Rich Z (WebSlave)

That's quite a saga. I'm glad you survived it. Hopefully your take may help someone else.

Idk why it's so, but it is apparently not unusual to have heart problems manifest the morning after unusual exertion. At least that's what my friend the ER doctor told me... Seems weird to me, but maybe that's from seeing too many TV versions of heart attacks. In any case, we're all pulling for you to be "one and done." [emoji3590]



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Maybe I am just getting lazy. Earlier today I walked some compost down to one of the bamboo groves. I dunno, can't be more than 300 yards or so round trip. I figure the path we use(d) for a bike trail is about a half mile, and that sort of runs around the bamboo patch I walked down to. So that should be a pretty accurate questimate, I think. But heck, I am notoriously bad at estimating distances and such.

Anyway, I get back to the house and felt like I needed a nap. So I did. Sheesh... I feel like I have aged 10 years since Memorial Day.

But at least I guess I am still kicking.

I still don't understand why I don't feel like I have more energy after that stent was put into my right coronary artery. That should have increased blood flow to the heart, right?
 
WebSlave said:
Maybe I am just getting lazy. Earlier today I walked some compost down to one of the bamboo groves. I dunno, can't be more than 300 yards or so round trip. I figure the path we use(d) for a bike trail is about a half mile, and that sort of runs around the bamboo patch I walked down to. So that should be a pretty accurate questimate, I think. But heck, I am notoriously bad at estimating distances and such.
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I too, am notoriously poor at estimating distance. But, you are not getting lazy. That is part of your body "reacclimatizing to your new normal."

WebSlave said:
Anyway, I get back to the house and felt like I needed a nap. So I did. Sheesh... I feel like I have aged 10 years since Memorial Day.
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Awe, it will get better, I promise!!

WebSlave said:
But at least I guess I am still kicking.
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That is very true and that is the right outlook!!

WebSlave said:
I still don't understand why I don't feel like I have more energy after that stent was put into my right coronary artery. That should have increased blood flow to the heart, right?
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You are correct. But, it still takes your body a while to adjust. Plus, you will need another stent, correct? If so, you will also feel better, when your heart and or body has increased blood flow, overall.
 
Well, the question was asked of me, and I didn't have an answer for it, if two or my coronary arteries were (one is still) blocked, what about all the rest of the arteries and veins coming to and from the heart? Wouldn't they be affected by the same issue that blocked off the coronary arteries? Or is that a question that would be better off not asked in front of Connie?
 
WebSlave said:
Well, the question was asked of me, and I didn't have an answer for it, if two or my coronary arteries were (one is still) blocked, what about all the rest of the arteries and veins coming to and from the heart? Wouldn't they be affected by the same issue that blocked off the coronary arteries? Or is that a question that would be better off not asked in front of Connie?
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Rich, Google "coronary artery anatomy". Those arteries are tiny, when compared to major vessels like the aorta, femoral, etc. That's why they're the first to become blocked.

I hope that you start to feel better. My brother had two stents put in at the same time, and said it took a few months before he had more energy. We credit the FAA with saving his life. He's a commercial airline pilot, and because he's also diabetic, the FAA required an echocardiogram for renewal of his Airman Medical Certificate. An abnormality in the echo prompted cardiac catheterization, where two arteries had 90%, and 95% blockages. What's weird, is that he was completely asymptomatic, and never would have sought out having those diagnostic tests done.

Anyway, they forced him to retire, as the FAA only allows pilots one stent. He was as active as you are, and never had a clue that there was a serious problem.
 
Insomniac101 said:
Rich, Google "coronary artery anatomy". Those arteries are tiny, when compared to major vessels like the aorta, femoral, etc. That's why they're the first to become blocked.

I hope that you start to feel better. My brother had two stents put in at the same time, and said it took a few months before he had more energy. We credit the FAA with saving his life. He's a commercial airline pilot, and because he's also diabetic, the FAA required an echocardiogram for renewal of his Airman Medical Certificate. An abnormality in the echo prompted cardiac catheterization, where two arteries had 90%, and 95% blockages. What's weird, is that he was completely asymptomatic, and never would have sought out having those diagnostic tests done.

Anyway, they forced him to retire, as the FAA only allows pilots one stent. He was as active as you are, and never had a clue that there was a serious problem.
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Probably a good thing he didn't sink a mailbox post into the ground. I know for a fact that that will weed out us folks with clogged coronary arteries. :)

Can't recall if I mentioned it before, but one of the cardiologists that I saw while in Intensive Care told me that I had an unusual configuration of the heart arteries. Only something like 15% of the population have a similar arrangement. Perhaps that helped me survive? So does that make me a mutant? X-man material? Wish I had other powers other than "able to survive a heart attack". Telekinesis would be cool. Wouldn't even have to get up to make a sandwich.

