It’s nearing the end of day 3 and I’m ready to go home. I’m typing with one hand and this floor feels prohibitive to sleep. I would leave now if I had this needle out of my arm!
Yes, it’s sore and it looks sore (Liam flinches) but since the angiogram procedure in which a wire (?) was shoved in and up my other arm, my left feels great comparatively. I think it’s bloody from all of the typing.
Overview of the Angiogram:
The prep took as long or maybe longer than the procedure itself. The team worked incredibly efficiently and with very few words through the entire procedure. So impressive.
During the angiogram I had to:
– ditch my stolen (and favorite) hospital pants with the penis hole sewn up so that they could prep my groin – in case they couldn’t use the artery in my arm (the nurses kindly stowed them in a bag for me)
– have new and fancy heart monitor stickers put over specific areas of my body that they had SANDED clean. Yes, sanded. With “hospital grade” sandpaper. WTF!! It burned, as you might have predicted. Nice.
– get positioned perfectly with my head craned to the left so that I could see the monitor (big wall of 4 flat screen TVs that lowered down to eye level for the doc)
– promise to stay absolutely still for the entire procedure (“if your nose is itchy, ask the nurse to itch it”)
– endure freezing on the inside of my right arm (where the carotid artery is, obv). I’m not going to lie, I honestly thought Dr. B.A.L.L. forgot the freezing and was shoving the thing up my arm without it! Made me tear up. But I didn’t flinch.
– accept some kind of delicious relaxant in the port my left arm since the nurse saw my eyes turn into ponds of misery
– watch and learn
Best parts? Warm blankets. Seeing my arteries on the screen light up. The drugs that took the searing pain away.
The Doc’s Analysis:
No sign of heart disease. No blockages. No need for a stent. He showed me the area that is damaged and went to quickly consult with the other cardiologist while I watched re-runs. Mesmerized.
The doc told me that what happened to me is called Spontaneous Coronary Heart Dissection. (SCAD) Essentially there is a sudden tear in the artery wall that blocks blood flow and causes a heart attack. From what I’ve read so far there is no known cause and no known prevention. It’s very common in women. Young, healthy women. Ahem.
Recovery:
Easy part: I had to stay in the cath lab until my pressure cuff could be taken off – about 1 1/2 hours. During that time one of the nurses printed off some info on SCAD, so I was able to understand it a bit better. I will do a lot more reading on it obv, and look forward to hearing from the doc tomorrow and getting the Cole’s notes. Remember those?
Harder part: My understanding from the literature is that the artery will have to heal and I’ll have to do a few things to help that process along. Keep my blood pressure low, don’t stress the heart, that kind of thing. Of course my greatest concern is that this SCAD doesn’t interfere with my breast cancer treatment which continues till January 2019 (thirteen more treatments to go!). Fingers crossed that the cardiologist I see tomorrow (for discharge) will refer me to a cardiologist who will treat me (?) and talk to my oncologist.
But First… I have to see how well this last sleeping pill blocks out my restless roommate’s vocalizations and the exceptionally loud nurses hanging out at the nurses station. Annnd out.