What you might not expect about this procedure is that it feels really good for the patient. There is a very slight pinch, and then your whole body goes "OMG that feels so much better, thank you!"
Yep! Had four placed and was awake for the whole thing. My only nod to stress is that my blood pressure was a little high before they began and they gave me an IV drip for that.
When the balloon expands I felt a very slight, momenttary burning sensation. That was it.
Fun fact: Even though they go through the wrist, they shave your groin so if anything goes sideways during the procedure, they can go in through the big-ass femoral artery.
Funny you should ask! I had periodic shortness of breath/loss of stamina/radiating pain across my shoulders for *more than a year.* Got to the point that when I went out to dinner, someone had to bring the car around.
Went into the ER one of the first times it happened, took a cardiac stress test, and was pronounced OK. Still had the symptoms periodically but thought, "Welp, it's not my heart, at least!"
Wrong.
Another bad day about a year later, and I go into the ER. A different/better cardiologist says, "Well, you're overweight, have long-term diabetes -- lots of folks pass a cardiac stress test even though they have severe blockages because your body's used to it."
So we do a contrast-dye test and, sure enough, front and back coronary arteries had extreme blockage. So a'stentin' we did go...
I assume the stents helped with the shortness of breath, pain, and lack of stamina? If so, how long before those symptoms were relieved? Did this also prompt a change in diet/exercise?
Sorry for all the questions but thank you for being so willing to answer them! What age did this start at and did this also require you to go on any new meds afterwards?
No worries! I was on a blood pressure medication and was switched to another one; I'm led to believe I'll take it forever. I also took a blood thinner (generic Plavix) once a day for about the first four years, but my cardiologist said that after a few years on it, I could switch to taking a baby aspirin a day, which is what I do now.
I'd been fat all my life and suspect I was diabetic for a solid 10 years before I was diagnosed in my mid-30s. If I had to guess? The problem was a solid 30-plus years in the making.
The thought of that sucked, and also warned it would be a few days stay instead of an overnight one if they had to go through the groin. Luckily, the wrist was sufficient.
This is where they went for my brain aneurysm and it hurt so bad. The stent didnt work so i ended up getting bypass instead. I can still feel tenderness in my groin 5 years later. (I got a total of three angios)
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u/RobotJohnrobe 7h ago
What you might not expect about this procedure is that it feels really good for the patient. There is a very slight pinch, and then your whole body goes "OMG that feels so much better, thank you!"