God's speed Menno.
Back in 2011, I wrote this title about a cardio problem. And now, 11 yrs
later, things repeated themselves.
In hindsight, I must have had some signals I didn’t get. Easier tired than before, an afternoon nap. And, trying to find clever ways to make heavy tasks easier. I’ll write this week’s experience because it’s not as common as ‘chest pain’
Last Monday I lifted endless wheelbarrels with leaves. I tried to clean my lawn before the rain would come. During the night I went to the bathroom and when I returned to bed, I felt a nasty pain in both my shoulders; as if I been working above my head. I went to sleep again (despite the pain, I fell asleep) and on Tuesday morning all started fine. In fact, I’d forgotten about the pain in my shoulders. Until I walked into the kitchen.
Again the pain in my shoulders hit me. So hard that I was unable to breath! Still, there was no sign of
pain in my chest. But the whole situation was
so severe that I called an ambulance. The lady on the phone recognized the symptoms.
The ambulance professionals reacted quickly when they’d entered the house (and oh
man, it took aaaaages before the ambulance arrived; exactly 12 mins… But ot felt differently! My BP was 210/130(!) and a dose of nitro under my tongue should help. Too good in fact. In no-time it dropped to 95/60(!). A very nasty experience! I felt completely helpless I can tell you. They gave me
something (I have no idea what, I was too far gone) to balance it out. That worked in seconds they said and I was ‘back’ again.
With ‘blues and twos’ to the hospital where they found out that I didn’t had a heart attack, but one of my artiries is blocked; it looks like a string of pearls, the one with the stent is A+ and the third one is good. And my body had made new artiries near the stented one. That was considered positive by the surgeo who did the tests.
Take-away from this: you don’t have experience chest pain when you’re having cardio problems.
Up for a new stent tomorrow 11 am. I’ll keep you posted.
God's speed Menno.
When you look long into an abyss, the abyss looks long into you.........
Best wishes for the procedure and a speedy recovery.
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Happy to hear you've had swift treatment, sort your sh!t out, the SAAB needs completing.
Get to 100% soon
Good luck Menno.
You deffo did the right thing in calling for help.
Scary stuff. Glad you got treatment fast. All the best for a fast recovery.
Best wishes for a speedy recovery and thanks for highlighting the non-typical (as far as I knew) symptoms.
Thanks for sharing and get well soon Menno.
Hope all goes to plan Menno
If in any doubt it’s always better to call for assistance. Get well soon, best wishes for tomorrow.
Blimey, glad you're back, sounds close...get well soon.
Get well soon…. All the best
Speedy recovery and best wishes to you.
A thought provoking read so thanks for sharing.
Wow, good luck sir. Scary stuff and thanks for sharing.
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Hope it goes well Menno, speedy recovery
Speedy recovery indeed Menno, and thanks for the warning to us all.
Get well soon friend.
Get well soon!
Dave E
Skating away on the thin ice of a new day
I wish you a speedy recovery Menno. Keep us posted.
Wow, sounds like a close call there. The best of luck with the procedure and I hope you are back on your feet soon.
You’ve been lucky, I’m sure it will be all good from here in comparison to what could have happened! All the best, you’ll be back to it in no time! :o)
An all too familiar story for me. I had pains in my arms, felt really bad and thought it was an infection that I would get over, until the second day when I decided that I needed some help to do so and drove myself to my GP's surgery. I left there in an ambulance having seen the lights go out and being told when they came back..."Oh good, glad you're back with us. We were having problems getting permission to give you a greater shock as we've lost the mobile phone signal."
Blue lights to St George's, straight into the cath lab, several stents and several days later I was discharged. Several years later and I'm still here.
Very glad to hear that you caught your problem in time, Menno. It's no fun being in hospital but it shouldn't be for too long. It sounds like you're in for a dose of radiation and probably adenosine while having your new stent implanted. Spare a thought for the operators who do this daily. They get some of the highest radiation doses as they work close to the X-rays used to picture your heart while they work to position the stent.
I second your observation that chest pain is not necessarily involved with cardiac problems. Yes, I was cold and clammy but there was no vice-like feeling in my chest.
It sounds as though you've been through the routine with a stent once before. So, keep taking the tablets and try not to over do it again. Hopefully they will put you on a course of cardio-physiotherapy. That will help you to determine what your limitations may be, as well as getting you back to maximum activity in a safe manner.
All the very best and I hope that the family are not too taken aback by this.
Which hospital are you?
Get well!
Get well soon Menno, really sorry to hear about your health problems, take care buddy.
Good luck, Menno, and prayers to you. I also had a similar experience 12 years ago...pain in my left clavicle...arterial blockage...no heart attack, and three stents added. So far so good.
Hope the stent insertion goes well and get well soon.
Abnormal pains can be very confusing: Is it a twisted back/arm/shoulder, a trapped nerve, or yes, is my heart short of blood supply?
Back when I had a heart attack in 2015, over the course of a week I felt a growing pressure right at the spot just above the top of my sternum. It became more and more uncomfortable, gradually grew into a 'pain with pressure' sensation, until it became too much to ignore. It wasn't going away. Stent got put in quickly once I got a taxi to hospital.
First, thanks for all the comments amd support.
I’m off to a special cardio hospital (‘cardio hub?’) for the procedure later this morning. It’s in a town south of Utrecht. There are several ‘hubs’ like that, spread across the country. We have ‘m (e.g.)for oncology and eye surgery as well. Remember, we’re in a small country. A hub is never more than 35-45 mins away.
Nervous, no not really. It’s not the first time and during the previous procedure I had a lot more pain. In fact I only realized how bad it was then when the ‘blues and twos’ came on and they started running with the gurney with me on it once we were in the ‘hub’.
This time I feel better than the previous time. Still, doctors and me, are convinced that it needs to be
solved asap.
As said, not nervous now. But it will come when I’m on the table, I’m sure!
Good luck Menno and get well soon!
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Good luck for the procedure later on today.
In the Sotadic Zone, apparently.
12minute ambulance- obviously not living in the UK then.
Hope your back on you feet soon chap!
Sorry to hear this Menno, hoping all goes well with the op and you’re back to full health soon.
Best Regards - Peter
I'd hate to be with you when you're on your own.
My best wishes to you and do please update us all when you can.
R
Ignorance breeds Fear. Fear breeds Hatred. Hatred breeds Ignorance. Break the chain.
A bad experience to suffer. The stent should bring you back to good health.
Good luck.
Good luck and good health
All the best mate, the NHS are still superb.
Oddly enough, I required an ambulance twice recently and they turned up both times very quickly. Maybe I was lucky, but I couldn’t fault the service despite what seems to be the norm these days. From chatting to the two attending teams it seems that even though the call handlers do their best to filter out the non-urgent/essential calls there are many in the country who consider an ambulance to be a hospital on call taxi.
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Horrible experience but at least you are still with us Menno.
All the best for your curative surgery mate!
Cheers,
Neil.
Wishing you well Menno,
Good to hear your humour is still strong and healthy.
Rest up and good luck with the procedure.
Andy
There I was in the back of an ambulance........
Did anyone else read the thread title in Michael Cain's voice?
Good luck with it, and speedy return to normal
Quick update. One 2.5cm stent inserted and I feel A+ at the moment.
More info later, guys!
Phew that was close. Glad you're on the mend.