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I need a heart cath done and a echo for checking my heart valves.
I went to my cardiologist yesterday and she ordered a heart cath and echo of the heart to check the valves. My lungs still feel heavy which she said is pressure in the chest. She doubled my Lipitor to 40 mg. She also put me on a new blood pressure pill. She ordered nitroglycerin pills for my chest pressure. I’m kind of nervous never having a heart cath. What should I expect? Any tips would be appreciated.
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Honestly, and having had an angiogram first to check for blockages, followed by two ablations to treat atrial fibrillation, it's a breeze. Okay....that's never true when you have to get up to that hospital hallway by 0700 and wait to be called in to get undressed and hooked up with an IV, and then rest on a bed until they come to wheel you into the cath lab....who enjoys that? But the procedure is a breeze. The operating room is chilly, you could say freezing, and that's because the gowned techs and physicians get too hot. A hot doctor is distracted....you don't want that. So, you'll find it chilly. On your back, they ask if you'd like sedation. They'll administer it if you wish through the IV. I declined because I knew they'd use a local around the incision. Mind you, this was only for the angiogram. You may have to be put out with propofol, but that's like taking a nap. Maybe the scariest part is when they put the mask over your mouth and nose, but you'll know its part of the anesthetic procedure. Just still yourself, be calm, trust these experts, and you'll wake up back in your cubicle.
Either way, there's nothing to fear. I'm an inquisitive guy who has to know..,so I declined the sedation and almost enjoyed the whole experience of the angiogram. I felt the catheter shoot up my vein, inside my arm, but then the sensation stopped when it reached my heart. There's no nerves past the armpit.
For me, the tough part, whether catheterized through the groin or the wrist, it's the lying-flat-on-your-back part for three hours or so, unmoving, with a heavy compress on the incision point, so that it can seal with a plug. If you've been administered propofol to knock you out, they'll want you up and to walk around....AFTER...you have had something to drink and to eat to see if you can keep it down. They want you to then walk around the ward to ensure you can sustain adequate blood pressure. If that checks out, they call your ride and that person comes to fetch you to take you home.
That's it! In by 0700, probably to wait two/three hours until your time comes (remember they have emergency cases as well), and you should be home by 1600 hours at the latest, although my first ablation it was closer to 1900 hours because I wasn't wheeled in to the cath lab until almost noon.
It's a breeze!
I’d rather be knocked out for the procedure. I’m the first patient in that day at 5:30 am. It’s on December 10. Would they do a stent if I need one? Or is that a separate procedure?
If I don’t take sedation how do I keep my BP from elevating?
@riflemanz64 I can't answer that, but the attending anesthetist is the person who is supposed to monitor your vitals. They know what to do if you are moving outside of normal parameters and will react swiftly.
@riflemanz64 As far as I know, they normally call an angiogram a single operation. It's a fact-finding assessment, and from there they have a conference or two to decide what, if anything, needs to be done for you. Then, if you need further intervention, they contact you and get your consent, at which they schedule you. So, AFAIK, separate procedures. You CAN ask if they'd consider doing a stent right away, but you need the materials and the team willing to intervene that way on the fly. So,.......ask.