Post Heart Cath Report

[jgibson]

Just wanted to post a quick Heart Cath report. Sorry I wasn't able to get this in yesterday, but I spent most of yesterday just resting... So, here was what went down...

Got to St. Thomas Hospital in Nashville at 8:00 AM. Signed in and sat down.

5 minutes later they called me into the pre-surgery room. Put the gown on. Felt like a goon. Start talking about why I was there.

Nurse "Are you experiencing chest pain's Mr. Gibson?"
Me "No."

Nurse "Have you been experiencing any chest pain"
Me "No."

Nurse asked a few more questions...
Me "No., No., No."

Now she's getting a little perplexed.

Nurse "So why are you here???"
Me "I'm going in for a Mitral Valve repair next week. They told me to come in here."

Nurse "OHHHHHH", Ok then.

Nurse "OK then, did you take your aspirin"..
Me - "No"

Nurse "Do you take an aspirin in the morning?"
Me - "No".

Nurse "Ok Then" Nurse leaves and goes and gets me an aspirin and some water. She then told me that the Dr. that does the heart caths like all his patients to take an aspirin before the procedure.

Now the fun part. The SHAVE!!! Where in the world do they buy these dry shavers at. "SWIPE SWIPE SWIPE". Careful there please. A little to close for comfort.

After that she shaved me for my IV hook up. Had to shave my arm where the IV went in. "HEY DOC. WHILE YOU AT IT, CAN YOU JUST GO AHEAD AND SHAVE THE REST OF ME"

So now it's about 8:30 AM. They have me all done and say I'm 3rd in line. The sad thing was, I didn't get in until almost 10:00 AM. Did get to watch most of Regis and Kelly though.

So about 10:00 AM they finally roll me into the procedure room. One of the procedure nurses came an introduced herself to me. She actually lives down around the corner in my neighborhood. She told me she saw my address and wanted to come and introduce herself.

So they put in a little medicine. Not to bad. I'm relaxed but I'm still talking with everybody. The coolest thing in there was that they were playing 80's music. I'M IN HEAVEN!!! I told the doctor I liked his choice in music. He smiled.

They numbed me up. Got the cath in. Not too bad. Felt a little pressure down in my groin, but once that passed I didn't feel anything. I kept wondering when they were going to get to my heart. I asked him. He said "Oh, were already at your heart". Wow! Never felt a thing.

The only problem they ran into was that they couldn't get into the vein in my right leg. Doctor called my cardiologist to ask him if they needed to continue and try my left leg. Cardiologist said no because from what they got initially, they already knew that my heart had no blockages at all, and that my chamber pressures were right were they needed to be.

So they stopped there and rolled me back to recovery.

Had to lay there for an hour and a half. They sat me up and disconnected me. Then I had to sit there for another 30 minutes.

They warned me. If you started bleeding again, call 911. If you get a tennis ball sized lump in your groin, call 911.

My wife and I left the hospital at 12:30 and went to lunch. Needless to say, I was starved. Hadn't eaten in 12+ hours.

So we're looking good so far. I go in for pre-op for my surgery next Thursday. I'll post what they tell me there next week.

Take care everyone.

 

[WayneGM]

Thanks for the update. Jeff. Glad to hear you had an uneventful cath.

Your story reminded me......my pre-cath instructions were to shave myself. Kind of funny actually...I have an electric razer. "So how the h---l do you use this thing down there?" Also the instuctions were so vague I wasn't sure how exactly where, and how much, to shave. Needless to say, it wasn't the most even shave but it did the trick...besides my wife said nobody but her better see it anyway.

 

[hensylee]

good post. We need to save this one for when someone else wants to know how it goes down.

Sounds like things are in order. Hang in.

 

[Adrienne]

I had to lie down with my leg straight for SIX long hours!!! It was horrible because I had to pee! I won't even get into that story!!

 

[Bina]

Very good post about a heart cath.
I also had to lie down all afternoon; no bathroom visits allowed.
Before bursting I asked for a bedpan.....do people actually use these contraptions?
Then I asked if I could just have an adult diaper or something similar. That didn't work either, and of course I was in a room full of men.
At dinner time when I was allowed to get up, I almost passed out and so was invited to spend the night. How embarrassing.

 

[Adrienne]

Bina, your story sounds very similar to mine!!!

 

[jgibson]

6 Hours! Wow!

6 Hours! Wow!

I had to lie down with my leg straight for SIX long hours!!! It was horrible because I had to pee! I won't even get into that story!!

That's amazing. It seems like the number of hours they want people that have heart caths is all over the map. I'm curious to why that is. My friend that is an MRI nurse told me that I needed to go to St. Thomas for my heart cath, because they used the smallest cath of the hospitals in this city.

Seems like that really helped me out. I'm wondering if the size of the cath extends the amount of time you need to lay down flat.

As for going to the bathroom. I had to go too. They did bring me a container to go into. That made the wait a little more bearable.

Thanks for the info.

 

[ALCapshaw2]

That's amazing. It seems like the number of hours they want people that have heart caths is all over the map. I'm curious to why that is. QUOTE]

The length of time needed to close the Catheterization site depends on the technique used for closure.

In the early days, a Sandbag would be placed over the insertion site and patients had to lay flat for 6 hours after an assistant used hand pressure.

For a while, giant C-clamps were used on the artery above the insertion site (very 'uncomfortable') and then the wound would be bandaged. I don't remember how long one had to be on the C-clamp but it wasn't too long.

There is a "plug" that can be used and patients can be up and about after a couple of hours. Dick Cheney is an example of this I believe. Stitches can also be used when they want a fast closure.

