Author Topic: An Exciting Week (Read 3340 times)

Kim · « **on:** November 12, 2021, 06:24:22 PM »

I’ve had a bit of an exciting week this week. Monday after my regular exercise I had a pain in my chest – not very bad, but it was there nonetheless. My wife said we’re going into ER. I kinda thought that was overkill, but being the dutiful husband, I let her take me. We did this once a couple of years ago and I was sent home and told it was likely heartburn, so I wasn't expecting much.

Long story short, I spent a day in ER, the next day getting tested and having a stent placed in my Left Anterior Descending artery (LAD).

I’m fine (great, actually), and at no point did I feel bad. I felt quite good during my whole stay there (other than the very minor chest pain that brought me in). I felt a bit like a poser – all these people who were actually sick and needing medical help, and here I was, fully capable, able to walk and do things. But it’s a good thing my wife encouraged me to go in. They were able to find a significant narrowing of an artery in my heart and fix it before anything catastrophic happened.

The moral of this story is, listen to your body, even if you don’t like what it’s telling you. DO go in and be seen for those abnormal things and get them checked out. I’m certainly glad I did.

Also, I wanted to tell you the angiogram they did to pinpoint the narrowed artery and to place the stent was fascinating. I was awake through the whole thing (though I’m sure they were pumping me with some kind of calming meds) and I was able to see my heart on the big-screen TV that the Dr was using. It was pretty fascinating. It was an amazing experience. One I’m glad I got the opportunity to have. Had I waited and not gone in there’s no doubt that this would have eventually resulted in a full-blown heart attack, with a much higher likelihood of a bad outcome.

I've been home for a couple of days now and I’m just happy to be online chatting with you all. And hopefully, I'll get a little shop time later today! (I probably could have been out in the shop yesterday but I wasn't supposed to lift anything over 5 lbs till 48 hours after the procedure. And I was worried that I wouldn't remember not to lift anything - there are a lot of things out in the shop that I lift or move that are over 5lbs! But today I'm in the clear!

)

Anyway, I wanted to share this with you all and warn you to take your body’s signs seriously. And listen to your spouse when they tell you to go get it checked out. They are right! Yes, it's somewhat embarrassing and a bit of a hassle. But it is well worth it!

Kim

Jo · « **Reply #1 on:** November 12, 2021, 06:38:47 PM »

Pleased to hear they sorted it out for you Kim before it gave you any "real problems"

Stents are an amazing technology (as, I have been told, is watching them put them in). Taking it easy for a few days is a good idea

Never be embarrassed about getting things checked out: it can save your life and let you know about a problem before it gets worse

.

Jo

Art K · « **Reply #2 on:** November 12, 2021, 06:49:41 PM »

Kim,
Glad to hear everything's ok! Two years ago on the 4'th of July my boss did have a heart attack. They did 8 stents before he left the hospital.
Art

cnr6400 · « **Reply #3 on:** November 12, 2021, 07:03:33 PM »

Good to hear you are OK. Quite a few of my colleagues and friends didn't listen to their bodies and spouses and the result was catastrophic. Take it easy for a while- this will likely require some conscious thought. I had a bad neck injury last September and the hardest part of the recovery (harder than the surgery etc) was NOT doing the usual heavy tasks/lifting I did previously, thinking before doing the old habit tasks. Cheers!

Dave Otto · « **Reply #4 on:** November 12, 2021, 07:31:43 PM »

Hi Kim

Glad to hear the everything worked out ok, and hopefully it will be the last time that you have to go through that.

Dave

Dreeves · « **Reply #5 on:** November 12, 2021, 07:35:56 PM »

So glad to hear things went well.

I had a heart catheterization 1 month ago. I did not need a stint and they found no issues. It was cool watching the catheter in the heart. Did they go in the wrist?

Dave

Vixen · « **Reply #6 on:** November 12, 2021, 08:01:43 PM »

Kim
So pleased everything went well for you. It's sureal laying there, watching your own heart beating on the screen and seeing the catheter wiggling it's way in.

