Matters of the Heart

July 30, 2009 — I went to see the VA Cardiologist yesterday and I must say it was one of the most thorough consultations I have had...and believe you me I have had a number of those over the last two months. He of course had the results of my nuc stress test and I have previously blogged about that so I will not repeat. He then wanted to know my complete history of vascular, chest, and heart encounters (is that the right word...probably not). I detailed it all for him. He then gave me his opinion that it was fairly certain to him that I have blockage going on in blood flow through the heart and that I need an angiogram to prove or disprove. He carefully detailed what to expect and the fact that the results of this test could dictate immediate action such as in right now. I said hey okay lets get'er done...sign me up! It could take as long as a month before this will be performed and in the meantime he gave me a beta blocker to slow my heart down and nitro in case I have any angina such as I have had twice in the past two months.

But wait, there could be some complications that I need to guard against or so he told me. Because of my aneurysm I need to be concerned about what sort of stint/s would be used if necessary. Seems that a certain type of stint requires long term blood thinner drug therapy and that is not something you want to be doing if you have an aneurysm. There is another type of stint that can be used that only requires on the order of one month of blood thinner therapy. Oh and don't forget to tell them of your other vascular issues...that being my history of DVT's (blood clots) and a blocked popliteal vein in my right leg. Geesh, am I going to remember all of this and even have the chance to tell someone giving me an angiogram about it all. I listened as this Cardiologist dictated a memo for my VA medical chart and it completely covered all that went on and was discussed during the consultation. But leaving nothing to chance, I intend to sit down today at this little ol' computer of mine and get this all on paper. I will them have that in front of me when I go for this test and will not let them start until I have gone over it all with the Dr conducting the test.

Maybe when this is all said and done I will feel better...I hope so! It's what really matters!