concerned that I shouldn't be trying to  leaving on my own in that condition".
I headed home after talking with her for a while seated in the hallway - and was on a mission to get home (only 10 mins away) and into my warm bed and catch some sleep ASAP, which I did for 4 hours..
Nice to note some do actually care enough to take the time though..

[mike_belben]

That is a nice thing to hear in a world thats grown increasingly more concerned with the billing than the correct diagnosis. 11 years ive watched my wife billed and shuffled before anyone put the time in to get it right. What a difference that time could have made for us.

 I hope that nurse who stopped you has a long career.  She will make a lot of differences by caring. 

[kantuckid]

Lucky me.
I had 3 stents (I think mine are stainless steel, coated type) after a Christmas Eve heart attack in 2004. The stents date should give you enough info to know they work?
Mine were actually inserted the next year- after the doc returned from his holiday Caribbean trip. By then, I was long stabilized from "the heart attack event", having read several books and making friends with all the nurses on every shift the stents were a welcome thing. The stent insertion catheter removal was not so welcome, as it were, read below...
 Two nurses (one that I knew her Dad who was a MLB pitcher) came into my room saying they were there to remove my catheter as used for the stent insertion into my groin artery. Prior to beginning one says to the other- " have you done one this size before"? The other says, "no", the doctors always do the larger ones and this ones 10mm". But they had their orders, I guess. 
They proceed to remove that stent and my urinary catheter too. I'm then told I can now urinate on my own. Woo hoo! and I soon get out of bed for the 1st time in many days to take a leak, what with my IV stand along and off I go and do my duty. As I turn around to head back for the bed, my stent wound suddenly bleeds out, I hit the floor hard and am moved into my bed. 
At that point as I recover consciousness and I have a nurse straddling me, applying direct pressure to the wound and am being given given blood. Eventually it all gets under control.
Next day, a surgeon who specializes in what I recall to be "micro surgeries" comes in to sew my artery back together. ( I remember at the office appt for the artery wound to get checked out asking that doc if I'd ever gain back feeling in that area of my groin again? He said anytime we cut, chances are that nerves will be cut and no longer function does exist. FWIW, that area remains numb to this day-it's about the size of your hand on the inside of my rt thigh.
That 2nd "bleed out/pass out event" resulted in the hospital charging me zero for the entire process of being there, services rendered, etc..
Otherwise, I'm back to normal life since that artery healed. I had no heart muscle damage so yes, stents work and I am a lucky guy!
I recently switched heart docs from the one who did my stent job back in Jan 2005. I'll not get into all the reasons I fired the old guy, but suffice to say the new cardiologist is far more proactive in my care!- it was a good decision.
Like any caregiver/service provider situ, they are not all the same!
My understanding is that stents are often inserted differently now than the groin?

[kantuckid]

I sincerely hope that my experience, described above with stent insertion catheter removal episode didn't kill this thread? 
Simple fact is that stents keep many, many of us alive and that's a good thing! 

[mike_belben]

you will probably get that feeling back in time.  the nerve over my passenger side eyebrow was severed by a tire iron maybe around 2015 or so which caused me to lose feeling on the surface of my scalp for several years. i could feel pressure in my skull but if i grazed finger tips all over my head from left to right the sensation was very strange and different on the damaged side.  it was odd shaving my head for years.  


all sensation is back now.  i have to look for the scar to remember which side it happened on, cant feel any difference. 

[doctorb]

I disagree that you will get feeling back.  The numbness sensation may change over time, and the area of numbness may shrink around the edges, but there is not much overlap of the cutaneous nerves of the thigh.  This nerve was surgically cut to access the bleeding artery.  Nerves, if severed, don't magically re-grow or connect up as part of the healing process.  They need to be lined up (approximated is the term).  Now, is it possible after being severed that the two ends lined up?  Yes, it's possible, but not likely.

