Day 4 on the Coronary Care Ward
Discussion
Well that wasn’t what I expected for the weekend!
Thought I’d pulled some muscles in the gym on Thursday eve, Friday it was waking me up. A dull ache at the top of both arms, none of the ‘classic’ symptoms of crushing or sharp pains.
But my wife took my BP Saturday morning and her eyebrows went up nearly as high. (It was 211/? when admitted!)
So into A&E I came. Initial ECG looked ok apparently but 2nd one an hour later showed some changes and blood tests showed Troponin levels up which equals damage to heart muscle. That’ll be a heart attack then!
Rather galling as since a diabetes diagnosis last August, I’ve become a lot more active, lost nearly 2stone and knocked 20 points off my A1c without drugs.
But that’s got to change now apparently so on metformin. And a host of other stuff.
I’m in an Acute Coronary Care Unit, feeling ok but waiting to go to Liverpool’s Broadgreen hospital (a renowned heart centre to be fair) for an angiogram to see just what caused it. And then it’s meds, stents or big surgery depending what they find!
All a bit scary to be honest. Not sure what the future holds and what I’ll be able to do/not do. Wanted to do a bit more travelling, not sure how possible that’ll be now, I’ll need a mortgage for insurance!
My RRS is also in dock for a cambelt & suspension fault, better not tell my tame back-street mechanic that he can take his time or it’ll get stuck in the corner of the yard! I know how it feels…
Thought I’d pulled some muscles in the gym on Thursday eve, Friday it was waking me up. A dull ache at the top of both arms, none of the ‘classic’ symptoms of crushing or sharp pains.
But my wife took my BP Saturday morning and her eyebrows went up nearly as high. (It was 211/? when admitted!)
So into A&E I came. Initial ECG looked ok apparently but 2nd one an hour later showed some changes and blood tests showed Troponin levels up which equals damage to heart muscle. That’ll be a heart attack then!
Rather galling as since a diabetes diagnosis last August, I’ve become a lot more active, lost nearly 2stone and knocked 20 points off my A1c without drugs.
But that’s got to change now apparently so on metformin. And a host of other stuff.
I’m in an Acute Coronary Care Unit, feeling ok but waiting to go to Liverpool’s Broadgreen hospital (a renowned heart centre to be fair) for an angiogram to see just what caused it. And then it’s meds, stents or big surgery depending what they find!
All a bit scary to be honest. Not sure what the future holds and what I’ll be able to do/not do. Wanted to do a bit more travelling, not sure how possible that’ll be now, I’ll need a mortgage for insurance!
My RRS is also in dock for a cambelt & suspension fault, better not tell my tame back-street mechanic that he can take his time or it’ll get stuck in the corner of the yard! I know how it feels…
Keep your chin up buddy!
Similar happened to me a couple of years ago. Spent a week in the cardiac care ward in Watford - initially thought it was a heart attack but after much testing, found I had “troponin leak” and a very iffy heart rate.
Now have an ICD and can live a pretty normal life. I might be in the minority but found having an angiogram fascinating- the team were great and could tell I was terrified - you are/will be in the best place you could be and whatever needs doing to fix you - they will do.
Don’t be afraid to ask questions, no matter how silly you think they might be.
Life will now change but you are part of the system now and unlike lots of the NHS - the cardiac care is absolutely top notch.
Similar happened to me a couple of years ago. Spent a week in the cardiac care ward in Watford - initially thought it was a heart attack but after much testing, found I had “troponin leak” and a very iffy heart rate.
Now have an ICD and can live a pretty normal life. I might be in the minority but found having an angiogram fascinating- the team were great and could tell I was terrified - you are/will be in the best place you could be and whatever needs doing to fix you - they will do.
Don’t be afraid to ask questions, no matter how silly you think they might be.
Life will now change but you are part of the system now and unlike lots of the NHS - the cardiac care is absolutely top notch.
Scary stuff, think you owe your wife some flowers!
Pot Bellied Fool said:
Rather galling as since a diabetes diagnosis last August, I’ve become a lot more active, lost nearly 2stone and knocked 20 points off my A1c without drugs.
OTOH that might have made all the difference... And it definitely puts you in a better place for the cardiac rehab.
k. Just to say I had the same over 10 years ago, had 2 stents and on daily meds. Cardiac Rehab is an eye opener when you see how unfit some people are and you'll be way above the fitness level they say is healthy for your heart! In terms of DVLA, insurance and other organisations they are quite sensible about post-heart attack controlled with meds. Licence isn't affected and it doesn't affect car insurance, I notified mine but they said thanks we don't need to know. Good luck is the wrong term but your cardiac team will do their thing.