Get well soon

Mike

Admiral_dk · « **Reply #7 on:** November 12, 2021, 08:04:27 PM »

Glad to hear that all of you who had the procedure are OK

I have known about the procedure Dave (Dreeves) had, for rather many years, so Jo surprised me with the comment about Stents - had to Google that one.
Turned out I kind of knew about it - just not in that combination ....
My father had one inserted (maybe not the metal version though) in Scotland in 2012 (strange kind of termination of an otherwise great holiday together). It was placed from the 'last valve in the heart' and some 5cm. (2") into Aorta in an open heart surgery - he is still fine @ 85 now

Take care Kim for a few days more, take good long walks and don't lift too much - or put in another way - do light steady exercises, as these will do every part of your body good, without harming anything

Best wishes

Per

scc · « **Reply #8 on:** November 12, 2021, 09:09:28 PM »

Well Done Kim

Glad all is well. Take it easy for a day or two. Best Wishes Terry

cwelkie · « **Reply #9 on:** November 12, 2021, 09:24:45 PM »

Good advice for all Kim.
Glad you are home and doing well after catching this "change in performance" early.
Charlie

propforward · « **Reply #10 on:** November 12, 2021, 09:49:01 PM »

Glad to hear you are doing well Kim, wise words for sure. All the best.

Kim · « **Reply #11 on:** November 12, 2021, 11:05:04 PM »

Thank you all for the well wishes and kind thoughts!

And now that I've been through it, I know what Mike and Dave went through! It is quite the experience!

And yes, Dave, they did the cath work through my right wrist. Now all I have to show for it is a little red dot on my wrist (and a bit of a bruise there). The spots where they drew blood look worse than the point of entry of the catheter!

Kim

MJM460 · « **Reply #12 on:** November 13, 2021, 12:17:28 AM »

Hi Kim, glad to hear that your wife was on your case and attended in time.

LAD! I am another who knows it too well. Over 25 years ago now, but I did have a serious heart attack over it. Only in hindsight did I know I actually did have those little warnings but thought it was unimportant.

Totally agree with your comments to be sure and follow up such warnings. You will be so much better off for having caught it in time.

Good to hear that you are all well again. We will overlook the gap in posts in the circumstances.

MJM460

steamer · « **Reply #13 on:** November 13, 2021, 01:31:06 AM »

Very glad to hear this Kim

"Mama" has saved the life of every member of this family at least once....that's three saved lives.....

"listen to mama!"

Dave

Hugh Currin · « **Reply #14 on:** November 13, 2021, 02:19:59 AM »

Kim:

Glad you're on the mend. Good to hear.

ShopShoe · « **Reply #15 on:** November 13, 2021, 02:06:48 PM »

Kim,

Glad you got through that. I don't have your present problem, but I do have the "Now that I'm Older" issues where I have to stop myself from getting too far into something that might be stupid. It's a pain to have to get help for things I could probably do myself and I used to do all the time.

Hope you many more good and safe shop days.

ShopShoe

Flyboy Jim · « **Reply #16 on:** November 13, 2021, 02:59:19 PM »

Good news Kim! It's pretty amazing what they can do medically nowadays to keep us going.

I had to have a heart ablation procedure done last Jan. for AFIB that was discovered back in Sept. of 2019 while I was in the hospital after my motor scooter accident.

I hear folks talk about how it would be great to be living back in the "good old days". Heck........if we were still living back in the "good old days" most of us would be dead by now!

Jim

Lew Hartswick · « **Reply #17 on:** November 13, 2021, 03:41:33 PM »

Kim, I went through the same thing about 23 years ago so the stent fix has lasted this long. :-) Lots of other things/parts are beginning to show wear though. :-)
...lew...