So, I wonder if I am going to have to wait for that second stent and then a few months later to start feeling more normal? I guess it is just as well. The yellow flies are pretty much gone around here, but it has been pretty darn hot outside. Connie is scared to death I am going to have another heart attack just walking down to the mailbox. When I am puttering around in the garage or the old reptile building, I can't be gone too long before she starts getting really worried about me. One of my mosquito magnets appears to need a new fuel nozzle put in, so that is on my list of things to do today, IF I feel ambitious enough. It is only a 15 minute job, so not too taxing. And I guess it isn't good to be a couch potato 100% of the day. I am actually up to 150 lbs, so I am no longer losing weight. But it certainly isn't muscle I am putting on. :(
 
Yeah, hard to say. The heart stays quiet, just doing its job, until it decides not to. You seem like you've been active all your life. Stayed a decent weight, and you two eat pretty healthy, judging from your past posts. Maybe we're all ticking time bombs!

Did your cardiologist put you on a low-dose aspirin regimen? Usually 81mg tablets, one a day. Because of my mom having a heart attack, and my brother's incident, my doctor said it couldn't hurt for me to start on it. Bayer even makes a separate product specifically for cardiac patients. Did they start you on a statin as well? (Lipitor, Zocor, Crestor)
 
Insomniac101 said:
Yeah, hard to say. The heart stays quiet, just doing its job, until it decides not to. You seem like you've been active all your life. Stayed a decent weight, and you two eat pretty healthy, judging from your past posts. Maybe we're all ticking time bombs!

Did your cardiologist put you on a low-dose aspirin regimen? Usually 81mg tablets, one a day. Because of my mom having a heart attack, and my brother's incident, my doctor said it couldn't hurt for me to start on it. Bayer even makes a separate product specifically for cardiac patients. Did they start you on a statin as well? (Lipitor, Zocor, Crestor)
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Yeah...

  • 81 mg low dose aspirin
  • 10 mg Prasugrel (blood thinner)
  • 80 mg Atorvastatin (I believe for cholesterol. Even though my cholesterol numbers have never been bad during my yearly blood letting checks)

Not sure that blood thinner is doing me good, since lately I seem to bruise a LOT easier than I have in the past. I could smack myself on the arm with a ball peen hammer and not get a bruise before all this. Not just a moderate impact or constant pressure in a small area will create a bruise. For instance, today I was putting some material on some brackets for my laptop and a mouse platform and I had to press in some plastic pins into holes to hold the fabric in place. Took a lot of pressure using my thumbs, and on my left hand the finger that wound up applying pressure from underneath got a bruise right at the crease of the fingertip. Then earlier I was carrying some stuff over from the garage to the old reptile building and I was carrying more items than I should have, so I was pressing them against my stomach with one arm as I fiddled to get my key out. Wound up with a silver dollar sized bruise on my stomach area from that.

Heck, I dunno. I always associated easy bruising with weak vein and artery walls. I have a call into my cardiologist (well one of them anyway) about this. Of course, my primary care physician called in for a refill of my Prasugrel supply, and she got me a 90 day supply of it. So if the cardiologist changes my prescription I'll have a bunch of useless pills on hand. And those things aren't cheap if you don't have insurance covering it. Sure would hate to waste them all. They don't have a mark on them to easily split them, neither. Well, maybe take one every other day instead of every day? :shrug01: Perhaps doctors don't worry about that since they get their commission anyway. :shrug01: :shrug01:

Hmm, I had one of the last of the yellow flies chew on my arm today, and drew blood. But I don't see a mark from that. Maybe with the blood thinner she got more than she bargained for and choked. :hehe:

We have a LOT of dragon flies around here lately, so I hope they are helping to keep the yellow fly and mosquito population in check. I talk to them a lot, and they seem like they aren't a bit afraid of humans. Probably my favorite insect type critter.
 
Talked with a cardiologist nurse today, and she said that easier bruising like I am experiencing is perfectly normal. Normal, maybe, but I sure don't like it.

I feel like I need to wrap rubber baby buggy bumpers all over me. I really, REALLY don't like feeling fragile. And, of course, that just makes Connie all the more worried about me.