OP - I’d been run down all of December, first norovirus, then gastric flu and the family had been banging on at me to try antidepressants, so I started on sertraline. It was fking horrible and got worse the more I took. I had a massive panic attack on 24th, genuinely thought I was going to die. GP suggested A&E so we did. They did a load of tests, found evidence of cardiac enzymes and admitted me as having had a heart attack. Two days on a drip to expand my arteries, four days on an ecg, X-rays, scans and angiogram and they concluded that my heart is actually in pretty good shape. Had it not been, the perfect storm of being totally run down and the sertraline induced panic attack might have actually caused a proper heart attack.
I’m now on blood pressure tablets until it stabilizes and I’m absolutely knackered. Getting better though.
My BP is still all over the place, even though I’m on 3.75mg of Ramipril. Recent chat with the GP has upped the dose to 5mg and I've a follow up with the cardiologist this afternoon. In all honesty they don't really know what actually happened, but nothing untoward has happened since and my ECG's were all fine and dandy including the last one I had about a week ago.
So, it might not be as bad as you first think. The angiogram terrified me as I was scared of what they might find/do about it so they gave me a load of diazepam to relax me. I would highly recommend asking for that if you feel the need.
Good luck - it's all fixable and might not even be as bad as you think.
I’m now on blood pressure tablets until it stabilizes and I’m absolutely knackered. Getting better though.
My BP is still all over the place, even though I’m on 3.75mg of Ramipril. Recent chat with the GP has upped the dose to 5mg and I've a follow up with the cardiologist this afternoon. In all honesty they don't really know what actually happened, but nothing untoward has happened since and my ECG's were all fine and dandy including the last one I had about a week ago.
So, it might not be as bad as you first think. The angiogram terrified me as I was scared of what they might find/do about it so they gave me a load of diazepam to relax me. I would highly recommend asking for that if you feel the need.
Good luck - it's all fixable and might not even be as bad as you think.
Good luck
I worked with a lad who was much worse. Had a couple, then several heart bypasses such that he took all his money out of his final salary pension as he didn't expect to live more than 5 years and this way the kids would get the remainder.
15 years on, he is still going strong
I worked with a lad who was much worse. Had a couple, then several heart bypasses such that he took all his money out of his final salary pension as he didn't expect to live more than 5 years and this way the kids would get the remainder.
15 years on, he is still going strong
Thanks all & Geeks, I fully intend to be present for PHSS2025!
I came home last night after the Angio had been cancelled 4 times (once I was on the table with them digging for an artery when the call came that a really, really poorly chap was coming in on blues, 6 minutes away) and I can’t complain at that. It meant some poor bugger was having a far worse day than me.
Eventually got it done. The team stayed behind to do me as I’d been cancelled so many times. They were awesome I have to say and the cath lab is very space age.
I’m a mass of various plasters & sore bits but my resale value has gone up as the carrier of a platinum stent and the pharmaceutical output of several factories…
Still finding many aspects difficult to come to terms with but I’ll get there mentally I’m sure. Big loss of confidence but it’s early days yet.
But the main thing is I’m still pretty functional and still can’t play the harp…
I came home last night after the Angio had been cancelled 4 times (once I was on the table with them digging for an artery when the call came that a really, really poorly chap was coming in on blues, 6 minutes away) and I can’t complain at that. It meant some poor bugger was having a far worse day than me.
Eventually got it done. The team stayed behind to do me as I’d been cancelled so many times. They were awesome I have to say and the cath lab is very space age.
I’m a mass of various plasters & sore bits but my resale value has gone up as the carrier of a platinum stent and the pharmaceutical output of several factories…
Still finding many aspects difficult to come to terms with but I’ll get there mentally I’m sure. Big loss of confidence but it’s early days yet.
But the main thing is I’m still pretty functional and still can’t play the harp…
Pot Bellied Fool said:
pidsy said:
Good news!
Did they go in through your wrist?
Yes they did. Just a small scab at the moment.Did they go in through your wrist?
Went from this:
To this:
And now 18 months later :
The pressure balloon thing they used to close it was impressive- had to have mine reinflated a couple of times but it did the job!
pidsy said:
The pressure balloon thing they used to close it was impressive- had to have mine reinflated a couple of times but it did the job!
It's clever isn't it. Mine was deflated slowly and then came off, kept an eye on it for a couple of hours and then allowed home.My arm looks like your middle picture now.
How have you found life over the last 18 months since may I ask? Any issues or restrictions? Do you find yourself needing your GTN?
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