chest pain and hard to breathe, I need some help here
- Thread starter retnav7696
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Oh, retnav, I am SO glad to hear this! And I'm glad we were able to give you some moral support for not accepting a diagnosis of reflux, when your symptoms were pretty clearly not that at all.
OP
retnav7696
Registered
When I get the disc I will upload it so all can see. They gave me a booklet with the stent information in it. Each stent has its own barcode. One was 3.50 mm X 33 MM and the other was 3.00 mm X 18 mm. The picture that the doc had drawn for me was showing a large artery on the right front of the heart before it split off in a different direction. And the other was on the left side of the heart. Yes I know that probably doesn't do you much good but hopefully the disc will when I get it. I did get chewed on a bit by the doctor for doing the running. I told him I needed to know if he fixed me. I asked if i could go back to work Monday the 20th of December (this coming Monday) and he said it was up to me. After running down then up the stairs and back to the room I felt great. No shortness of breath, no pain anywhere. It felt GREAT! Thanks to all for the input and all of the info/support you gave me. I really do appreciate it! I will get the disc uploaded ASAP! I can't remember if I told all but they went in through my right wrist and not through my groin.
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Great news. Never take the word of one person in such serious issues. A second and a third opinion are always an option. You should also send a copy of the disc to the one who diagnosed reflux. They may learn something.
ScubaNurse758
Contributor
DDM, sounds like they stented the RCA, but I'd also like to know what other vessel they fixed.
Retnav, congrats on being all fixed up! I know it feels like a huge load off your shoulders (and chest). And as for your running, when I was doing cardiac interventions one of the hardest parts of the job was keeping people in bed for their bedrest and keeping them in the hospital overnite, they were always ready to get out and go! Just out of curiosity, what were the names of the stents? I saw they are drug-eluting, but there are a few choices in that category. And did the interventionalist tell you your EF? Sorry, cant help but ask a few questions. Kudos on being proactive and pushing until you got the right diagnoses.
P.S. I'm sure they already told you, but make sure to keep your stent cards with you like you would you drivers license, if you ever have anymore chest pain that will get you a go to the front of the line ticket in the ER and will also help the docs should you (and hopefully you wont) end up needing anymore cardiac workup in the future.
Jordan.
Retnav, congrats on being all fixed up! I know it feels like a huge load off your shoulders (and chest). And as for your running, when I was doing cardiac interventions one of the hardest parts of the job was keeping people in bed for their bedrest and keeping them in the hospital overnite, they were always ready to get out and go! Just out of curiosity, what were the names of the stents? I saw they are drug-eluting, but there are a few choices in that category. And did the interventionalist tell you your EF? Sorry, cant help but ask a few questions. Kudos on being proactive and pushing until you got the right diagnoses.
P.S. I'm sure they already told you, but make sure to keep your stent cards with you like you would you drivers license, if you ever have anymore chest pain that will get you a go to the front of the line ticket in the ER and will also help the docs should you (and hopefully you wont) end up needing anymore cardiac workup in the future.
Jordan.
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OP
retnav7696
Registered
They are the Cypher sirolimus-eluting Coronary stents by Cordis. The doc used a marker and wrote LCX on the 3.00 mm X 18. mm and on the other stent he wrote RCA (3.50 mm X 33 mm). On the inside of the card he wrote LCX and RCA as being the sites? Does that make any sense to you? I am lost! LOL BUT I FEEL GREAT this morning!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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OP
retnav7696
Registered
Hey ScubaNurse758 what is a EF? I'm a little slow so you got to spell it out for me LOL. Email me and I will send you the serial numbers if you need them. Retnav7696@hotmail.com
RCA = right coronary artery, LCX = left circumflex artery. The left circ is a branch of the left main coronary artery. Google "coronary arteries" for images and you'll find some great diagrams if you're interested.
The RCA supplies the right side of the heart with blood. The right heart receives blood from the body and pumps it to the lungs. If the RCA was almost completely blocked, that means that the muscle of your right heart wasn't getting enough blood and couldn't pump efficiently, especially with exertion. The left circ supplies the left atrium, part of the left ventricle, and in some people supplies the heart's internal pacemaker. It's hard to tell what effect the 70% blockage in the left circ had - ScubaNurse is a cardiac type and can probably address that in more detail, but it sounds as if you had a lot of collateral circulation in your heart, otherwise that RCA would have caused you more problems. Do you exercise regularly (that is, before you started having the chest pain)?
The RCA supplies the right side of the heart with blood. The right heart receives blood from the body and pumps it to the lungs. If the RCA was almost completely blocked, that means that the muscle of your right heart wasn't getting enough blood and couldn't pump efficiently, especially with exertion. The left circ supplies the left atrium, part of the left ventricle, and in some people supplies the heart's internal pacemaker. It's hard to tell what effect the 70% blockage in the left circ had - ScubaNurse is a cardiac type and can probably address that in more detail, but it sounds as if you had a lot of collateral circulation in your heart, otherwise that RCA would have caused you more problems. Do you exercise regularly (that is, before you started having the chest pain)?
ScubaNurse758
Contributor
EF, or LVEF, is short for Left Ventricular Ejection Fraction, and is a percentage expression of the pumping ability (strength) of the heart, specifically the left ventricle, which pumps the oxygenated blood out of the heart and into the body. A normal ejection fraction is between 60% and 70%. Heart failure (a "weak heart") is classified as an EF less than 40%. The good news is, if you didnt get a whole heap of information and teaching on heart failure before you left the hospital, then you probably dont have it. As for the circ blockage affecting the left side of the heart, there is a good chance there was no damage done to the heart muscle, because even though a 70% blockage sounds like a lot, most interventionalist wont intervene on a blockage until its greater than 60% occluded. Also the fact that your EKG's were normal is a good sign no long-term damage was done. But as always, I'd double check with the MD that did the intervention.
Jordan.
Jordan.
OP
retnav7696
Registered
I have 7 different appointments starting the 3rd of January until the 23rd of February. I have to take 150 mg of plavix (75 mg in the morning and 75 mg at night for a week) Then is 75 mg a day for a year. 325 mg of aspirin for a month then back to 81 mg a day forever i guess. The doc also said to postpone my shoulder surgery for a year because of the plavix. That is going to be tough because it is hurting and driving me crazy. They gave me hydrocodone to take for my shoulder. Now I have to take a wad of pills everyday. The doc said I could do whatever i can tolerate for now. so i have started walking a mile a day . I will start running after 30 days if all goes well. The 95-99 % blockage was on the right side of my heart and the 70-75% was on the left side.
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