Nerves that are injured, but not anatomically cut, often get return of function over time.  They don't need reapproximation as they are anatomically intact. Nerves "regenerate" (repair) at a rate of about 1mm/day, or about an inch per month, so it takes some time for sensation to return a distance from the injury site. The Ophthalmic nerve has a bunch of branches, (that's the nerve, or branches of that nerve, that got smacked above Mike's eye) and it supplies a pretty good sized area from the eyelid to the scalp on the crown of the skull. It was undoubtedly bruised badly but not disrupted, and his sensation returned over time.  I am sorry to say that is probably not what happened to kantuckid.  We have seen the difference between these two scenarios many times.  Blunt injury (tire iron) may not disrupt a nerve.  Sharp objects, like knives, cut them often, and different outcomes ensue. 

[kantuckid]

The inner thigh area adjacent to my catheter removal event has never regained any feeling-it remains nerve dead numb. OTOH, it's not an issue at all given that it doesn't effect anything that matters except touching the skin surface. 
As I might have mentioned, the surgeon who was doing my 6 month arterial heal up checkout said "it happens all the time when we cut nerves". 
 
From more recent readings, I've noticed that many stents are now done via the neck entry, not groin. 

 One finger which I tried to remove the tip of-it's been numb for maybe 15-20 years but has some feeling and I never really notice it. Another that I mashed flat as a pancake ~ 1.5 yrs ago-it's lost feeling too and has a dogleg but works ok and got a nice new nail. 

 Prior to CTS release surgery, my hands would both become deadened and I was forced to stop riding motorcycles until I got "the fix". I had every CTS symptom known, including being awakened at night. 
Not so far away from my nerve dead inner thigh area is my right and left, anterior insertion, hip joint wounds. Neither have a dead nerve area as they use the crease in your thigh to avoid muscles, nerves and large vessels. 
I have a few other body areas I wish would go dead feeling wise :D Lumbar for starters, neck, knees and shoulders as well...

I got hit by a hatchet (standing behind another kid for the backswing) when I was around 7-8 yrs old-scar's on my right eyebrow and affected my brain me thinks cause I disliked algebra? :  

[realzed]

I sincerely hope that my experience, described above with stent insertion catheter removal episode didn't kill this thread?
Simple fact is that stents keep many, many of us alive and that's a good thing!

I must fully admit - that after so many major surgeries over the past 10 years that I am very touchy about what I read when it comes to - or closes in on, yet another procedure I may have to undergo..
I know - I know - why did I start this thread then? - well.. probably mainly in the hope of hearing nothing but Unicorn stories and getting 'mental pictures' of things all covered in Pixie Dust and making me feel somewhat better about things ahead, from what I can tell..
Unfortunately all I got from my last cardiology visit a month or more back now was an expected date of May24th (which has now been bumped up the May 15th or so just very lately) to have an angiogram procedure done.
Doc - says "you may have significant issues - but we won't know until we take a look inside and see what needs to be done at that point. If it is requiring stenting or... then we'll address it at that point then.  In the meantime take these Nitro patches and wear them daily, take this blood thinner daily, and keep taking the water pills - until we meet again..
If you have significant issues I have included a prescription for Nitro spray, administer it while either going to the local emergency or call 911!"
So here I wait - so far in reasonably stable shape - watching the days slide by - Slooowly..
It has given me lots or time to try and 'clean up' when I am able, some issues I did have on my plate and get other stuff arranged for but..
In all fairness though after that last visit, I didn't need to hear and fret over any complications of the procedure (but I should have expected and been able to take them in the way they were offered - in the sense of being helpful) but I couldn't read much past the first line of your initial post and then quit, knowing I was just going to hear about stuff I would end up making 'larger than life' over the next 2 + months at that point, so in a sense it did kill my interest in this thread somewhat..
Sorry - it's not your contribution - but instead my 'chicken mind' that has turned me off or wanted it blanked out somewhat.
As I said - too many surgeries in too little time and I am literally sick about any more coming to be quite honest - but Thanks for your contribution.
Before I had knee replacement(s) for example, I didn't want to know much more than just my appointment dates - then afterwards I could look at videos of a procedure being done - not before, but after, as well as give descriptive sagas to anyone who might wish to hear details - and I now better understand why few did, or the ones that did often looked fairly pale when I was doing so..
If I do manage to gather up the gumption of go back and read more at a later point I do know where I can find it!
Thanks - Randy  

[B.C.C. Lapp]

I sincerely hope that my experience, described above with stent insertion catheter removal episode didn't kill this thread?
Simple fact is that stents keep many, many of us alive and that's a good thing!

