Angiogram

August 11, 2009 — Well I missed blogging yesterday as I was preparing to have an angiogram at the VA hospital in San Antonio. What an experience it was.

At this hospital there is a team of three cardiologist, an RN, and two or three technicians that conduct the exam. The RN and the technicians do all the prep of course and it was probably the most uncomfortable part of it all. There are just so many things that they have to connect to you. Lying on the table under the xray cameras is the most uncomfortable, For a big man like myself this narrow, long table is hard as a rock and they give this little bitty pillow/pad thing for your head. Of course that is for good reason as they don't want you moving around and looking up or down to see what is happening while the cardiologist is working his/her magic. The table and cameras are fully movable and again for good reason. You end up with all sorts of wires hooked to your "bod" and the ever present IV pumping a saline solution into you.

During the test, your asked to put your hands behind you head so as to keep the arms out of the picture. Whatever you do it's not a good idea to place your hands or attempt to on the sterile sheet they have spread across the entire length of your body. That gets you yelled at. Two of the cardiologist are doing the routing of the catheter that in most cases like mine was inserted in the right femoral artery. The other cardiologist is sitting at monitors in another room and doing the heavy analysis of the images displayed. At some point towards the end of the exam they inject a contrasting solution and warn you that you will feel a heat sensation throughout your body. Oh how true that is. If you have ever wondered where blood flows, especially in the trunk of your body, you won't wonder after having experienced this sensation. When the procedure is complete they like to use what is known as an "angio-seal" which is a vascular closure device to close up the access into your artery. This of course is very important. With the use of this device (which dissolves over time) the recovery time (meaning you lay flat and don't move that leg) is two hours. In some cases, the device can't be used and they have to resort to pressure and the recovery time stretches out to four to six hours. Luckily they used the seal on me.

All-in-all the entire experience lasted about one hour from the time they came to get me in my room until I was returned to the room. The procedure was professionally executed and my hat is off to these pros. The results of the test were that I have no significant artery blockage, the valves of my heart are fine, and the heart muscle pumps at the proper pressure. All of this is really good stuff! So now I have to continue my battle to quit smoking, watch my cholesterol level which is a little high right now, and watch my BP and that has never been an issue for me. It's been a very good experience and I now feel relieved on some of my health issues...it's what really matters!