Don1966 · « **Reply #18 on:** November 13, 2021, 08:25:42 PM »

Glad to hear your on the mend buddy and yes listen to your body is good advice. I had the angiogram done in 2007 and found no blockage. Just my blood pressure was running high. In which case could of caused a stroke or death. I see my doctor every year for blood work and check up. Glad your still with us buddy. This pass week was my annual and doc says keep doing what I am doing so I am a happy camper…

Regards Don

Roger B · « **Reply #19 on:** November 14, 2021, 07:30:22 AM »

I'm happy all went well for you

Kim · « **Reply #20 on:** November 14, 2021, 11:16:18 PM »

Thank you, everyone,
I do appreciate hearing that some of you have had this procedure and are still kicking! That's very encouraging!
Kim

RReid · « **Reply #21 on:** November 15, 2021, 12:48:49 AM »

Hi Kim. Thank you for sharing your experience with us, but mostly I'm glad you dodged a future bullet and are doing well.
(Sheesh, the things that go on while I'm traveling and off the 'net most of the time!)

Take care buddy!

Kim · « **Reply #22 on:** February 22, 2022, 04:02:52 PM »

Just when I thought all was in the past, trouble rears its ugly head again...

Two weeks ago I started feeling the same pain in my chest when I exercised - very similar to last November. Needless to say, I took my own advice and went into the ER.

Again, they were confused with what was going on - I'd not had a stitch of pain since they installed the stent in November. But after a few days of tests and such, they did an angiogram and found that a blockage had started to form at the very edge of the stent they'd put in. Maybe it was my body trying to heal around the stent? I had religiously taken the blood thinners and Statins that I'd been prescribed. So, who knows. But the end of the stent was very close to where two major heart arteries branched off from each other, so wasn't a good candidate for a stent. While it could have been done with a stent, the expected life of that intervention would have been fairly short (single-digit years) before they'd likely have to do something again.

So this time around all the experts advised bypass surgery. Now I don't know about you, but I always thought open heart surgery is what old people had. Not people like me! $:-\$ Anyway, what they said made sense. And the theory is that a bypass is a more robust solution than a stent anyway, lasting 20-30 years before requiring additional intervention. So of we went down the bypass route. And last week, I had single bypass surgery (I have learned they call it CABG - Coronary Artery Bypass Graft or Cabbage for short). I'm not especially fond of cabbage, but in this case, I made an exception. (And I can tell you, I'm still not overly fond of it!)

I'm on the other side of the surgery now and seem to be recovering well, but I can tell you it's not something you'll want to choose to do electively. $:-\$

I'm on another 4-6 weeks of not getting to do much on my own (can't lift anything over 5-10lbs) and I can't go out in my shop to play. Not much out there I can do that won't require me hefting 5lbs or more!

So I'll be a keyboard jockey for the next 2 months. I've got some fun Arduino projects that I want to do - maybe I'll tackle those during this time. And of course, I've got to do my taxes. I'll see if I can get that done too.

Not intended as a whine (well, maybe a little) but mostly just to let you all know my welding project and of course, my Pennsy Switcher will be delayed by a few months too. But in the long run, I'm sure it's all for the best, right? This one ought to last me 20-30 years.

Thanks for all of your support,
Kim

90LX_Notch · « **Reply #23 on:** February 22, 2022, 04:18:45 PM »

Good on you for listening to your body Kim. It sounds like the surgery was the absolute best fix. Best of luck with your recovery.

-Bob

Charles Lamont · « **Reply #24 on:** February 22, 2022, 04:37:25 PM »

Good to hear you are on the mend.

Bought myself and some other family members Arduno starter kits for something to do in the first lockdown.
I have found the measure twice, cut once, principle goes wth Arduinos. It is so hard to get the magic smoke back into the little buggers.

Slice cabbage thinly, 1/8", wash in plenty of cold water, separating the layers. Put a good knob of butter in the bottom of a pan, cram in the not too well drained cabbage, add salt (if allowed) and few twists of pepper. Cover and sweat till fairly tender, stirring a couple of times. I have had grown men say they had not realised it was possible to actually like it.

Dave Otto · « **Reply #25 on:** February 22, 2022, 04:42:49 PM »

Wow Kim that is some major news, I'm hoping for a full uneventful recovery for you.
Two months of no shop time will be tough, maybe you can find a project you can work on it the house. Some sort of model kit maybe.