After my latest cath, they reverted to Hand Pressure which allows for the best control with the least discomfort. This would be applied for 30 minutes or until there was no more leakage, then a Pressure Bandage would be applied. A Nurse was monitoring vitals along with the assistant who applied the pressure.

'AL Capshaw'

 

[Susan BAV]

Interesting experiences. My last cath was noonish or one I think and the sandbag didn't come off until about 10pm and my experience was horrifyingly embarassing then--but practically hilarious now--but I won't go into it now either... They ended up keeping me overnight also.

However, I was told they couldn't use the plug on me because I was needing surgery so soon afterward.

 

[JAJ99]

I'm new to post but have been following this site for several months. I'm scheduled for a mitral valve repair on October 22nd at Mayo in Rochester by Dr. Schaff. I'm having my cath procedure done the morning before surgery. Evidentally Dr. Schaff has studied this and it causes no problems to do it the same day. I'm thrilled as it saves me another trip to Rochester from the Twin Cities. I have to thank you all for the valuable information I've gained from reading this site.

 

[bvdr]

I had to lie down with my leg straight for SIX long hours!!! It was horrible because I had to pee! I won't even get into that story!!

I sure can relate to that. The contrast they give you for a heart cath can act like a powerful diuretic!

 

[Adrienne]

I sure can relate to that. The contrast they give you for a heart cath can act like a powerful diuretic!

Actually, I was told that they give you a lot of liquid through the IV afterwards to flush out the contrast dye! Yikes, I already have to pee all the time!!

 

[Bina]

Yes, I'm a chronic pee-er also....!!
I had the metal clamp on for about 30 minutes....ouch, ouch....and then a pressure bandage.
No plug, maybe because I was having surgery 10 days later.
Ended up with some very psychedelic bruises.

 

[hensylee]

Welcome, JAJ to VR. glad you are aboard. Keep educating yourself here.

 

[Bina]

I'm new to post but have been following this site for several months. I'm scheduled for a mitral valve repair on October 22nd at Mayo in Rochester by Dr. Schaff. I'm having my cath procedure done the morning before surgery. Evidentally Dr. Schaff has studied this and it causes no problems to do it the same day. I'm thrilled as it saves me another trip to Rochester from the Twin Cities. I have to thank you all for the valuable information I've gained from reading this site.

JAJ99, Welcome to the group.
Maybe you would like to post a similar message in the PreSurgery section so that others may welcome you and we can keep track of how you are doing. Okay?

 

[WayneGM]

Welcome, JAJ99. Glad you found us. Best wishes.

 

[pamela]

My cardiologist is an IC at the hospital where I had my first cath, however, since they wanted me bumped up the surgery list he asked a colleague to do mine. I blithely proceded into the OR and he made the incision. Shortly after I saw the tube bumping into roadblocks inside my silohuetted abdomen. The cardiologist asked me if I'd ever injured myself in the past.

I said yes and I also reminded him that I'd had pelvic DVT in my right leg (exactly where he was inserting the catheter). He blew up and yelled at me for not telling him sooner.

I tried to stay calm as I waited for a chance to tell him that it was written on my chart. He denied it was there and by then I'd been reduced to tears from worry, stress and valium. The nurse was facing a doctor in a tantrum, a patient in tears with a vein wide open and lord knows what else, when she took the chart from the doctor and flipped the page to show him the highlit info about my previous clot.

He ordered them to prep my left side. I don't believe the freezing had taken before he made the incision since it hurt. He couldn't get through to my heart on that side either and snarkily asked if I'd had a clot on the left, that I'd neglected to mention. I told him that I hadn't had, to my knowledge. All I really wanted to tell him, at that point, was that I'd see his ass in court.

Post-procedure they used plugs and sandbags but I had to lie flat for 4 hours since they'd opened both sides. When I rose and put the weight on my leg the plug on the right let go and I began to hemorrhage. The nurse used her fingers on the blood vessel for 30 minutes until she could let go long enough for the C clamp to be positioned. 2 and a half hours later they allowed me to try again and I managed to get out of there and back to our friends' house a short 14 hours after I was admitted for day surgery.

The hemotoma was black from under my right breast to below my knee and wrapped around the inside half of my thigh. It took about 6 weeks to go away. I recieved an apology from the cardiologist that did the procedure. I told my cardio that he had to promise that that man wouldn't lay hands on me again.

It turns out, if my cardiologist had done the procedure on me that day, I would have had it through my arm and been out in an hour after the cath.

Thankfully, my experience is NOT the gold standard of heart catheterizations.

Sorry for the long post.

 

[ALCapshaw2]

Pamela,

Can you send me an e-mail through VR.com?

I'd like to comment on your 'adventure' in a non-public manner. My PM mailbox is full.

'AL Capshaw'

 

[pamela]

Pamela,

Can you send me an e-mail through VR.com?

I'd like to comment on your 'adventure' in a non-public manner. My PM mailbox is full.

'AL Capshaw'

I'm not sure my Outlook connected to my server properly. If you don't get an email fairly soon let me know and I'll send you one through my hotmail account.

 

[Susan BAV]

I'm new to post but have been following this site for several months. I'm scheduled for a mitral valve repair on October 22nd at Mayo in Rochester by Dr. Schaff. I'm having my cath procedure done the morning before surgery. Evidentally Dr. Schaff has studied this and it causes no problems to do it the same day. I'm thrilled as it saves me another trip to Rochester from the Twin Cities. I have to thank you all for the valuable information I've gained from reading this site.

Welcome to the site; glad you found it pre-op. Hope all goes well for you. Take care and please post again.