Health Update

On July 21st I arrived at the hospital to have a surgical procedure to put in some stents, one in the heart and 2 in the carotid artery due to blockages.  Well after all the prep and right before I was to be wheel into the cath lab I'm told the only stent is going into the heart, they will take a look at the carotid but by the rules a neurosurgeon has to sign off before the stents can be put in the carotid artery. This is a rule by most insurance companies and medicare. 

After the procedure I mentioned if his office didn't drop the ball he would have met me for a pre-op appointment at his office and I would have known this ahead of time. So someone dropped the ball.

Well I have 2 stents in one of the arteries in the heart a long one and a shorter one, the carotid arteries will be monitored over time with the doctor being hopeful the blood thinners I will be on will make a difference,  I'm like NO I will speak with my cardiologist and push for the stent in the one that is 85% blocked. I didn't add if you would have did the pre-op we could have had the necessary signing off and it could have been done or at least scheduled. 

I was semi awake during the procedure so I could turn my head left and right when they were looking inside the carotid artery and then oh my no only did I feel pressure on my chest when he was doing the stent in the heart artery but felt pain, I thought I'm having a heart attack right here on the table.  He says you will feel some pressure, I said F&%$ the pressure I feel pain.

So yesterday I arrived at my cardiologist office and they couldn't find my name on the appointment list so I pull out my little next visit card and ooops I had the right date, right time, WRONG month. Well it did seem to be rather a quick follow up visit. LOL one of my senior moment brain pauses.

It seems to be taking longer to get my strength and energy back this time which I'm sure has a lot to do with my age and the fact that my body wasn't 100% for the last 18 months. Then again I have to keep telling myself I just had heart surgery and the last time I was 10 years younger. Anyway the stent is in the heart artery, now I have 3 and this is how I'm going to feel for a while. 

So yes the diet and exercise plan will  once again change, odd thing about the blockages is I have eaten a low fat diet, so now I really need to take a close look at what I eat.
On the upside of things the cardiac rehab center called and my first visit is on August 5th that answered one of my questions I had for my doctor.