Has anyone ever had an angiogram, angioplasty, or anything of that nature? Just wondering how bad it really is, and what's really involved. You look online and you get sort of a generic scenario. Any help would be highly appreciated.

Edited October 9, 200917 yr by Birdsfan

Any old Angie ?

Any old Angie ?

No, I'm very particular about my "Angies." :lol:

No, I'm very particular about my "Angies." :lol:

 

Quality post BF! :laugh::laugh::laugh:

I've never had one, BF. :bunny:

Quality post BF! :laugh::laugh::laugh:

Which may get me into more hot water than the procedure itself.

Which may get me into more hot water than the procedure itself.

:ohbrother::ohbrother::ohbrother:

I think the procedure is awfully close to a heart cath and I did have that done. They go into your groin area and run a tube up to your heart. For me the procedure wasn't anything...it's just the outcome that darn near did me in:cry::cry: I had to lay for a little while after they finished the procedure but I can't recall it being too terrible of an ordeal....but then you have to remember..I didn't know a whole lot for a number of days after they did my heart cath.

 

This may or may not be even close to what you are asking....

No, I'm very particular about my "Angies." :lol:

:lol:

 

I've had angiogram, it was nothing for me. Worse part was having to lay still flat on my back. Good thing is I was a good candidate for an Angio-Seal and didn't have to lay there as long as usual.

my dad had one....not a big deal at all....he had to spend the night in the hospital and that was that. He did not hurt or anything.

I have had two or three cardio caths but who is counting. I think the other posters in the thread have it covered. It goes through the groin you have to lie still and it really is not to much to get anxious about. Now a double bypass that was no fun.....the only thing worse was 7 Bone Marrow biopsies. I would not wish that on my worse enemy. You will be fine on this.

Thanks Bird Bath, and everone who replied.

Angioplasty

 

BF had my first on May 11th 2003 and other than not believing that I had a heart attack, it wasn't that big of a deal. Had one other, but it was sort of a check up kind of thing and it wasn't really all that bad.

 

The laying still was tough the first time but not the second time as the shock of having a Heat Attack and surviving it was hard. I was more scared after it was all over (the first time) more than I was during the operation.

 

On the first one I was watching the whole thing on the monitor thinking "why am I even in here" as the Dr and staff were just talking, but all of a sudden they got real quiet and even I could see the trouble.

 

Funny, I wasn't so afraid of dying, but more concerned about my dieing and leaving my daughter fatherless (my Father died when I was young).

I'll try to explain the situation better when we get home tonight. I appreciate everyone's help.

I should have explained better what is actually going on. What I'm going to have isn't really an angiogram or angioplasty. Those are just the closest things I could think of to it. This isn't "directly" heart related, but they have to go through there to get to the problem. Here's the story:

 

Eleven years ago, I had an IV line implanted in a vein in my chest. It's attached to a little double basin that looks like a tiny pet food bowl. The idea was that they could give me IV's and draw blood without having to access a vein every time. Me veins were pretty well shot up and my health was horrible, so getting a vein was really tough.

 

Move ahead to last month. This year, I had my trach removed, and in that spirit, I decided I also wanted that dang port out of there. It sticks up under the skin, and is just annoying. Worse than that it never really worked; yet, it has needed to be accessed and flushed with Heparin once a month...for the past eleven years! So I really wanted that thing out.

 

Several weeks ago, I had surgery to remove it. Unfortunately, mine was adhered to my collar bone and stuck in the (sub-clavian) vein. Those ports don't normally stay in anywhere near that long, and the surgeon warned me that this might be a problem. He couldn't get the tube out of the vein, but went ahead and removed the attached port basins. He was going to send me down to radiology to attempt the retrieval, but they were booked solid. He promised to consult more doctors and get back to me to discuss whether or not to go after it.

 

Days later, I told this story to one of my other doctors. She freaked out when she heard that the tube was still in there. She sent me over to a cardiologist that day. He consulted with another specialist, and they concluded that it needs to come out, if possible. He said, the tube will probably not dislodge, but since it's sitting at the entrance to my heart, that would be...well, very bad. Also, the tube could propagate infection, or could form clots, since it can no longer be flushed regularly. He scheduled the retrieval attempt for this Wednesday, at Bethesda North.

 

A few days after that, the original surgeon calls back and says that he and his colleagues think that leaving it in place is the best option. Now what was I supposed to do? :ohbrother:

 

Right now, I'm going ahead with it. The doctor who is going to do it, said he would stop if it looks like it's not going to work. He wants to try not to damage that vein. He also doesn't want the thing breaking into pieces and getting away from him.

 

So that's where I'm at. This is the biggest crap shoot I've ever been a part of, and I'm not looking forward to it. Thanks again for your help.

Looks like I may not be having this done -- at least temporarily. Came down with a little lung bug.