Take care,
Dave

cnr6400 · « **Reply #26 on:** February 22, 2022, 04:52:30 PM »

Glad things went well at the CABG patch Kim! Take care of yourself. Best wishes for fast healing.

propforward · « **Reply #27 on:** February 22, 2022, 05:37:09 PM »

Well, ****, but glad you are taking it well and healing up. All the very best and a speedy recovery to you! Your shop will be there when you are ready, and you'll have masses of projects all figured out and be raring to go.

Jo · « **Reply #28 on:** February 22, 2022, 05:55:52 PM »

Thanks for letting us know it is all behind you Kim and you are on the mend

So another 8 weeks of frustration waiting for the healing to progress $:-\$ . You have my sympathies I remember after my "elephant extraction" I sneaked out to my workshop after a couple of weeks to find I could not move Mr Silky's tailstock

You will get better but don't rush it

Jo

Admiral_dk · « **Reply #29 on:** February 22, 2022, 06:26:52 PM »

Thank god it went uneventful

Doing a bit of Brain-Workout should do you good, but do also remember to exercise (to the level recommended by your friendly Doc), as it also will speed up recovery

Get well soon and we will see you back on Track (so to speak)

Per

Vixen · « **Reply #30 on:** February 22, 2022, 06:40:01 PM »

Hello Kim,

So another member of the chest zipper club.

I am pleased for you that it went well.

Take it easy, as everyone is telling you. Your strength will return when it's ready, be patient until then.

Cheers

Mike

crueby · « **Reply #31 on:** February 22, 2022, 06:50:49 PM »

Good time to look through books and museum web sites and decide on next project(s). Take the recovery slow, you'll be back in the shop before you know it.

RReid · « **Reply #32 on:** February 22, 2022, 07:30:10 PM »

Wow Kim, I'm very glad you took care of that right away and are recovering well. You'd gone so quiet lately I must say I was feeling a little worried.

bent · « **Reply #33 on:** February 22, 2022, 10:18:26 PM »

Take care, Kim.

Hugh Currin · « **Reply #34 on:** February 22, 2022, 11:42:53 PM »

Kim:

Had to backtrack a couple of pages to see this is new. I thought it was just someone coming late to the original post. But nope, something new.

Good to hear you are on the mend. Take care.

Craig DeShong · « **Reply #35 on:** February 23, 2022, 12:39:08 AM »

Maybe the moderators will change the title if thread thread to “an exciting week x 2”.

Yikes, this sounds scary. Glad to hear you are on the mend. When you get to be our age (ok, my age) you intend to ignore the little aches and pains that come and go. Need to pay attention to the ones that come and stay.

Don1966 · « **Reply #36 on:** February 23, 2022, 05:28:20 AM »

Kim glad to see you listen to your body and did the right thing. Best wishes on the mending and I am sure you’ll find something to entertain yourself with. I myself am in recovery from rotator cuff surgery going on week five. This pass Nov had knee surgery which is still not right getting another MRI Mar 2 to see what else is going on with in. Best to you and your family my friend and prayers that all will be well for you.

Best Regards Don

steamer · « **Reply #37 on:** February 23, 2022, 10:37:10 AM »

I am so saddened to hear this Kim!...Do go slow and heal up.

Dave

PJPickard · « **Reply #38 on:** February 23, 2022, 11:09:34 AM »

Do take it easy...read up on Kozo and many more!

Kim · « **Reply #39 on:** February 23, 2022, 03:33:23 PM »

Thank you all very much for the kind thoughts and well-wishes!

Two months is a long time, but it will seem small once it's past (or so I keep telling myself

)

Yup, I'm now a member of the zipper chest club (hadn't heard it called that before!)

Don, I'm sorry to hear your knee surgery isn't recovering the way it ought to have. I hope they can figure that out for you quickly!

Thank you everyone!
Kim

gary.a.ayres · « **Reply #40 on:** March 15, 2022, 09:22:11 AM »

Wow, Kim - I didn't see this before. It's great that the amazing treatment you had was successful, and particularly impressive that you have such a positive and philosophical view of the experience.

Kudos to you.

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Author Topic: An Exciting Week (Read 3340 times)