I must fully admit - that after so many major surgeries over the past 10 years that I am very touchy about what I read when it comes to - or closes in on, yet another procedure I may have to undergo..
I know - I know - why did I start this thread then? - well.. probably mainly in the hope of hearing nothing but Unicorn stories and getting 'mental pictures' of things all covered in Pixie Dust and making me feel somewhat better about things ahead, from what I can tell..
Unfortunately all I got from my last cardiology visit a month or more back now was an expected date of May24th (which has now been bumped up the May 15th or so just very lately) to have an angiogram procedure done.
Doc - says "you may have significant issues - but we won't know until we take a look inside and see what needs to be done at that point. If it is requiring stenting or... then we'll address it at that point then.  In the meantime take these Nitro patches and wear them daily, take this blood thinner daily, and keep taking the water pills - until we meet again..
If you have significant issues I have included a prescription for Nitro spray, administer it while either going to the local emergency or call 911!"
So here I wait - so far in reasonably stable shape - watching the days slide by - Slooowly..
It has given me lots or time to try and 'clean up' when I am able, some issues I did have on my plate and get other stuff arranged for but..
In all fairness though after that last visit, I didn't need to hear and fret over any complications of the procedure (but I should have expected and been able to take them in the way they were offered - in the sense of being helpful) but I couldn't read much past the first line of your initial post and then quit, knowing I was just going to hear about stuff I would end up making 'larger than life' over the next 2 + months at that point, so in a sense it did kill my interest in this thread somewhat..
Sorry - it's not your contribution - but instead my 'chicken mind' that has turned me off or wanted it blanked out somewhat.
As I said - too many surgeries in too little time and I am literally sick about any more coming to be quite honest - but Thanks for your contribution.
Before I had knee replacement(s) for example, I didn't want to know much more than just my appointment dates - then afterwards I could look at videos of a procedure being done - not before, but after, as well as give descriptive sagas to anyone who might wish to hear details - and I now better understand why few did, or the ones that did often looked fairly pale when I was doing so..
If I do manage to gather up the gumption of go back and read more at a later point I do know where I can find it!
Thanks - Randy  

Wow.   I can see why you feel like you do Randy.  But you may well be on the path to more energy and a quick recovery when they finally get you figured out and squared away. As Magic man said they do wonders with cardio problems every day.  So, as hard as I know it must be, keep a good thought.  
When it feels like your never gonna be yourself again and your lower than low, take it to the Lord.   His will is going to be done one way or the other.    But he will hear you and prayer can move mountains.   I do not mean to preach, but its what I got.  Your on my list.  

[kantuckid]

