Anyone have heart catheterization?

[shortyb]

Just back from a grand tour of our local Cardiac Trauma hospital's catheterization lab, and got two new stents as souvenirs. Had a strange discomfort feeling in my middle chest 2 nights ago, no pain, no pressure, no shortness of breath, just strange. Woke the wife up and off the ER we went. With a 5 vessel bypass graft almost 11 years ago, I wasn't taking any chances. Lots of tests, but the one that made the cardiologist on duty take notice was my elevated troponin level. Troponin is a protein in the heart muscle that when the heart is stressed, can "leak out" and be detected. It's a prime indicator for heart muscle damage or an impending/occuring myocardial infarction (heart attack). A cardiac cath was ordered since I hadn't had one when all of my blockages were discovered and subsequent bypass surgery performed.

So, into the lab and onto the table I went. Prepped areas for arterial access and gave me a "seditive" to make me comfortable. Well, unlike my first one, when I was sedated pretty heavily, and couldn't hear anything, much less feel anything, this time I could hear, see, and FEEL what was going on. There must have been something onboard though, because it wasn't painful. But I could feel the sensation of the probe wires traveling in my brachial artery and when they placed the stents, could feel pressure as the vessel "stretched" when the balloon was inflated. I commented this all to the cardiologist afterward in recovery and he said its preferable to have a patient in a semi awake state when the procedure is performed. I agreed, but asked why I felt so much. His reply was that everyone has a different level of response and the medication may not completely mask all sensations. It was pretty strange, to say the least, that I was so aware. Hope to never experience it again.

Surgery was successful and both locations of occlusion were opened 100%. Doc said that one of the graft veins had diseased and collected plaque at the junction with the existing artery. 3 new medications to add to my daily intake, woohoo. Anyone else have a catheterization and feel anything like this?

 

[Inked]

No comments to your ending question, just wanted to say congrats on 1) not ignoring what you felt and 2) the outcome!

 

[alarmguy]

Glad you’re doing well! My brother has needed stents put in years after a quad bypass.

I have had a heart catheterization, however, I did not need any stents. Lots of plaque noticed all over the place but it’s called minimal at 20%. This was around the year 2020 or 2021.

I actually thought the procedure was cool. It is the gold standard in locating blockages. I would encourage anyone who has this option to go for it.
I actually encouraged my doctor that any doubts whatsoever I wanted it and they did it.

Your semiconscious and I remember seeing my veins and arteries moving up and down to the beat of my hearton the multiple LED screens in the Cath Lab. It was kind of eerie because all you see is the veins and nothing else. Plus you’re pretty zonked out.

I would encourage you to see what you can do to cut down on inflammation and possibly help keep future blockages to a minimum.

If you have high blood sugar or even if you don’t “The Diabetes Code”
Is an excellent book and interesting read.
https://www.amazon.com/Diabetes-Code-Prevent-Reverse-Naturally/dp/1771642653

Truly best wishes to you. Sadly, being the youngest in my family, I am well-versed in everything heart disease. I have learned from my father and my older brother to try my best to avoid their outcome.
I am skating on borderline thin ice but so far very successful. I have the gene that gives me high Lipo A.

Another great read is “ The Simple Heart Cure”
https://www.amazon.com/Simple-Heart-Cure-Program-Reverse/dp/1630060720

By the way, both of these books are most likely available in your public library and also your public library E reader.

 

[Leo99]

It's amazing what they can do and send you home in a day or two. My in-laws started with angiograms where they look for blockages and then if found, they sent them to large hospitals in undesirable locations for the angioplasty catherizations. I was the driver. It was a fairly big deal like 15 to 20 years ago. They went through the groin but now it seems they go through the wrist and it happens at local hospitals and is pretty routine. The cardiologist does a bunch of patients when he does them. My mother when for cardiac cath in a local hospital. They ballooned the blockage in her leg, but didn't have the right size stent on hand so no stent for her.

 

[Cujet]

My late father described it exactly as you did. He was able to give a detailed description of everything.

Just an FYI, he died because he stopped going to dialysis, not because of a blocked artery or failed heart repair.

 

[ecotourist]

I had a few cardiac procedures over the last couple of years. My initial problem was bouts of very rapid heartbeat. Way too fast to be safe at my age.

