The Family

Well, my doctor called today. I was expecting a call on Monday, and when it did not come I thought that probably meant the results were ok… but she called today. There are 2 sets of pictures for her to look at: pre-stress and post-stress. The pre-stress pictures are fine. The post-stress pictures are, again, iffy.

Last time i had this test done I moved (because i was told to move!) during the test, so the problem indicated was probably not real, but it had bothered my doctor. This time that problem was not there, which means that it really was just the moving that caused it.

But this time there is indication of another problem. Unfortunately it is in an area of the heart that, in obese people, often gives a false positive. The post-stress pictures show that an area of my heart is not getting enough blood…. meaning a blockage. Perhaps it means a blockage that is not big enough that it hinders blood flow when i am at rest, but when the need is greater, not enough blood gets thru. On the other hand, it could be nothing.

There is risk to my heart if a part of it is short on blood… that part can die and scar over.

The doctor recommends we do an angioplasty. That is a fairly simple, fairly common surgery. The doctor runs a probe up a vein in the groin to the heart and has a look. If there is a blockage, they can take care of it. If there is not, she tells me it would be good to know that for sure.

It seems that a blockage makes a heart attack more likely. It also makes exercise riskier. If we can know for sure that there is nothing there I can push without wondering if i am hurting my heart or running a risk. She says that a blockage takes years to form so i could feel free for years.

Problem is that this is surgery. No matter how common, there is risk. In any surgery there is risk from the anesthesia. This risk is greater due to my weight.

In this surgery there is risk of damage to the leg where the probe is inserted, This can be anything from a huge bruise to knocking something loose which goes down the leg causing lack of circulation (I know of a man this happened to, he had to have his foot amputated when it died due to non-circulation, and yes, he had been haunting his doctor and emergency rooms with the problem – it was not something he ignored.) or goes up to the brain causing a stroke. This risk is greater due to my weight.

There is also a risk of damage to the blood vessels. I wonder about my blood vessels because i have inherited some of my mother’s problems with veins. Her doctor wanted to do this procedure to her and could not. They tried but her veins collapsed around the probe every time. Of course the damage they are referring to when they talk about the risk is a nick, I think, which i am not too worried about. If i were worried about the skill of my surgeon, i would not have her operating on me.

There is a risk of smilar damage to the heart.

There is risk to the kidneys. It seems that they have to put in some stuff that is very hard on kidneys. My kidneys, she says, could”probably handle it.” Only I just had radioactive stuff for this test. My kidneys anf liver are stressed from that. And i have kidney pain from time to time. It goes away when i concentrate on drinking water. I had a kidney stone. I do not know if the stress on the kidneys is worth it.

I told her i needed to think about it. I am thinking.

I know that i have more shortness of breath when i exert, more than even a year ago, maybe. It seems that way to me. Occasionally, if i push, it feels like more than just being out of shape. It would be nice to know for sure that i could push myself.

I wonder, if a blockage takes years to develop, why is this blockage showing this time, serious enough to merit surgery, when it did not show up at all last time. If it is a small amount of blockage, it seems like there should be other ways of dealing with it. She talks about a percentage of blockage. I am not sure what percent she thinks this is. If it takes so long for blockage to develop, snd this blockage did not even show up 10 months ago, surely it cannot be that bad now.

They are always talking about plavix (sp?) on tv… it is supposed to prevent blockage. It seems like there ought to be somehting i could do to clean out a small blockage. Of course i find lots of things that claim they do online… but do i want to risk my health on something that could be a scam?

She is supposed to call me again tomorrow. I will ask her more questions.

I will ask her about how urgent it is that i have this surgery and would it be better to wait if i were to lose some weight. She is talking about diet pills (which also stress the kidneys). If i took diet pills i ought to lose some.

I wish the test results had been clear. It would be much easier to decide if they were clear.