Cath was a success!

[Bryan B]

Hi ya'll!

I had my cath this morning and all is well. My cardio said that not only are my coronary arteries clear, but they're huge! He did say he could tell by looking at them that I was a smoker...another good reason to never start smoking again. They did a right & left cath and used a St. Jude Angio-Seal plug for the artery. I got there at 6AM, they started the cath at around 8AM, finished around 9AM, and I was discharged at 1PM. I am still rather sore and didn't get anything for pain, but I think a couple of Tylenol Extra Strength should take care of it. I liked what the guy said before he gave me the happy juice...he said "good night sweet prince". I said..."give me your best shot"! I didn't feel like I was affected by it at all until I tried to talk. I really had to think hard to put coherent sentences together...lol. The whole procedure felt like it took 15 minutes when it really took over an hour. My cardio gave me a raw data report and a CD of the cath, and said I could come by and pick up a formal report in a couple of days.

All in all, it was a piece of cake.

Two weeks to go until the next person gives me the "good night sweet prince" routine. I'm ready to "light this candle"!

 

[Bryan B]

I forgot to mention a couple of other things. I had an allergic reaction to the dye back when I was 18, so they gave me some IV Benadryl ahead of time. This dye must be different from the stuff I got 25 years ago, because back then I felt like I was on fire from the inside out...this time it was a pleasant warm rush and no reaction at all. My cardio also seems very excited about the pictures he got of my VSD. He said the hole is actually shaped like a slit, and is "squirting" a stream of blood across my ventricle. I wonder what application they used on the CD. I'm tempted to pop it in my computer and see if I can watch it, but I'm afraid I might screw it up somehow.

OK, I think I'm done now.

 

[Nancy]

Well, Bryan-

I sure am glad to see this post. One bad thing out of the way, right? Glad everything turned out so well. It's funny how casual things are in those procedure rooms, isn't it, at least when you're awake.

Sometimes Joe talks sports with them when they're doing procedures like that, and he tells me that there is a lot of joking around also.

Good for you!

 

[tommy]

Bryan,

Sounds great.

2 weeks and counting.

 

[ALCapshaw2]

Re: Cath was a success!

Hi ya'll!

I had my cath this morning and all is well. My cardio said that not only are my coronary arteries clear, but they're huge! He did say he could tell by looking at them that I was a smoker...another good reason to never start smoking again. They did a right & left cath and used a St. Jude Angio-Seal plug for the artery. I got there at 6AM, they started the cath at around 8AM, finished around 9AM, and I was discharged at 1PM. I am still rather sore and didn't get anything for pain, but I think a couple of Tylenol Extra Strength should take care of it. I liked what the guy said before he gave me the happy juice...he said "good night sweet prince". I said..."give me your best shot"! I didn't feel like I was affected by it at all until I tried to talk. I really had to think hard to put coherent sentences together...lol. The whole procedure felt like it took 15 minutes when it really took over an hour. My cardio gave me a raw data report and a CD of the cath, and said I could come by and pick up a formal report in a couple of days.

All in all, it was a piece of cake.

Two weeks to go until the next person gives me the "good night sweet prince" routine. I'm ready to "light this candle"!

 

[ALCapshaw2]

WHAT? You didn't stay awake for the 'show'?

You're allowed to sleep through the next one.

'AL' (still a quote bungler)

 

[Bryan B]

No I was awake, I just found it difficult to make any sense when I talked. I was kind of upset, because they had a piece of equipment over my head and left shoulder which was blocking my view of the screens. I remember my cardio told me to hold my breath and he didn't tell me "ok", so I held my breath until I couldn't hold it anymore and then asked him if I could breath again. He seemed to find that amusing.

The only time I felt any pain was when he was giving me the shots to numb my groin...ouch. Other than that it was a breeze. Since I got IV Benadryl (see above post) along with the Versed I slept from the time I got back to my room until it was time to get up and walk around (prerequisite for going home).

 

[Ross]

Bryan I'm sorry to inform you, but your cath wasn't done correctly. You enjoyed it way too much! I suggest you reschedule and leave the Versed out of it this time and demand to watch the monitor.

Boy but do I ever remember the dye of old. I remember screaming when they put that junk in. I was so happy to know that they don't use that barbaric stuff anymore! You felt like you were incinerating from the inside out.

 

[Bryan B]

Leave out the Versed? That was what made it fun!

As the Versed was taking effect I was thinking...someone should think about becoming an alcoholigist. You could hire them to titrate your alchohol intake while bar hopping and keep your level just below the legal limit based on your age, weight, etc. Yeah, the Versed was working whether I realized it or not.

 

[KathyH]

Glad to hear everything went well with your cath. I had versed for my TEE and it didn't even effect my. My Dr asked me if I was a drinker when she realized it hadn't effected me. My husband laughed because he knows I get tipsy on 1 glass of wine. I think I am just too nosey.
I am kind of hoping I can watch my cath on the screen when they do it.
Kathy H

 

[Raverlaw]

Bryan,

They gave me a CD of my cath too. On the disk is a little self-executing viewer that lets you look at the films. Go ahead and pop it in your computer. Watching the valves open and close while they snake that little wire in there is very cool!

Good luck on your surgery - you're ready to go!

 

[Lisa]

Glad that it's over with. Now your fears are laid to rest.

When I had my cath done, I didn't actually drift off to sleep. I just got kind of lethargic. My cardiologist was joking with me before hand about how he had enough drugs to make me drunk..they used synthetic morphine..not sure what the actual name of the drug is. I watched for a while until I kind of drifted off to a happy place..lol.

Whoo! Two weeks to go for both of us. There is so much anticipation for me...known about this practically my entire life and now I'm down to being admitted in exactly two weeks from today!

 

[Bryan B]

Lisa,

I never was that nervous about the cath. Since I have had them before I knew what to expect. It had been a long time since my last one, and they have come a long way, this one was even more tolerable than the last one (which wasn't that bad). I never fell asleep either, but time flew by. It felt like it took 15 minutes, but looking at the report my cardio gave me it was more like an hour and 15 minutes.

I too have known there was a good possibility this day would come my whole life too. Seems like my higher power has been helping me to prepare by taking baby steps. First the 3 day stay in the hospital and the PICC line, then the cath. Each time it seems to help desensitize me a bit more so that the surgery doesn't seem so scary now. I'm sure I'll be nervous the last few days, but I know once they give me something to relax it will be out of my hands. I handle things much better once that happens.

 

[xtremlee]

bryan you had way to much fun.
I had mine the same day and it wasnt bad but not fun.
They did give me something but no effect of uphoria.
My groin is still sore like Ive been kicked in the nu**.
What about you?
Lee

 

[Bryan B]

Lee,

Yesterday I was pretty sore. This morning I wasn't sore at all. By this evening it was a little sore, but I was up and walking around a lot more today. The itching has started though...I'm about to take a Benadryl and go to bed.

I can't really say it was "fun" but my last cath was 25 years ago, and this one seemed much "easier" than that one. I didn't really have euphoria, just very relaxed about the whole thing once I felt the Versed kicking in. Versed also has an amnestic effect, which is why I guess time just flew by. Also during my last cath they were doing it to help them decide if I needed surgery (which they decided I didn't), so that alone made it more scary. Since I already have a surgery date I guess that gave me a different perspective on this cath...like this will be a piece of cake compared to what's coming in 2 weeks.