I had ablation of supplemental conductive areas around my SA node on 2 occasions. The first time they used electro-cautery (supposed to be 95% successful) but it only worked for 2 weeks on me. The second was done using cryotherapy (supposed to be 90% successful) and that worked for me. I was awake during both procedures, felt my heart being controlled externally, could hear the cardiologists discussing my sudden bigeminy - beat beat, pause, beat beat pause - "That's not supposed to happen".

Big differences of course: Access for me was through a vein, not an artery. And my problem was electrical not blood supply.

The third procedure was for episodes without any beats at all (3rd degree AV block). I got a pacemaker with 2 leads inserted into the heart through a vein. A year has passed and all is well again.

PS Some people worry about the health care system in Canada. My care was exemplary. My cost was less than $50 for all 3 procedures and that was for parking.

 

[Tdbo]

I had one about a year and a half ago.
It got to the point that every minute of the day, I felt like I had an elephant on my chest (never had any chest pain at that point.)
I ended up telling Mrs. Tdbo (who is a nurse) what was going on.
We selected a cardiologist and she called for an appointment right away.
After she told them what was going on, they had me in the office within 48 hours.
They hooked me up to the EKG for a few minutes and disconnected me.
The doctor said to me that the issue wasn't whether I needed a cath, the issue was how quickly they could get me in.
I was given a script for nitro, and was told to go home and do nothing strenuous at all.
The next day (Tuesday) they called and told me that they had an appointment for that Thursday (usually unheard of to get in that soon as an outpatient.)
I had my first bout of chest pain that Wednesday. One nitro, and I was fine in < than 5 minutes.
They went in and did it that Thursday. Main arteries were fully open, have some micro blockages that they are unable to get to.
I felt better immediately and the pressure was gone. Have had to chest pain since.
I admit, I probably should have gone to the cardiologist sooner than I did ( and caught H from Mrs. Tdbo for not doing so.)
However, all has been well since. Just add a visit a year to a Cardiologist to the regimen.
I wish I could have gotten away with $50. I was over $3800. when all was said and done.
Ended up maxing out the HSA that year.

 

[Toy4x4]

Had a HA 2.5 years ago. They went in through my wrist to insert two stents and I was out for it.
I was sort of loopy, but still being a bit freaked out that I was awake after...didn't know they were finished already. I voiced my concerns to the nurse about being awake and not wanting to be in case they started doing something major. Got a rude reply from her "not to worry about it". I think we crossed paths again when I went into the ER for something unrelated. Still had the same attitude.

 

[97prizm]

No comments to your ending question, just wanted to say congrats on 1) not ignoring what you felt and 2) the outcome!

I see both patient types. One that is a hypochondriac and everything is wrong with them or someone who has put of symptoms for weeks.

 

[97prizm]

Had a HA 2.5 years ago. They went in through my wrist to insert two stents and I was out for it.
I was sort of loopy, but still being a bit freaked out that I was awake after...didn't know they were finished already. I voiced my concerns to the nurse about being awake and not wanting to be in case they started doing something major. Got a rude reply from her "not to worry about it". I think we crossed paths again when I went into the ER for something unrelated. Still had the same attitude.

Some nurses are chill, and other ones I really don't think like being in the health care industry.

 

[vwmaniaman]

I installed and serviced cath labs and any other medical equipment for 32 years. I watched numerous procedures and the cardiologists told me that family history is the biggest indicator of trouble. You unfortunately can't change that.

 

[Donald]

OP - after the procedure did they push lifestyle and diet changed?

 

[spasm3]

PM sent.

 

[alarmguy]

I had a few cardiac procedures over the last couple of years. My initial problem was bouts of very rapid heartbeat. Way too fast to be safe at my age.

I had ablation of supplemental conductive areas around my SA node on 2 occasions. The first time they used electro-cautery (supposed to be 95% successful) but it only worked for 2 weeks on me. The second was done using cryotherapy (supposed to be 90% successful) and that worked for me. I was awake during both procedures, felt my heart being controlled externally, could hear the cardiologists discussing my sudden bigeminy - beat beat, pause, beat beat pause - "That's not supposed to happen".

Big differences of course: Access for me was through a vein, not an artery. And my problem was electrical not blood supply.

The third procedure was for episodes without any beats at all (3rd degree AV block). I got a pacemaker with 2 leads inserted into the heart through a vein. A year has passed and all is well again.

PS Some people worry about the health care system in Canada. My care was exemplary. My cost was less than $50 for all 3 procedures and that was for parking.