It might sound like I'm a guy that's really "joyous" about using medical/getting medical services-well absolutely I'm not! 
This March was like national doctor month for me, eyes, knee, shoulder, throat ER, throat ENT, allergy doc, so on. But I do what I should do in my own best interest! Thats the crux of it.  ;D
 But I do everything possible to maintain my lifestyle which includes surgery when called for. My neighbor who it took me years-maybe 5-6 of them to get him to finally get a knee cortisone shot will never go under the knife, period!!! He got a knee shot and more recently shots in both wrists for CTS symptoms and he says he's much better now. So I did my job with him as far as it will go. 
My original cardiologist, who also did my stents after a heart attack (not like I chose him) he just was the doc that came along, so to speak. Well since 2004/5 I'd been seeing him and seriously not satisfied that he was worth a crap overall. Finally last year I fired him! My new cardiologist is far more thorough and much more proactive. Without trashing the first guy he explained every change and test he called for and med change and justified them all. Once all was done, I did one follow up of having charted my BP for him to learn me better and also see the echogram results too. Now I'll see him once annually. You can bet your britches I really glad I switched! 
Doctors are humans and simply said some provide better services, even when we don't always like what we hear.
I also fired my eye doc. he was obnoxious for starters and I switched to same place my wife goes-she has glaucoma. I have 20/20 but quickly learned I needed new lenses and still have 20/20 but less likely to end up with glaucoma and the new eye docs is spot on pleasant and does what I needed.
FWIW: 
 In my own case of my heart disease: I have normal BP using a common HCTZ water pill, take no blood thinners, never have heart symptoms like whatever you can name nor do I have or ever had high cholesterol. As one with stents, I'm told that there's no such thing as low cholesterol as lower is better no matter what. 
 I also have zero heart muscle damage from my heart attack. Lucky guy I am.  I do hope you chose the best possible cardio doc.  
 

[realzed]

I meant as an additional bit of information, to mention that despite my on-going problems - my previously swollen leg has now returned to pretty much 'as good as new dimensions'..
I'm don't know whether it was from another diuretic prescription change (which I doubt - as two or three other different and previous ones had little to no effect at all) or instead can be attributed to the Anti-platelet or blood thinner pills I am presently taking now.
The change began within a few days after starting to take both until my lower leg appears as 'normal' as ever now..
I'm left thinking 'thinner blood' = better flow = better dissipation of fluids in my system and essentially less build up in my lower extremities.
Regardless, it's certainly nice not having such a cumbersome lower leg, ankle/foot, so I can now wear normal socks and ditch my 'Crocks' (which often fit tightly) for regular shoes after almost a year of not being able to do so!
Randy
    

[doctorb]

Nope.  Probably Not the blood thinners.  This is not a matter of viscosity.  The term "thinner" is easily misconstrued.  This is not comparing oil to water. Blood thinners change the ability of blood to clot.  If clots form, then flow is hindered.  They can become chronic on the venous side of the circulation, and those chronic clots are much less affected by anticoagulants.  It could be a combination of the diuretic and the anticoagulants.  We may never know.

[hacknchop]

Happy to see you feeling a little bit better Gary don't get discouraged having a good attitude will definitely help you health wise and improve your quality of life. Take good care of yourself.

[realzed]

Nope.    It could be a combination of the diuretic and the anticoagulants.  We may never know.

Whatever it is - it has worked out quite well so far and I'm at least pleased with that much of my situation..
Even if I can't walk all that far or do all that much at times - at least I feel better every time I have a look at my new/old lower leg..
I guess that counts for something - Right?

[doc henderson]

with cardiac rehab, you can build your strength and endurance, and eventually make some gains.

[doctorb]

You bet!  Happy for you!

[realzed]

Well as a follow-up (everyone likes to hear some news that finalizes a thread to some degree, I assume)..
I two days ago had my Angiogram procedure and half way through it the specialist announces very loudly to me - "Mr. D you have a very large blockage right in front of your heart that I can see here , and I'm going to fix it for you with a stent that will fix you all up.. there are a few minor other issues that we will also take care of later - but this should make you feel a lot better"..
That's it - I never heard any more about what actually was done other than that, or what will be done past the point of him telling me what he did while I was 'on the table' - but I'm sure that will come still in the days ahead..
They shot me full of dye and inserted a probe in my right wrist (which at this point is still pretty sore) and did all of this very seamlessly and I did watch some of the goings-on on the huge screen parked right beside the surgeon and I.
Didn't take very long and soon I was back in my room - for an overnight stay to be monitored for any complications that might arise, and then sent home late morning yesterday with new meds for cholesterol (Plavix - apparently all stent patients have to take it) and I am now hopeful of seeing just how much better I feel in the next 2 - 3 weeks, as they said it takes that long to often feel the full benefit of everything.
I do feel already better - but maybe that is more psychological than a physical thing at this point - but I do feel I am breathing better or at least getting more energy with less inhalation at this point..
Hope it continues - and THANKS to all who gave me encouraging words and prayerful thoughts along the way!
Randy    

[doc henderson]

time will tell if this has corrected some of your issues.  glad you are ok.  hang in there with the cardiologist.  

