Ok, so I don't have a blocked artery!!! Im OK

[ChargerAndy]

Sheesh!
             Well, I been feeling pretty lousy since last August when I had Bacterial Pneumonia and stayed in the hospital for a week...... I thought I was gonna bounce right back but Its been a lingering feeling like something just aint right. So I finally change doctors and the new one takes a different tack and orders some tests....... the bottom portion of my heart is not getting enough oxygen..... the theory is I have some blockage of an artery. Lungs are ok..... and Im glad I quit smoking when I did! So I go in for a Angiogram next week, where they enter my artery by my leg and insert a small tube and take a look at the inside of arteries around my heart..... I'll be awake but with a valium drip ( It better be drippin alot DAMMIT !) If they actually do find a blockage or narrowing, they will put in a stint. They do like a million of these procedures a year so they are pretty common, Im just not so thrilled that my turn has come up. I am glad they have potentially found the problem and it's potentially an easy fix...... I'm just really not looking forward to the procedure. Ive always been pretty healthy despite my abuses of tobacco and alcohol back in the day..... so it's kinda weird to be affected like this. Ive been fatigued and short of breath ...... pretty frustrating. So anyway, I guess I just needed to let you dudes know. Not that I post alot, but I am in the shadows reading and learning what I can and feel like I know most of you. So there it is.
     Im 43 and up till now in pretty good shape. If you're in my age group, get checked out. It would have been very easy for me to let it go and press on with life and not see the doctor...... and set myself up.  Get checked out. Ill keep ya posted...... Andy

[viper r/t]

Hope everything turns out alright.

[Telvis]

We'll say a prayer for you.

[rare69]

its gonna be fine,i will say a few words to the big guy for you tonight.

[bull]

  Andy, good thing you went in I guess, eh? It sucks getting old, I'm right behind you and I can tell you everything changed rather quickly in my mid 30s it seems. One day you're invincible and the next you're wondering how you're ever going to make it to 50. I'll say a prayer for you, buddy.

[Mefirst]

I work at a Heart Intensive care ward, we have patients who go through angiography every day.. The patients al say that the angiography itself is no biggie, the worst part is afterwards when you have to lie still for a couple of hours.

Today its possible to do angiography through the artery in the arm aswell (they go in right where you can feel your pulse in your wrist), its a little more complicated than going in through the artery in the groin. The groin artery is more or less a "straight tube" up to the heart blodvessel, going through the arm artery has a couple of tight bends.. But if they go through the arm artery its easier afterwards, you don't have to lie in bed, you can walk around, you just have a pressure bandage around your wrist and you keep it high, like in a mitella.

The only pain you will feel is when the doctor does the local anesthetic in your groin or wrist, you don't have any feeling inside your body, reason is that al nerves point outwards. You might feel a warm sensation when they inject contrast, you´ll feel that for like a hundred of a second.

If they go in through the groin, there are two possibilities to how they "close" the small hole made by the "syringe". They can use this, I have no idea what the substance is made of, but its called "Angiocil" and its kinda like "bondo". The doctor injects this right before he pulls out the "syringe" al the way out, this Angiocil then will block the entry into the artery, so it wont bleed. (Sorry, I cant explane this in better English)

The other thing used is called a FemoStop



The little balloon on it is pumped up, it works like a pressure bandage. Reason you need to put pressure on the groin is cause there is high pressure inside the artery, its through the artery's where the fresh oxygen rich blood flows from the heart, then it returns through the veins.

This Angiography procedure takes about 45 minutes, and 10 of those minutes is when the assisting radiology nurse places sterile sheets over you  and does some other preparation things before the doctor does the angiography.

Angiography is what they call it when they only check the heart blood vessels, its more or less only a X-ray examination. IF they proceed to open a clogged blood vessel its then called PCI or Percutaneous Coronary Intervention..

You´ll be alright and its OK to be nervous but in the end this procedure is done several times a day at hospitals, and you´ll feel so much better right after they open up the clogged blood vessel. This is also the same procedure as they do with Heart Infarction patients, and believe me these guys and girls are in much bigger pain than you are, and that pain dissapares when they open the clog...

/Tom

Ps. I found this internet page, they explane it in way better english than what Im able to, and they got cool pics to.. http://www.heartsite.com/html/ptca.html

[Johnny SixPack]

Good luck, man!

My mom has been through a couple of 'em, and the waiting was the worst part she said.

Otherwise it was a breeze.

[doctorpimp]

Keep us posted.
I wish you the best!

[nh_mopar_fan]

Andy,

Be glad you found it now. One of my best friends had the procedure done 2 years ago and he's 100% better. Good luck, we'll say a prayer for you.