I’ve been there too, my ablation was done in the winter of 2022. I was having a huge amount of PVCs.
To make a very, very long story short.
Same deal, for the ablation, they went in through a vein versus the artery for the catheterization.
For the ablation, though I was asleep. I don’t remember which node, but I checked into the hospital roughly 6 or seven in the morning and by 6:15 or so in the evening my wife and I were leaving and went home.
Believe it or not, I was in the middle of a move out of our house into a temporary apartment while our new house was being built. After one day, I was already carefully carrying light boxes.

Absolutely amazing. The ablation thing is hit or miss. Even when it’s successful and mine was most cardiologists will tell you that it’s not unusual for them to come back so far my heart hasn’t missed the beat. But even now a couple years later, just never know.

It’s interesting you mentioned the node. I tell people it’s much like a spark plug and almost like a faulty spark plug wire the voltage is short-circuiting to the engine block. Though in the case of the heart it’s firing from the node, but it’s taking a short cut instead of going the proper path. To the best of my knowledge, they still do not know why that happens.

PVCs are very common. However, when it gets out of control it’s kind of scary. I think I had something like up to 40,000 recorded over 48 hour. Period. I can’t remember the exact number.

However, what you had with Heart Block is a whole other ball game. Glad it worked out for you.
A fib can be dangerous as well, VTach really scary can be addressed with an ablation as well, to the best of my knowledge you really need a real specialist in that area.

 

[02SE]

Good to hear you didn't ignore the signs, and got checked out.

I haven't been anesthetized for any heart procedures, only scans and tests so far.

I did wake up with an Endoscope down my throat, while being treated for my first Duodenal Ulcer. That was extremely unpleasant.

When I asked them later after fully waking up after the procedure if that was typical, they got a deer-in-the-headlights look, and say you remember that? I said 'hell yes I remember it, in fact I doubt I'll ever forget it'. They did apologize...

 

[ecotourist]

I’ve been there too, my ablation was done in the winter of 2022. I was having a huge amount of PVCs.
To make a very, very long story short.
Same deal, for the ablation, they went in through a vein versus the artery for the catheterization.
For the ablation, though I was asleep. I don’t remember which node, but I checked into the hospital roughly 6 or seven in the morning and by 6:15 or so in the evening my wife and I were leaving and went home.
Believe it or not, I was in the middle of a move out of our house into a temporary apartment while our new house was being built. After one day, I was already carefully carrying light boxes.

Absolutely amazing. The ablation thing is hit or miss. Even when it’s successful and mine was most cardiologists will tell you that it’s not unusual for them to come back so far my heart hasn’t missed the beat. But even now a couple years later, just never know.

It’s interesting you mentioned the node. I tell people it’s much like a spark plug and almost like a faulty spark plug wire the voltage is short-circuiting to the engine block. Though in the case of the heart it’s firing from the node, but it’s taking a short cut instead of going the proper path. To the best of my knowledge, they still do not know why that happens.

PVCs are very common. However, when it gets out of control it’s kind of scary. I think I had something like up to 40,000 recorded over 48 hour. Period. I can’t remember the exact number.

However, what you had with Heart Block is a whole other ball game. Glad it worked out for you.
A fib can be dangerous as well, VTach really scary can be addressed with an ablation as well, to the best of my knowledge you really need a real specialist in that area.

What I had was runs of SVT (Supraventricular Tachycardia) - normal heart beats, just way too fast. Have had these since my mid 30s, though fairly well controlled by not drinking caffeinated coffee. I had a 24 hour Holter monitor test a couple of years ago and during that 24 hours had 3 bouts of SVT, one lasting an hour (in the middle of the night) and one with a rate of 200/min. The maximum safe heart rate is 225 - age in years. So if I was still 25 years old I would have been okay, but not otherwise.

The SVTs could be completely controlled by medication, and were, but that medication was not safe as I got older. Either accept that you won't get older or have an ablation. I had the ablation.

 

[shortyb]

OP - after the procedure did they push lifestyle and diet changed?

Absolutely. And I am guilty of not following either as well as I should. In fact, I was already scheduled for my run of cardiac rehab and meeting with the dietician before I was even discharged. They must know me .

Thanks everyone for the thoughts and words of encouragement here and through PMs. Like I told my wife, seems God wants me around a while longer to annoy the life out of folks. Or post on BITOG . Glad I'm still here to do both.