[realzed]

I had a call yesterday and was informed that my follow-up with the cardiologist is scheduled for Sept 02nd!
The Medical Wheels here in the Great White North - do turn pretty slowly!!
Lots of time to get a good list of questions to ask when I visit, I guess.. looking, or trying to look, on the 'bright side' of things..
Now all I can hope to do is have a reasonably normal Summer and stay away from a hospital for a change!

[thecfarm]

Hope all goes well for you!!

[realzed]

Thanks!

[realzed]

The details continue to trickle in slowly after it is all said and done now..  
Apparently depending on who provides them - my Left Descending Artery LDA I believe it is referred to..  showed in my early February testing, to have a blockage of either 90 or 95% and that is obviously where a coated stent was ultimately placed a few weeks back.
My family doc remarked during a phone call last week, that a blockage in that location and of that amount often is referred to as a 'Widow maker' and allowed that he felt that I was very fortunate not to have had a heart attack during my waiting period for the procedure (or before)..
It was also noted that I still have a 30-40% blockage in another artery that is or will be addressed with medication, exercise, and dietary changes, hopefully - and as much as I now understand that blockages 50% or less aren't usually addressed with or by stenting - I sort of wish they would have done that one as well, when they were in there - but it's not like I has a choice or was given any say in it..
All in all, I feel better and have been out mowing lawns and climbing stairs a ton better than I ever could have or hoped to, prior to this being done.
I wish more info would be available - but at this point I do feel a lot more stable and somewhat more energetic than previously - for obviously good reasons I guess!
It is though, very frustrating to know that our medical system actually puts you at a great risk sometimes to the point of possibly dying or being harmed for life, while they put you in a queue awaiting procedures - but it is - what it is, I guess.
Thankfully I managed to not incur any damage (my heart efficiency rating has been measured at 65-70% - which I'm told is considered quite good for my age) especially in the 3 months I was parked awaiting this deal to get done - a situation that was totally within the realm of possibility apparently.
Thanks, once again to all who expressed their wishes for a successful resolution to my issues!
As per many of the comments previously - this type of procedure is quite amazing, as I so far can attest..  
 

[doctorb]

Realized-
Glad to hear you are doing better.  I would like to address your concerns about being put at risk....

I know it's unsettling to interpret your doc's comment the way you did, and to look at the delay after scheduling your cath and stent procedure as a failing of our system.  Emotional terms like "widow maker" are not medical terminology, and are simply hyperbole.  There are, truly, a lot of people walking around with a 90-95% occlusion of their anterior descending coronary artery.  Those patients, like you, have significant coronary disease.  But, in many of them, the blockage has developed slowly, and collateral "end run" blood flow around the clot develops in the small vessels over time, making the degree of blockage more tolerable.  In some people, the blockage occurs suddenly, and all at once, and those patients are more likely to suffer severe damage to the heart, and possibly die.

So one can't just take the fact that you had significant blockage on your angiogram, and say you were lucky to survive for the next month or so.  If your symptoms and preop work up had shown more critical ischemia to the heart, you'd have been done much more urgently.  I'm very glad it went well.  My suggestion is to focus on that, and not feel like you dodged some theoretical predictable bullet despite some miscarriage of medical care.  We really can't predict such things.  Best of luck.  You will probably improve your strength and stamina over time.  Enjoy the journey.

