thanks for sharing this info.Originally Posted by Pacific Tortuga
also one more time good to see you are feeling better Lone Wolf
peace
mf
I copied your post and will use it when talking to my doctor. Thanks
my arteries were pretty much 100% blocked when i had my stress test. when they got my heart rate up to 140 bpm i was in pain so they gave me nitroglycerin then sent me home to my local doc so she could set me up with a cardiologist. 3 days later i'm having a major heart attack. the stress test is a bunch of BS or i just had an incompetent cardiologist read the results.i'll never understand or accept any explanation for it.
copy my post and ask your doc about it.
I remember saying at the time that I didn't understand your Dr's lack of urgency. This all could have been prevented but at least you made it through and are well on your way back. Willpower has a lot to do with any recovery and you don't lack there!
I love the smell of esbit in the morning!
Everyone has a different experience ...
I don't really differ from your advice about getting an angiogram, but I would add some advice -- go to a major hospital, where they do a lot of them.
I made the mistake of going to a local hospital. During the angiogram, the cardiologist said that I couldn't leave the hospital. I had to have a bypass surgery immediately. I had four bypasses.
A year later, my stress test showed problems again. This time, I went to Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston. The cardiologist there informed me that three of the four bypasses had failed, but that I really didn't need them anyway. He placed stents in the native arteries, and I have been fine without additional surgery. The bottom line -- if I had sought a second opinion from a major hospital, I could have avoided the bypass surgery.
Since my experience, I have heard of several others who were rushed to bypass surgery in small town hospitals. The major hospitals tend to look at bypass as a last resort. The major hospitals have the experience and the expensive equipment that allows most heart repair to be done without opening one's chest.
Shutterbug
My wife slings some drug that is used in the Cath labs.
If anyone is in Philly---Jefferson is the spot. Penn second choice.
peace
mf
Beat the drum....get the tests done.. off beats will show in a stress test. My husband had 2 major blockages that were stented during his cardio-cath. Avoided the "Big One" by having that tests. They do usually do the stress test first as off rythums are usually "electricial" problems and blockages are in the plumbing, as my hubbys Doc said, but the stress test rules out some problems and can help tell them where to look for others. in further testing. We'll keep you in our prayers.
LW good to hear your wearing out shoe leather again..
Kathfishes
(still working on hubby)
I apologize for my contribution in possibly making this a religious thread. My statement alone resulted in a lot of responses. And my statement alone without the history of why I feel that way is a statement out of context!well folks, sorry i'm so emotional and weird these days. might be cuz i lived thru a major heart attack and havin' my heart stop 4 times. all i can say is do not ignore signs that somethin' is wrong although i don't reccomend an echocardiogram stress test. it proved useless in my case. for $1200 i was sent home and 72 hours later had the "big one". the doc didn't seem to concerned about my abnormal results of the test.
anyway mods, feel free to close this thread down now cuz it's gonna turn into another religious pissin' match by the usual suspects.
Anyway, I do not believe that this thread should be closed because there is so much info about the what ifs of your heart that it is important for all interested to take into consideration.
Lone Wolf, you probably have changed some from your experience and you should not have to apologize for that. It is what it is. And you may have a diffierent impression on us on a long term basis or just short term. Either way, we care about you and are glad that you are still with us.
In my humble opinion, I am glad to read input from anyone who has had similar experience. It may come in handy sooner than I like!
So....keep on posting. And Lone Wolf and Gypsy, my prayers are with you always.
Mary from Duncannon, PA
http://www.facebook.com Mary Trailangelmary Parry
www.YouTube.com/user/trailangelmary
www.youravon.com/maryparry
no need for you to apologize at all. we thank you for the prayers and well wishes over the past month
Update on Lone Wolf
I'm not even sure if I have a heart issue but I've learned enough from LWs situation to follow up on some chest pain. The EKG and blood work say that I didn't have a heart attack but there is something irregular in the rhythm.