 

[alarmguy]

What I had was runs of SVT (Supraventricular Tachycardia) - normal heart beats, just way too fast. Have had these since my mid 30s, though fairly well controlled by not drinking caffeinated coffee. I had a 24 hour Holter monitor test a couple of years ago and during that 24 hours had 3 bouts of SVT, one lasting an hour (in the middle of the night) and one with a rate of 200/min. The maximum safe heart rate is 225 - age in years. So if I was still 25 years old I would have been okay, but not otherwise.

The SVTs could be completely controlled by medication, and were, but that medication was not safe as I got older. Either accept that you won't get older or have an ablation. I had the ablation.

Yeah, ablation worked great for me too. I KNOW how unsettling it is in the middle of the night feeling these sensations. On many occasions I brought them up with my regular doctor. Early on but every time they did an EKG, there would be nothing. Over time, one day with a sore throat an NP heard it, showed on the EKG but not severe and many people have occasional PVCs... Long story short over years it got worse, again, at night and other times. I made my own appointments and started going to cardiologists myself.

This was over a period of years. From nuclear stress tests, echo's and eventually the heart catheterization (aka angiogram) ... another year passes by, again REALLY getting crazy at night now. Wife got me my first Apple Watch back when the Watch 7 came out. In the middle of the night I would hit the ECG button on the watch to record my ECG (aka EKG) I starting saving them on my phone, printing them out, I have hundreds and also messaging them to my doctor. Long story short they tried some different meds, last one worked but was considered a drug of last resort... and I am like, what !?!?!? Anyway, once all the ECGs were printed out, took them to my cardiologist office, NP looked at it and put me on the Holter, not sure if if was 24 or 48 hours. But 10s of thousands PVCs were recorded and a few unsustained VTACHs Ablation fixed it all, back to perfect. A few Echos since then, as late as of last year (for another reason) as part of an exam, no heart damage, EF score hovers right around perfect of 60.

Ok, so here you go. ECG taken on my Apple Watch hours before my ablation. The Apple Watch greatly sped up me getting treatment. Also the Electrophysiologist thought the 2 dozen Apple Watch ECGs I printed out for him "were great" He loved going over them page by page.

Even a novice can tell this isnt the way it's supposed to look! *LOL* IT wasnt funny really, they asked me to stop taking my medication for the condition a few days before the procedure which would help them find the bad pathway. It was brutal for those few days and scary. I have so many of these saved, some look even worse than this... where for a heart beat or two it was just a straight line>

Almost the same exact time of the morning the day after my ablation taken on my Apple Watch below;
Oh my god, it was such a good feeling, not feeling my heart going crazy and when I saw this I was like WOW.

Above are two of 700+ recordings I have taken over the years, some of them looked even more scary than the first one posted here. I also got an A-fib warning on my watch one time and countless "inconclusive" Bottom line, bringing these recordings to my cardiologist and electrophysiologist greatly sped up my treatment. Now 3 years later, I never have felt an irregular heart beat again.
Even if I wasnt sure on those rare times, I would do an ECG and it showed nothing but a nice rhythm like the second image.
I still see a cardiologist on a yearly basis for a check up and any questions I have I ask at that time. Initially he did tell me many times patients (but not all) have the issue come back and needs to be done over again, so far so good!

 

[Donald]

Absolutely. And I am guilty of not following either as well as I should. In fact, I was already scheduled for my run of cardiac rehab and meeting with the dietician before I was even discharged. They must know me .

Thanks everyone for the thoughts and words of encouragement here and through PMs. Like I told my wife, seems God wants me around a while longer to annoy the life out of folks. Or post on BITOG . Glad I'm still here to do both.

I am reading the stents and bypass surgery are not a forever fix if you keep eating a crappy diet and continue to develop plaque.

 

[alarmguy]

I am reading the stents and bypass surgery are not a forever fix if you keep eating a crappy diet and continue to develop plaque.

100% correct. I have a sibling like that. quad bypass, decade or so later, heart attacks again, delayed treatment, more stents
Still active though considered in major heart failure now. EF in the 20s. Much of his bypasses are blocked now.
Modern technology still has him living an active life, but recently some warning signs I am afraid I am not sure how much longer. Even with a great diet odds are really tough but doable. Crappy diet and your setting yourself up for unpleasant results.