[doc henderson]

Thanks Doc Bob.  I was hesitant to comment, but glad you did.  I agree with your comments.  My friend @Cardiodoc  prob. has 100 patients he is watching.  The lesser blockages make little difference in daily life at 30%.  the risk is they could rupture and cause a clot, that makes it an acute MI.  The higher blockages cause angina, and most folks will decrease activity bases on the discomfort.  The acute "STEMI" go to cath in 20 minutes from arrival.  A stent can clog over time.  some are medicated and some require oral meds like aspirin and Plavix.  You do not change a battery or water pump when they are 30% done, you wait till it is closer to time.  A 30% blockage may never need to be stented in your lifetime.  there is always some risk to a procedure and the benefit must outweigh this.  you can rehab an open the collaterals with exercise and cardiac rehab.  also the bp meds and cholesterol meds.  

[realzed]

I have been on a low dosage Aspirin regime for years now- and I am also taking Plavix daily now and told that may continue going forward for possibly the rest of my life somewhat considering the possibility of the stents themselves being known to be magnets for plaque build up - as well as for trying to help lessen the effect or amount of the 30/40% blockage that still exists..
My take on what I have been told - is to a degree what I have been given (much almost verbatim) but I prefer not to dwell on it and look forward to increased personal productivity and capability in the months ahead.
Guess what makes (or made) it a lot harder to take hearing it all 'after the fact' was that I had absolutely no feedback from the time I entered the Cardio Lab at the end of January/Early Feb - until the procedure was done finally in mid May.
I knew at the point in Feb that I had failed the medically induced stress test miserably and said as much to those in the lab at the time, but no one - either the persons who administered the actual test, or the cardiologist who I saw a couple of weeks later, took the time to explain any of the details at all!
That is a long time to sit and stew about things and Google all sorts of situations which may or may not actually apply - and of course everyone who ever had a Angioplasty procedure done seems at that point to come out of the woodwork to pass along their own personal tales of good news or woe regarding their own situation, all of which just seems to turn up the 'worry' volume.. .
Better feedback would most certainly from the outset, have gone a long way in assisting me (or anyone else in that situation) in weathering the wait better and/or understanding possibly the reasons for the length of it or how much I may or may not have been 'at risk' during that time, most certainly!
And doctorb this wasn't 'your' system of Health Care in the USA - it was our Canadian System, which our government always assures taxpayers is the best in the World!  
Possibly much of that is to make us feel better about how much we pay in taxes for it, so we think we are getting good value for the $$'s..
I'm sure our waiting lines (sometimes in ER's are 6 - 10 hours or more just to be seen) are no bragging matter compared to those in the US, hopefully where things are better in that regard..
Our great 'Universal Health Care System' has patients stacked up in hallways on gurneys and put into cleaning staff equipment rooms often and still we are told we are so lucky!
The government here is terrified of private health care or pay as you go programs and does everything it can to shut that sort of thing down - but if any one of the politicians needs urgent care - you can bet they know exactly where they need to go and to whom - and how much it will cost them so they can jump the queue and be attended to - not so much for the little guy or gal though..  

[kantuckid]

In my healthcare world the best I can do for my heart disease other than my part, meaning diet and exercise is to have done what I did, i.e., fire a cardiologist who wasn't tending to my care. The differences were downright scary, and I don't fret over such things much really. 
 The new one immediately ordered the tests that had not been performed on a regular basis, changed my heart related meds that needed attention, and all is as well as it can be.
 
Glad your being cared for as so many people simply let such things go. From the general common sense position I operate out of, I wonder why they didn't do all that you needed?
Be willing to read what you can that relates to your condition and ask the right questions when you can. Huge amounts of information available for us to use these days and I don't mean watching TV pill ads.  :D

On the subject of following through proactively on one's care-  
I was recently in a discussion about dental care with two guys around a sawmill. One is big ole boy who played college basketball. As the talk moved along it became a fact that both these adult males, both farmers, one who owns the sawmill where I'm having a bunch of work done, have avoided much needed dental care because they cannot stand the needle used for Novocain. 
GIVE ME A BREAK! : 
Of course many people won't do anything that involves cutting on your body such as orthopedic work, but teeth, what can I say?  ;D 

[TroyC]

Tell them it ain't that bad. Had a cracked molar removed last week. Other than a space in the gum, wasn't bad at all. Better now, cracked tooth was giving me some pain.

