My Heart Cath Is Over

It all started when I was in the hospital from November 21st through December 23rd. While I was there one of the hospitalists thought he heard a whoosh in my neck and was concerned that I might have a blockage in it so recommended I get it checked out when things had settled down. At my next appointment with (Dr.) Tammy (Dunmoyer) I told her about it so she scheduled me for a bilateral carotid doppler to check it out. While she was at it Tammy also scheduled an echo cardiogram to check on my heart murmur since it hadn't been checked on since 2001.

The carotid doppler came back just fine. In fact the tech said it was so clear and showed up so well that I could be a carotid doppler model!

It was a whole month before we finally got the results of the echo. When we finally did it was a real shocker. It showed that I have Pulmonary Hypertension (PH), high blood pressure in the arteries of the lungs and right side of the heart. Blood pressure there is usually low, from 20-30 mmHG. The echo indicated mine was 52 mmHg. So I was sent for a consultation with a cardiologist.

Dr. Gary Hambel said he classified my PH as moderate, not severe as the St. Joseph Hospital cardiologist interpreting the test had. He said at that level we wouldn't treat it, just keep an eye on it, have another echo in six months. What concerned him though was what I called discomfort in my chest mostly when I walked, kind of between an ache and a burn, and came to think was my asthma. He called it chest pain and scheduled me for a stress test. The stress test indicated I had an area of my heart not getting blood so a cardiac catheretization was scheduled. They were going to check the left side of my heart but I asked to have the right side checked while they were at it to get a definite pressure on the PH.

Friday I had to be at Lutheran's Heart Pavilion at 6:00 AM. My procedure wasn't scheduled until 10:00 AM but they said I needed to be there to get an IV started, they would give me something to relax me and if there was a cancellation I'd be able to go in early. I didn't get registered until 7:00 since they registered the people due to have procedures before me first. I wasn't given the drugs to relax me until about 15 minutes before my procedure, which was an hour and a half late. No problem for me, I worked on my computer, read, and since I'm a night owl and hadn't slept the night before, I slept. It was a long day for Gene though.

The results of the procedure were better than expected. It showed minimal narrowing and no blockages. My PH pressure was 42 mmHg, lower than the echo had indicated but still high. As far as the procedure, other than being tired and drowsy I haven't had any side effects. They didn't tell me I'd be bruised and sore from them stopping the bleeding when they removed the probes though! LOL Because they did both sides of the heart there were two different probes inserted. The one in an artery, the nurse was going to keep firm pressure on for 10 minutes before checking it. When she said firm, she meant firm! At 10 minutes it was still bleeding so she had to hold it another 5 minutes. The other one only required 10 minutes of pressure. The nurses pressed so hard that I'm extremely bruised and sore. I had to lay without moving my leg for six hours after the procdure. Not sleeping the night before came in handy then...I slept through most of that time. It was 8:30 before I got to leave to come home.

Since I've been home it's been a major production to get out of chairs and the bed because of the bruising and pain and I've more shuffled that leg along than walked. I've been in so much pain Gene suggested I take some of the Vicodin left from my November and December surgeries. I did and it really helped....since I mostly slept then. I have followup appointments with Tammy next week and Dr. Hambel in a month.

I'm still trying to get a wound in the incision line from December healed and with all that's gone on, the last few months have really been a heck of a medical experience. I guess it's better to get through these surgeries and testing now though. Gene will be retiring at the end of the year so there goes my health insurance.