[ChargerAndy]

Thanks everyone...... I know Im gonna be all right but nothing is ever written in stone. The feeling of mortality, that I should keep my heart rate down till this is sorted out is pretty sobering. I met a guy at church today who has a rare lung disease and he's in the middle of treatment right now. I am glad I don't have what he has..... kinda puts it in perspective I guess. Just a bump for me in the road of life. So thanks and especially that explanation of the procedure Mefirst, fear of the unknown is usually the most terrifying, so knowing is good. I'm pretty thankful that I found this all out when I did. I go for a breathing test on Tuesday. I got the approval from insurance just in time to miss making the angiogram appointment on Good Friday, so I'll do that on Monday. Thanks again, Andy

[Charger_Fan]

I hope everything goes well for ya & I'm glad it wasn't something worse.

[my73charger]

Good luck!  We will say a prayer for yeah as well.  Don't worry, medicine is advancing in leaps and bounds.  You will live a long life.

[ChargerAndy]

I go in tomorrow, Tuesday, at noon......... Wish me luck, say a prayer, and do a burnout for me! I may be admitted overnight depending what they find and how they treat it. I hope they dope me up but good.... I am not looking forward to this!
Later, Andy 

[NHCharger]

Good Luck, I'll say a prayer. Unfortunately both my Chargers are disabled at the moment, someone else will have to do the burn out.

[Brock Samson]

o.k. Andy, post back soon. our prayers are with you.

[ChargerAndy]

Scary stuff, just got home ... went through the procedure and they found out that my arteries are fine Thats great news but still leaves me with questions about why I have shortness of breath and feeling fatigued all the time. Hey, even better news, I was told not to return to work for a week so I guess I'll be cruisin the Charger    as long as I can afford the gas    maybe thatll be good therapy for whatever it is thats wrong?   
    Thanks for the support guys, was a scary time for me! Andy 
PS: I am MF glad to be alive!

[Old Moparz]

Symptoms vary, but I know fatigue is also common with Lyme Disease. My daughter was diagnosed with it before she was a year old, & my wife just went through treatment for it less than 6 months ago. She felt run down & tired, but when she noticed some aches in joints she went for a test & was positive. My daughter had the rash, but my wife didn't, & in both cases a tick was never seen.

Don't know where you're located or whether Lyme is common where you are, but it is here in NY. I've seen & heard a lot of stories where it's never tested for, & left untreated for a long time. Long term problems that are permanent can occur. Doctors sometimes don't look at the obvious & have treated people for other ailments that have similar symptoms.

A Lyme test is just a simple blood test, will at least rule Lyme out if it isn't. I'm not saying you have Lyme, but maybe check for it.

Good luck, Bob

[4402tuff4u]

Symptoms vary, but I know fatigue is also common with Lyme Disease. My daughter was diagnosed with it before she was a year old, & my wife just went through treatment for it less than 6 months ago. She felt run down & tired, but when she noticed some aches in joints she went for a test & was positive. My daughter had the rash, but my wife didn't, & in both cases a tick was never seen.

Don't know where you're located or whether Lyme is common where you are, but it is here in NY. I've seen & heard a lot of stories where it's never tested for, & left untreated for a long time. Long term problems that are permanent can occur. Doctors sometimes don't look at the obvious & have treated people for other ailments that have similar symptoms.

A Lyme test is just a simple blood test, will at least rule Lyme out if it isn't. I'm not saying you have Lyme, but maybe check for it.

Good luck, Bob

Andy, Bob makes a good point! plenty deer by you and a friend of ours went through a bought of lyme disease and the syptoms were major fatigue - always tired/no energy. Blood tests should reveal it either way. You should ask the doc on that possibility. Hope everything works out for you for the best. 

[ChargerAndy]

Symptoms vary, but I know fatigue is also common with Lyme Disease. My daughter was diagnosed with it before she was a year old, & my wife just went through treatment for it less than 6 months ago. She felt run down & tired, but when she noticed some aches in joints she went for a test & was positive. My daughter had the rash, but my wife didn't, & in both cases a tick was never seen.

Don't know where you're located or whether Lyme is common where you are, but it is here in NY. I've seen & heard a lot of stories where it's never tested for, & left untreated for a long time. Long term problems that are permanent can occur. Doctors sometimes don't look at the obvious & have treated people for other ailments that have similar symptoms.

A Lyme test is just a simple blood test, will at least rule Lyme out if it isn't. I'm not saying you have Lyme, but maybe check for it.

     I will mention it to the Doc when I see him tomorrow. I know I was tested for Lyme back in August because they didnt know what I had, turned out to be "Legionaires disease" a bacterial pneumonia and I was clean on Lyme. Thing is, you never know and it is prevelent here where I am, in fact, I believe the disease developed not far from here in Old Lyme CT. So to test again wouldnt hurt.
     Im sure my saga will continue but I just want to get past it. I was walking around afraid I was gonna have a heart attack from what the Docs said, now they say my heart and arteries are absolutely fine So I dunno... Im gonna cruise the charger all day tomorrow, part of my recovery    Thanks for the input! Andy

Good luck, Bob

Andy, Bob makes a good point! plenty deer by you and a friend of ours went through a bought of lyme disease and the syptoms were major fatigue - always tired/no energy. Blood tests should reveal it either way. You should ask the doc on that possibility. Hope everything works out for you for the best.