Doctors, Fate, Etc.
Went to the hospital Tuesday for what was expected to be a routine test — an angiogram — preparatory to dealing with a larger health problem.
No such luck.
Blockages in three major arteries to the heart. Two stents inserted. One more to go, sometime in December. Spent a day and a half in the hospital for observation (standard procedure).
I’m okay. A little weak, which the doctors told me to expect, but otherwise getting along.
I’ll get back to the subject of doctors *named* Fate shortly.
October 26th, 2006 at 11:14 PM
Steve….
If there was no such thing as bad luck…
October 26th, 2006 at 11:44 PM
That doesn’t sound so good. I wish you all the best and hope you will be better soon.
October 27th, 2006 at 4:07 AM
Not as bad, but last time I went in for a pre-op for a minor procedure, they found a BUNCH of things wrong with me. Hard work and careful dieting has gotten rid of most of the problems, but I still haven’t had the minor procedure done (getting a benign tumor removed from my jaw).
October 27th, 2006 at 7:33 AM
Feel better
October 27th, 2006 at 8:43 AM
Steve, m’man, you really need to take better care of yourself. Take it from the guy who got diabetes as a cure for cancer. We’re old now, Steve. Old. The goal is to continue getting older. Get yourself an iPod and do a lot of walking.
October 27th, 2006 at 9:51 AM
Steve,
If I had your luck with doctors, I’d strongly consider not going to them any more. These “blockages” you speak of sound like a fraud perpetrated by the “leeches and bloodletting” cartel.
Get better, okay?
October 27th, 2006 at 10:00 AM
Hope you’re feeling better soon.
October 27th, 2006 at 10:50 AM
Very sorry to hear that you have the blockages, but I’m glad to hear they were caught. Get that strength back soon!
(And yes, Alex is half right. Exercise is good. But not an iPod – nothing against the well-designed li’l Apple gadget, mind you. But for less – I paid about $30 for mine – you can get a flash-based MP3 player that supports WMA with DRM – those last three letters are the trickiest to find. But you’ll need that, and a Windows computer, to take advantage of a great resource for the walking man – downloadable audio books, free from your library.)
October 27th, 2006 at 12:00 PM
Get better. Yours is not the first story I’ve heard along these lines; the argument that we’re catching these things earlier and thus surviving them better is a good one. You’ll be in lots of prayers, mine included.
October 28th, 2006 at 8:22 AM
Steve,
Actually you have to look upon it as very good luck even if you aren’t feeling that way. The alternative was for the blockage to get so severe it would have come to the point of having a major heart attack and doing damage to the muscle – at least in this case the stents were put in (laproscopically? I imagine they went in through the groin?) and you should feel a lot better than you have felt over the last few months (perhaps years even).
The part about spending time in a hospital is probably the worst part overall but, you’re out now and that’s good to hear!
I guess I’m a glass half full type but, maybe it’s the first step on a road to a healthier life. The stress of a few weeks back couldn’t have helped either – just take it as a sign and the best part is you’re still here to weave many a wonderful tale for us!
Feel better, sending good thoughts your way!
October 28th, 2006 at 9:34 AM
Yikes! I just had three stents put in last week as well. Good luck, Steve. They give you Plavix as well?
October 28th, 2006 at 3:17 PM
Some quick answers (I’m still working on that deadline):
Yes, the procedure was done laparoscopically.
Yes, they gave me Plavix.
Yes, I *do* consider myself lucky that the problem turned up on this test. Otherwise, the first “warning” sign would likely have been a heart attack, which would have permanently damaged the heart muscle.
No, I don’t really feel any different. Maybe the third stent’s the charm in that regard. (Or, more likely, the aforementioned larger health problem precludes my feeling very much better, for now.)
Thanks to all for the good wishes.
October 30th, 2006 at 5:10 AM
Two things I forget to do when not feeling well: Listen to music; do things that make me laugh. Take care.
October 31st, 2006 at 1:41 AM
Quick correction: The process wasn’t laparoscopy. It was Percutaneous Transluminal Coronary Angioplasty.
November 10th, 2006 at 8:31 PM
I want to send my good thoughts you way as well. And also, as with the others, I hope that when this is all over you are able to do all you can to improve your health…my local community center has a lot of treadmills with individual TVs and WiFi, so you can watch something or listen to something while you put away an hour of walking rain or shine. Hopefully there’s something like that near you as well.