The Catheterization of My Heart

The next morning at about 8:30 technicians came in and ran more tests in anticipation of the main event; the catherization of my heart.

This is the most invasive and conclusive of tests to determine whether you've had a heart attack, and the extent of any artery blockage in the heart that could cause future heart attacks.

I was wheeled into a cold operating room clad only in the standard issue hospital gown, with a sheet thrown over me. One of the nurses shaved the groin area of my right leg. A different cardiologist appeared and introduced himself. He was an invasive cardiologist, the kind that do this type of surgery.

He explained what he was going to do and how I might feel. He cautioned me once more that the catheterization itself could cause a heart attack. You have to be awake for the cath in case the doctor needs feedback from you. I was then locally anesthetized in the groin area that was shaven. I could feel that area go numb after a few minutes.

The groin area into which the surgeon would enter was sanitized. After asking me one more time if I was OK and ready to go, the cardiologist slowly began to insert what looked like a metal wire into the groin. He could watch it on a TV screen as it entered because at the very tip of the wire a camera was attached. It was so miniscule that James Bond wouldn't find it. I could not see the TV screen since I had to lay on my back.

Though the outside area of the groin was numb I could feel the wire snaking up inside me, as the physician threaded the wire through my veins, all the way from the top of my thigh into the heart. While he moved it through and about the arteries of the heart, instead of looking at me he was intently viewing the TV screen.The camera could, and was, taking pictures of the arteries whenever the cardiologist elected to do so.

I could feel the wire moving through the heart but felt no pain. After about 20 minutes to one-half hour, he slowly threaded wire out through the groin where he had entered.

When I asked him what he had seen he told me he would study the results and that my other cardiologist would talk to me about them. I was taken to a recovery room and later transferred back to my regular room in the cardiac care ward. I was no longer in intensive care.

Please visit our website at www.codacharity.org and make a donation to our charity. It allows us to help other young people with these kinds of problems. Thanks.

Next time: The results of the catheterization

The Bad News and a Sleepless Night at the Hospital

Picking up from my last posting about my sudden trip to the hospital, I had packed a small bag of toiletries and taken a book with me to the hospital.

As I said, I was given another EKG in the ER at the hospital. We were living in Indianapolis at the time and the hospital was St. Vincent. I was moved to intensive care and they performed a sonogram on the heart. It is the same kind of imaging device that they use for pregnant women nowadays so they can see their babies.

You could actually hear my heartbeat and see the image of the beating heart as the technician moved the device around my jellied chest. I asked the technician what it looked like and she said she couldn't tell. I would need to talk to the doctor about the results.

I thought I would be talking to my family doctor, but I was introduced to my first cardiologist later that afternoon. My heart health was well beyond care by a GP. I was now in the hands of a doctor who specialized in heart care.

The cardiologist was a fine man and had an air of friendly authority. What he told me, though, was terrifying. He said all of the results so far indicated that I had major blockages of my heart's arteries. They would need to do one more test to confirm the extent of the blockages and a future course of action.

A catherization test is major surgery in itself. I'll describe it in the next post. The doctor told me that it is invasive surgery and could cause a heart attack itself. However, it was the only way to know the true extent of my problem. I consented to it and I was scheduled for a catherization the very next day.

Sleep was out of the question that night. I was able to see my wife for half an hour. The doctor had met with her also and explained the situation. My little two year old girl was not able to come into the Intensive Care Unit. We wouldn't want her to see her Daddy this way anyway.

That night was long and sleepless. Reading a book was out of the question. All I could do is worry about what was to come, and especially about my wife and baby girl.

It was probably the worst night of my life, except for the next night.

More Breaking News!!!

Our second granchild is going to be a boy! Our daughter and son-in-law in North Carolina are having a boy. Their due date is January 2.

As I mentioned in a previous post our son and daughter-in-law are due to have a little girl (bambina) November 30. He is scheduled back from Iraq in October and they will have her at his base in California. We are so lucky.

And I'm the luckiest of all because I wouldn't be here to see them if I hadn't received my heart transplant from my generous donor and his family.

Only through organ donation is it possible.

Visit our website at www.cocacharity.org and contribute to our help to others.

Organ Donation Myth # 2

I have seen at least one semi-hysterical posting on organ donation that involves how organs are recovered when a person is an organ donor. It said that the body would be eviscerated ("torn to pieces" according to the dictionary).

Nothing could be further from the truth. As with any operation, such as an appendectomy, an incision is made to recover the organs. The incision is then closed, stitched up, like any other incision.

The actual operation to recover the organs is so non-invasive that no matter what organs are recovered a person can have an open casket wake or viewing if the family wishes.

I have the very scars that a deceased donor would have. You would never know it unless I took off my shirt.

You are welcome to visit our website at www.codacharity.org

The Doctor Appointment

As I've said in my previous posts, I was 28 when I had my first heart attack, 30 when I had my second. My ability to walk in cold, winter weather by now was severely restricted.

I went to my doctor appointment as scheduled around mid-December. I was pale, had lost more weight and was finally convinced that something was wrong. I didn't know how seriously wrong until the doctor saw me.

He listened to my heart with his stethoscope and immediately ordered an EKG. An EKG is the most unsophisticated medical measurement of the health of your heart. If it indicates a heart abnormality you are very bad off.

My EKG was so bad that the doctor wanted to put me in the hospital that day, directly from his office. He expressed shock at how badly my heart was functioning at my age. He told me I was a prime "sudden death" candidate.

He allowed me to go home to get some personal items and then I went directly to the ER at a local hospital. They did a follow-up EKG at the hospital and immediately moved me into the intensive care unit. They were afraid I could have another heart attack at any time.

Quite a wake up call for a young man who hadn't been treated in a hospital since birth.

The Christmas Party Heart Attack

A few days before my doctor's appointment, I attended my wife's Christmas office party. It was held at a posh private club downtown.

After a drink, together with a few introductions to her co-workers, I started sweating profusely. I went to the restroom to try to cool down by splashing water in my face. It didn't work.

I started feeling nauseous and the ringing of my elbow began again, just as it had two years before on Thanksgiving Day. I felt so nauseous that I told my wife I had to go home. We'd only been there 30 minutes or so.

She became concerned and wanted to drive me home. I told her that I didn't want her to leave the party and made sure she had arranged to get home after the party with someone else.

I walked to the parking garage and got in my car. I promptly fell asleep (or fainted) as soon as I got in the car and before I even started the engine. I was unconscious for at least two hours. The elbow pain which is so insistent that it drives you crazy ws gone.

As I look back on it now, and as cardiologists have confirmed since, I was having my second heart attack, this time at the age of 30. I have no idea how I survived. I just knew when I woke up that something radical had happened. One drink doesn't knock you out for two hours.

I got home only an hour before my wife. I was in bed and didn't let her know what happened since I felt there was nothing she could do for me. Once again, we probably should have gone to the ER. I decided to just wait until the doctor appointment.

Next: The Price of Neglect and Denial.