Heart Cath

July 4, 2009

Hi. I'm hoping some of you have opinions about having a heart cath. I'd like to

know the good, the bad and the ugly!

My husband had a very mild heart attack in December. It was brought on by

diabetis, which he wasn't aware he had. He thought he had the flu and he was

drinking apple cider and coke like crazy. Long story short, he was really out of

it one morning, I took him to the hospital and they discovered his blood sugar

was 1100 and after many tests over the next several days, they discovered he'd

had this mild heart attack. It took days before he was with it again and able to

understand what was going on. Since that time, he has gotten off insulin and is

taking the pill form medication (he's type 2). He's super good about his diet

and has felt good. He turned 65 in January, retired officially and is enjoying

life.

According to the doctor in the hospital, his heart is very strong. The doctor

told him if he watches his diet and keeps the sugar under control, he'll live to

be 100..He didn't feel there was any reason to see a heart specialist because

the tests showed the heart attack was mild and was brought on by the sugar, not

because anything is wrong with his heart.. By the way, we aren't smokers,

drinkers, over eaters, etc. and my husband has never had any health issues other

than the flu and colds occassionaly... We live a very peaceful, quiet lifestyle

and try to eat/live very healthy. The doctor felt the diabetis was brought on by

stress caused by my husband loosing his job a few months before all this

happened.. (victim of the automotive downslide)

His regular doctor, whom he now sees every 3 months, decided it'd be a good idea

for him to see a heart specialist just to make sure everything is ok.. This was

based on nothing more than her wanting to make sure everything was ok.. His lab

tests, sugar level's, blood pressure, cholesteral, everything has been perfect

every visit to the doctors and his sugar levels at home are always in line.

My husband went to the specialist..The heart specialists wanted him to have a

heart cath. My husband asked the doctor if there was any other, less invasive

test available. The doctor told him yes, a stress test.. My husband opted for

that..

He did very well on the test as far as he could tell. It took 5 hours and he

kept up with all the tests, never had to tell them he needed to stop, etc. He

felt good afterwards, etc... he was told they would call with the results in the

next day or so.

After not hearing from them after a week, he finally called the office himself..

He was told the doctor would need to go over the tests with him and would call

him back.. Another week went by..no phone call.. He called again, was told the

same thing...waited for a call that never came.. He finally decided no news is

good news and put it out of his mind.

Seven weeks later, he received a call from the doctors nurse saying the doctor

would like to set up a heart cath for the next Monday.. My husband asked why and

was told the stress tests showed some slight abnorbilities and the doctor feels

a heart cath is neccessary...could she set that for Monday? My husband said no,

I need to know why. The nurse said she'd have the doctor call.

The doctor finally called around 5pm after my husband sat around fretting all

afternoon.. The doctor apologized for not getting back to him sooner, said his

file was sitting on his desk, but he had left for a 2 week vacation and had

totally forgotten to call him.. That excuse in itself is terrible, but what

about the other 5 weeks? Not to mention the fact that when my husband called

those two times, he was told the doctor needed to discuss the results with him,

and then when they finally did call, it was the nurse, not the doctor.. As you

might guess, we aren't very happy with this entire situation. We live in

Northern Michigan and this doctor happens to be in a the only group of heart

specialists in our area.

The doctor explained that the stress test showed a slight abnorbility in his

lower heart and it might be nothing, it might be something, but he can't tell

without the heart cath. He explained that the stress tests can only show so

much. He told my husband they will schedule the Cath, once they get in they will

A.do nothing, B.do a heart stint (the balloon to clean the arteries) or

C.perform open heart surgery..

My husband told him he has a lot of questions and the doctor did take the time

to answer them. My husband ended the call saying he wanted to think about this

and do some research on it before making a decision, and since he'd already

waited 7 weeks, he guessed a few more days wouldn't make a difference. The

doctor also did say that he could decide not to have the cath and he could very

possibly be just fine, never have another heart attack, etc., but then again, he

might have a heart attack that WILL be much worse and could kill him.

After doing some research on the internet we both just don't know what we

think.. The doctor covered all the pro's, but he didn't really touch on the

con's. The risks involved do increase for someone who's diabetic. Although we

realize a heart cath is treated almost like it's no big deal, it is a big deal.

It's an invasive treatment that can have risks and side effects. On top of that,

I also just happened to catch a doctor talking to Deepak Chopra on the radio

about health issues and he mentioned the process of using the balloon to clean

the arteries and that there is all kinds of research that shows that this

procedure causes the plaque to be pushed up against the walls of the arteries

which eventually causes hardening of the arteries..

We are still researching and talking about this, but thought maybe anyone on

this site who has had experience with a heart cath, opinions about it,

information about it, etc., might help.

Any info any of you would like to share would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you! Have a great 4th of July.

Stars and Stripes forever )

Karen and John

July 4, 2009

, " Karen " <karen wrote:

>

> Hi. I'm hoping some of you have opinions about having a heart cath. I'd like

to know the good, the bad and the ugly!

>

> My husband had a very mild heart attack in December. It was brought on by

diabetis,

> Thank you! Have a great 4th of July.

> Stars and Stripes forever )

> Karen and John

============================

If most of the tests come back as there is really not a lot the matter, I

would opt for going with the old saying, " If it ain't broke, don't fix it "

Fiddling around with trying to see if there is a problem can cause mega things

to go wrong. I would not let them do anything with this bit of information

that it might appear there could be a slight abnormality or some such thing.

When I had my head injury, no cat scan nor mri showed anything. But that

does not mean I don't have a head injury, my walking and off balance are a true

vouch for that. So with that said, I am trying to get you to see that these

machines do not always show things the way they are. Go on with your life,

listen to what the doctor said, " your husband could live to be 100 " . At the

same time with all the sueing that is going on, a doctor needs to keep their

backsides covered. I would listen to the first part of what was said. Good

luck Edith

July 4, 2009

Dear Karen,

Abnormalities in a stress test could be due to a narrowed / blocked artery or a

dilated artery! And while non-invasive tests like the stress test or the 64

slice X-ray CT scan test can give a lot of information, the cath test

(angiography) is the gold standard. You will get a clear picture. However, the

cons are that the doctor is opening one of your major blood vessels. There could

be some uncontrolled bleeding but that is a problem for those on blood thinners

like aspirin, coumarin etc. Then if they find a major block, they need to put a

stent (most probably a medicated stent), and use the balloon to dilate the blood

vessel and dislodge the clot.

That he has waited so many weeks indicates that the problem is not major but the

doctor is duty bound to do further test when he finds an abnormality. You could

get a second opinion from another specialist if possible.

You could also forget about further testing and go for a life style change. Take

lot of antioxidants and other foods that reduce cholesterol and also reduce the

inflammation if any in the blood vessels that make them dilate.

Sending best wishes to you and to your husband,

Swamy

India

Note: I am not a medical doctor. I am a Reiki Master and a Spiritual man with

some knowledge of different holistic health systems.