[trapper]

When I was a kid the dentist would drill and fill my teeth without freezing them.  He told me that way he could know how he was doing when he hit the nerve.  Took a long time to go back to one as an adult.  Still nervous around them.

[beenthere]

Don't let dentist freeze (novocaine ?) when putting on crown or doing my fillings.
Seem to be very careful how they proceed, and I don't have the after effects of a numb mouth.

[kantuckid]

Since 2009 I used the U of KY dental college for my care. I quit them recently as I was being moved to "faculty rate" for oral surgery work I needed plus the doc there was not to my liking nor was his plan. Covid was said to factor into being moved away from one dept to a new one. My theory was they needed work at the new prosthodontics section and the maxilla facial oral surgery place gets lots of jailbirds and other Medicaid type patients, so I was ditched. After years of great service they managed to tick me off royally. I'd paid serious money for all the scans, etc. to get oral surgery and implants, then covid hit, they shut down and when it all started up again they were way behind plus I had to pay for new scans all over again and I kissed them goodbye.
 Call it a dental bureaucracy as that fits pretty well.  
   
The students come & go as they graduate but all do adhere to common practices of care which dictate Novocain sometimes not others. I was asked if I wanted to be numbed lots of times and always chose no.  True, the needle often hurts more than a minor procedure.

I'm same age as trapper and my childhood dentist used gas which never knocked me out at all. The pain was there as if I'd had nothing.  At the dental college you could opt for gas, no needle and many old people did that. 
My new oral surgeon and my referring dentist (employee of a regional hospital) give 25% off for cash customers plus their rate schedule is way lower than any other dental providers.
Here in eastern KY, my Wifes first dentist sat on a bicycle like machine and pedaled it to power his dental drill, how's that for old time dental work. :D
   

[doctorb]

Look, I'm not a great fan of dentists either, because, as a kid, I had the exact same experience as trapper.  But, seeing where this thread has migrated, it looks like a dental procedure ranks right up there in severity and concern with coronary artery disease and angioplasty! :D

[realzed]

Personally - and given the choice between the two - I'd take the dentistry choice behind Door #2.. and I fully admit those old noisy and cable powered drills they used back 60 or more years ago still live in my mind and cause me cold sweats every time I have an appointment, to this day! 

[Ed_K]

 And I have 4 cavity's to get drilled tomorrow  :(. 

[Dave Shepard]

I'm trying to get a dentist appointment. September, maybe, is the closest I've gotten so far.  :

[thecfarm]

realzed, don't look up on the internet what ails ya.   :D
I have a missing bone in my neck found after an MRA. Has some official name, acria? I looked that up on the internet after I was told by the one that read the MRA about it. Wrong thing to do!!! People had it operated on and some had massive pain from it and so on and so on!!! I went to the Dr where the diagnose on the MRA and voiced my concerned about the missing bone.  His theory was, you made it 40 years and no problem, why fix it. Don't look on the internet for good news. 
I had to agree with him. 20 years later still all fine.  ;D
Now the dentist.
Find one that will listen to you.
I almost walked out on one!!
Growing up not much money, never went to a dentist.
I was going in later years to have them removed. I had one dentist that gave me a shot and then tried to extract the tooth!!!! 
I spoke right up and asked, What are you doing!!! That takes time to set up and work. 
He still thought he was going to extract it until I started to get up out of the chair and head for the door.
He got me back in the chair but as I told him, we are going to wait at least 15 minutes for that to set up.
Well, he did, but I could tell he was not happy about it, never went back to him!!!
Then had a few more extracted by others, they all waited for it to work.  A very good job. 
Even had a root canal done and I fell asleep on her, that's how comfortable she made me feel. 
The good ones are out there, I found 3 of them, just keep looking.
They should use a small needle first, let that set up and then use a big needle.
 Note the small needle and let that set up part.  ;)
My theory is, No reason for pain seeing a dentist, discomfit, but no pain.

[kantuckid]

In MANY dental visits the needle gauge has never entered the scene.