Heart attacks are pretty common way to die in my family. I had an uncle die at 40 after he got a clean bill of health by his doctor. My other uncle died while changing a tire on his son’s car at 55. One grandfather died at 60 after driving himself to the hospital. There may be others but that’s enough to take it serious.
I’ve learned a lot from LWs experience and this thread. Even if my current situation turns out to be nothing it’s a heads up for the future. I’d like to thank all the folks who have chimed in with their experience and information that they learned the hard way. I've made copies and notes to help me talk to my VA doctor.
Over the past 7 years my heart kept racing, then dbl beats. I've had every heart test imaginable, 2 heart caths...and they can't find anything. Finally the cardio states that he believes I get overexcited and suggested meds. (Top cardiologist here in Cleveland Ohio. )
I passed on the meds. I like being excited, which usually happens when I know I'm hiking or going to a hiking event
Weird, but true.
As someone who works at a "local (little) hospital" I will completely agree with this assessment, not just for heart issues but for all "major" health problems.
Local hospitals do great work, but go to the big boys when your life is on the line....
“Back in the day, when the emperor or the king or whatever waged war, they went to war, too. But that's been lost in time.” DM
Or
Or you get next to Kevin......I'm just sayin.....Over the past 7 years my heart kept racing, then dbl beats. I've had every heart test imaginable, 2 heart caths...and they can't find anything. Finally the cardio states that he believes I get overexcited and suggested meds. (Top cardiologist here in Cleveland Ohio. )
I passed on the meds. I like being excited, which usually happens when I know I'm hiking or going to a hiking event
Weird, but true.
Life is what happens while you are making other plans. John Lennon
You do the same, to many of us
Well ...speaking as someone who had a major heart attack a little over a year ago - - there aren't always signs, symptoms or pain for that matter. The week before my heart attack I went snowshoing at about 10,000 ft elevation with a friend and we went so hard that if anything would have brought on the heart attack it should have been that.
In the days following my heart attack, once I was coherent enough to have a conversation, I asked the Cardiologist (a top notch guy, by the way) if I had overlooked any signs or symptoms. He told me that short of cardiac catheterization it was doubtful he could/would have recognized my emminent crash.
In my case, a "rogue" clot from who-knows-where broke loose and completely occluded my Left Anterior Decending Artery (LAD), a condition which is often called the "Widow Maker" for obvious reasons. I was riding quietly in a car (wife was driving thank goodness) at the time. What made my situation even worse was that I was out in the boonies in Colorado and there was a blizzard that weekend. Lifeflight choppers couldn't fly so they had to activate EMS and haul my arse down to an active cardiac center in Denver by ambulance, which took about 4 hours. I crashed 2 times in the ambulance and was hanging on by a thread when I got to the hospital. That's about all I remember prior to waking up in intensive care and being told to lie VERY still, mainly because of all the anticoagulants they had pumped into me.
Long thread ...but point being that sometimes you need to get your health status evaluated if you have any risk factors, even if you are not getting short of breath or have pain. They call em all heart attacks but just about everyone is different.
I'm just thankful we (Lone Wolf and I and all the others out there - - you know who you are) are sitting up, taking nourishment and getting on with our lives. I used to tell people that my thru in 2003 changed me but nothing, and I mean NOTHING, could ever have the effect on your life and outlook like almost losing it all together.
Life is GOOD !!
'Slogger
The more I learn ...the more I realize I don't know.
Hi, as a person who's had a double by-pass i agree with LW that a simple stress test is unreliable. If the doctor wants you to do a stress ask for a Thallium Stress Test. I've found them to be worthy.
As for warning signs i got mine jogging. I was very lucky to have done so before any heart attack. If i hadn't been jogging i would have never took note to the warning signs. Doing my everyday job/chores and living life wasn't enough blood being pushed for me to notice. Thank God you are getting better LW. But again let me state, don't go toting a pack to soon you'll regret it.
when do you suggest i give it a try?
When Gypsy says it's ok. She'll spank you with a Leki pole if you do too much too soon.
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