My Dad's Cardiovascular Health

I can hardly answer any of your questions, but his overall good health greatly improves his chances if he is involved in any kind of surgery.

No help from me except to say that it seems the surety on this stuff is in flux.

I may have saved some recent articles, or maybe not - I'm having trouble with the mac/safari just saving ordinary urls.

Never mind me and that. I'd look at the obvious possible sites and do a lot of googling.

Back if/when I have a useful link.

Thanks. I spoke with him, he thinks I'm worrying too much.

There are too many unknowns for the non medical, non involved person to offer a real opinion. I wish him well.

My sister has a major loss of kidney function. She thinks I worry too much, too.

Sigh....... guess I'll have to wait and see.

I'm so sorry, k. I know that having to wait and see is very hard.

Littlek,
Of course we worry too much about the ones we love. There are different degrees of blockage. I suppose after the stress test they did a doppler study? I'm sure the cardiologist feels that the blockage isn't severe enough to go in right away. If it is the same artery with the stent they may need to re-dilate the stent. By doing an angiogram I'm sure they can determine if collateral vessels have formed or if intervention is needed. If surgery is the option it sounds like he will have an excellent recovery considering his overall state of health.
It's OK to worry---you love him! There are also different methods of intervention now than there were 7 years ago. There are radiated stents, cutting balloons(they shave off plaque) clot disolving medications. There are medications out there that promote collateral vessel growth.
That's about all I can offer you. I work in a vascular lab but stopped working with heart caths about 8 years ago.

He's taking great care of himself. I agree with your dad.

I spent more time speaking with him (and my mother) tonight. My sister and I are weighing our options about going to the hospital during his procedure. He knows what day he's scheduled to go in, but not what time. He says I don't need to come down. My mother is more concerned. She just advised I do what I think I need to do. My aunt is there too. She just lost her husband (my Dad's brother) to a massive heart attack a couple years ago and is having a hard time with this new development in my Dad. My mother said that after my father's first angioplasty he said he'd never do it again. It hurt that much.

Martybarker, thanks for that info. I just looked into angiograms and stenting and saw what you speak of on various websites. Different methods for clearing the space. I hope it is less painful.

Littlek, know every procedure that you are talking about. Try not to worry, things will be all right, gal.

Littlek,
An angiogram that is being done electively is pretty low risk. If you want to go and be there to talk to the cardiologist then you should go. Even though you're stressing don't let your dad on to that because it will stress him out. I'm not sure why your dad had such a painful experience the last time unless it was done emergently and he was having chest pain going into it.
The procedure is done by inserting a catheter either into the artery on top of his leg or at the lower arm area. Either way, after sterilizing the skin they will numb him up with lidocaine as well as IV sedation to help relax him as well as ease the pain. If he is experiencing anxiety prior to the procedure could he request taking an oral valium the morning of? If he has back issues,... sometimes manual pressure is applied after taking the catheter out to stop arterial bleeding. If this is the case he would have to lay flat for 4-6 hours after, which could have been a reason for a painful experience.. There is also the option of an arterial closure device which is basically a small suture to close the puncture hole. If they use this method he should be able to ambulate after 2 hours.
Keeping all of this info in mind just ask the cardiologist about these options. Every hospital and cardiologist may have different methods.
Hope this helps but I'm not an expert on the topic, just have some experience assisting with these procedures in the past. Now I currently work in an angiography suite that examines everything other than the heart.
PS, I worry that your Aunt being there might add to his anxiety

Thanks Letty. Marty, it was the angioplasty that hurt. Not the angiogram. We all assume that the angiogram will lead to further procedures. He's having it because his stress test showed that his heart was not getting blood to all its regions. Doesn't there pretty much have to be a blockage somewhere that needs to be dealt with? We assume he will have angioplasty or stenting done on that day. We/I fear he will be invited back for open-heart surgery.

Good point about our anxiety levels effecting him. I'll tone it down...... Though, he does seem relaxed about it. He is not liking the idea of potential open-heart, but I can tell he doesn't think it'll go there. Mostly, he is depressed and frustrated that all his hard work has left him with the same problem.

Well, the angiogram is the diagnostic part of the procedure and the balloon angioplasty is done right there by exchanging the catheter for the balloon catheter and/or stent. I suspect what was painful was the lack of blood flow to the heart muscle while the balloon was inflated. They should be able to help control his pain with IV medications. He shouldn't be shy about asking for the oral valium though. They can always say no but the less anxious he is the smoother the procedure willl go.
I'll keep checking back. Hang in there!

He says they won't give him pain meds because he needs to be able to tell them when and where it hurts. I think the reduced blood flow causes pain, but wouldn't the stretching of the artery wall also cause pain?

OK, I guess that makes sense. And yes I believe stretching the vessel wall can cause pain. I wish your family the best. I hope your dad doesn't get too down on himself. Sometimes exercise and proper diet alone won't prevent what we are genetically wired for.

To the original question, I'd be there.

I've been through a lot of stuff alone. Best time was when Bonnie was there. She is/was a nurse, for years a VA nurse, and part of my long time smartassgroup. She had the recovery room in stitches, got a repartee going with the head nurse and myself, and since I was the only patient at that time, that was plenty fine, there were at least three of us laughing. I'll always love her for being there, and, being who she is, making the room happy. But happy-ing wouldn't be necessary.

On other occasions, my friend Sue drove me through the forest in the middle of the night to a far away super eye place, and my friend DD met us there and made her house open to me and distracted me in the recovery process with food and wine.

Friends are good, even if they're relatives.

Some operations work out and others don't. People need a friend...

but sad to say, a not real friend would only be very annoying.

Littlek--

A positive attitude in the patient helps cardiologists achieve a happy ending.

One of the hardest parts of love is worrying without letting the patient know you're frightened for him.

Hold your dominion.

Holding. I checked the worry at the door when I got here (parents' house). The surgery date has been moved to thursday. That'd be ideal because I could probably still get the day off, but it'd be a day off from a salaried job.