Had a little setback

[RickKiem]

Hey everyone, I guess I had more of a scare that a setback. On Thursday morning I woke up with my left shoulder hurting. I assumed I had slept on it wrong took a Vicoden and that eased the pain to where it was bearable. Did not really worry about it and it went away in a few hours. Well that evening around 7:00 it pain started back again but now it was much more severe and kind of moving around from my should to my upper arm and my hand was feeling wierd. I took two vicoden and that did not even take the edge off of the pain. Around 10:00 It still had not let up and I began to get worried about it. I called the nurse line from my insurance hoping to get some reassurance but after talking to then quite extensively their recomendation was to go to the ER.

We called my Mom to come stay with our kids and my wife took me to the hospital. I still was thinking they would say it was a muscle ache and send me home. Not so. The next thing I knew that had me hooked up to monitors and an IV started. They then gave me Nitro and that scared me a bit. I had never had that before. They did an EKG and blood work and then a CT. The CT came back with a finding that there was something unusual on the native Aorta right where it was joined to the graft. There was some speculation that there might be a disection at that point. Now I was really scared. They ordered a TEE to have a closer look and thank God they determined that there was no problem there.

Well by this time my arm had quit hurting and I am thinking "Let me go home!". Well they had other ideas. they admited me to the hospital and wanted me to do a nuclear stress test and wanted me to get my heart rate to 130 on the tread mill. I made it 13 minutes and got my pulse up to 113 and could not do any more. So I got to stay another night.

This morning they did a chemical stress test and the findings came back with some problems. They were not bad enough to warrent a Cath. and they are starting me on lipotor to control my colesterol(currently 163). they want it down close to 100.

I quess all things considered I am lucky that they did not find anything major. I did get scared when they kept coming back with problems When all I thought was wrong was I slept on my shoulder wrong.

Well thanks for letting me vent. I really did not ask any questions but guess I am hoping for some reassurances from anyone who might have had something simular happen to them.

I was also glad to come home and see that Fisher and Chevy are doing well. I have been thinking about them the past few days.

Rick

 

[KathyH]

Hi Rick,
Sorry to hear about your recent scare. I don't have any experiences that would ease your mind, but the hospital never would have sent you home if they thought something was really wrong- especially since you just had OHS. Put geez, why did you wait so long to call someone? Hope you are feeling better and take it easy.
Kathy H

 

[Karlynn]

Gosh Rick, I'm so sorry to hear about your scare and that was quite a scare. Glenn comes in and looks and me and says "What are you reading, your eyes are so wide?".

I guess I'm wondering why they put you on lipitor when your cholesterol is within normal range and 100 is way low. Unless that's your LDL they are looking at, and not your total cholesterol.

What are your next steps? Are you just being "watched"? Next time you get that pain - go in right away - do not pass go - do not collect $200.

I'm really glad your TEE didn't show anything. It sounds like you were really on a rollercoaster ride at the hospital.

Keep us informed on how you are feeling so we don't have to sic Ross on you.

Karlynn

 

[Nancy]

Hi Rick-

That is a very scary incident. If you get any more pains in any area of your chest, please don't take painkillers, just go straight to the ER, probably should even call 911 and let an ambulance take care of you.

I'm worried about the fact that there were some irregularities that showed up and that you were sent home without a definite diagnosis.

I think if it were my husband, I would be calling the surgeon and the cardiologist, even though it's a weekend. One of them might want to look at any films that were done.

Keep yourself safe and do whatever it takes. I hope this never happens again to you.

God Bless.

 

[RickKiem]

Nancy,

What they said is that there appears to be a small amout of blockage in one of my coronary arteries along with a small area of diseased tissue as a result. All the test that were done were reviewed by both my Cardiologist and one on of my Surgeon's associates and they all agreed that while we will continue to monitor this situation, right now we will try to limit any progression with the Statin and diet. I am to see my Cardiologist again in three weeks barring any further symptoms. Thanks for taking the time to respond as you seem to have alot of experience is these kinds of matters. I hope that Joe is feeling well. He has had more than his share when it comes to health issues. He is very lucky to have you to help care for him.

Rick

 

[Nancy]

I'm relieved to hear that both the surgeon and cardiologist have been consulted. That's good news. With you guys and gals, everything means something. It's a little different than with "ordinary" folks.

Joe is doing very well, for him, all of a sudden. I don't know what to make of it. It may be his pulmonary hypertension medication, Tracleer. He's been on it for a year now, and had some good results early on, but many say that after a year on it you can really see good results.

We'll see what his echo says at the end of December.

Keep safe, Rick, no more funny stuff!

 

[bvdr]

Hi Rick,

I too am glad that you are home safe again. My total cholesterol was 146 before being put on Lipitor. In fact the tests show I only have half of the average chance of developing heart disease.

I do have two coronary arteries with about 50% blockage each and the Lipitor is supposed to possibly help them from becoming worse.

It sounds like your doctors are on top of things and you have had some tests that have yielded some pertinant information.

Did the nitro ease your pain? That can be diagnostic in itself. Take care and let's hope this was an isolated incident. If not, they have some good baselines to use for comparison later and that in itself is a very good thing.

 

[Heather Fisher]

What a horrible scare. Please heed the advice given to you by others above. Call the next time it happens and go to the hospital! I hope it all straightens out! I'll be thinking of you!
Heather

 

[McCln]

Rick

Rick

Good thinking on listening to the nurse in getting to the emergency room. Glad that they have run test and took really care of you. Sounds like they knewwhat they were doing and did what was expected. Hope everything is doing fine when you see the doctor. Take care.

Caroline
09-13-01
Aoric valve replacement
St. Jude's valve