Speaking of which, I had to walk down the road today to talk to the road grader, as apparently someone came down the road with a backhoe and widened our road in one spot. Anyway, I was talking with the guy for quite a while, and I see Connie coming out of the driveway to make sure I hadn't had another heart attack and passed out in the middle of the road. So she got worried because I was gone from sight for so long. But anyway, I had a nice long walk up and down our road for some exercise. Only had one yellow fly land on me, and she acted like she didn't know what to do while sitting on my arm. But I killed her anyway. No plans on making a pet out of a yellow fly.

Had to get up early this morning to take Connie to the oncologist office. Between that and the long walk, yeah, this feeble, fragile old man needed that nap..... :eek:
 
You've been through a lot, so please cut yourself some slack! You are going to be tired, and have low energy for awhile.

Regarding the bruising, it's common with anticoagulants, unfortunately. You don't want blood platelets clumping together, forming clots. Just be careful when working with tools, knives, or anything else that could cut you. The anti-clotting effects are good for your heart, but not good for helping wounds heal.

Poor Connie; another thing to worry about, but it's so good that you have each other. I couldn't imagine being ill, and by myself.
 
Insomniac101 said:
I couldn't imagine being ill, and by myself.
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Honestly, that is the terrible black void I find myself staring into every day when I am alone with my thoughts. Even if I didn't have this heart issue, it would be not even the slightest less painful.
 
Did some yard work yesterday, using the hedge trimmer on an extended pole to cut some weeks and grass in the front yard.

Then today, I was feeling bad watching a bunch of little pumelo plants Connie had planted from seed that were dying on me. I have been trying to take care of them, but they are in small containers with just peat moss, and they tend to be either too dry or too wet, with no inbetween. Connie planted about 50 of them, and I have lost at least a dozen of them. So I broke out the hedge trimmer thing and clear an area around Connie's pineapple plants and put most of them in the ground there. We had gotten rain earlier, so the ground was moist, and then after I planted them, we got another good soaking rain.

I also planted a few of them in the small plots I had been using with my abortive attempts to grow watermelon. I have a tough time giving up, so every now and again I will plant some seeds, being every hopeful I will get some watermelons out of them. So I am done with that. With those little pumelo trees now in those spots, I won't be tempted to give the watermelons another try.

So I have been giving myself a bit of a workout the last couple of days. But I have to be honest, I do have the heebie-jeebies wondering how I will feel the following morning. :ack2:
 
Wow, life has been throwing a lot at you lately. I hope things get better for you guys, Rich.
 
WebSlave said:
I have a tough time giving up.......With those little pumelo trees now in those spots, I won't be tempted to give the watermelons another try....
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That's absolutely genius! I'm gonna borrow that strategy.
WebSlave said:
So I have been giving myself a bit of a workout the last couple of days. But I have to be honest, I do have the heebie-jeebies wondering how I will feel the following morning. :ack2:
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That's the trick after a major health crisis or procedure, isn't it? Finding that very fine line between pushing yourself to improve, knowing you'll be tired in the immediate aftermath but stronger as a result of your efforts and pushing yourself too far, and finding that you've caused yourself harm, triggering slower healing or even a setback. It's a very difficult line to find. It's an even harder line to walk.

But it sounds like you are doing just that so far. I'm sure that your love for Connie is helping you do it. You're paying more attention to your own health so that you can be there for her, be there with her. That's good for both of you.

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WebSlave said:
Talked with a cardiologist nurse today, and she said that easier bruising like I am experiencing is perfectly normal. Normal, maybe, but I sure don't like it.
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Since I've been on heart meds one bump can make it look like I went 12 rounds with a 20 year old Mike Tyson. Skin very thin also. My arm is bandaged right now from bumping into a corner. Ripped skin back off my forearm pretty good. Oh and I bleed pretty darn good too.
 
Had an appointment with the cardiologist/surgeon who put the stent in my right coronary artery back on Memorial Day. Guy is easy to talk to and the conversation turned to my particular type of heart attack. He said that 50 percent of the people die in the ambulance on the way to the hospital. Then some don't survive the 48 hours after the surgery. He didn't give any percentages. And then after that some do not survive the following 30 day period. I think the cardiologist I talked to while in the ICU was pulling her punches when I asked her how close to the edge I had gotten. I was still in that 48 hour window then, and I guess she didn't want to alarm me. Thinking back, she did hesitate a bit before answering me.

I asked God to allow me to take care of Connie for the rest of her life, so I guess he heard me. He did tell me to trust him. I am thinking that I wasn't hallucinating when I heard him say that to me. I never had that sort of experience before, but I can't think of a time that I needed it more.
 
I hope and pray that you both have many years ahead to take care of each other and enjoy life.
 
Thank you.

I guess we will see what happens. I am going to have that second stent put in sometime next week. I asked the surgeon and he said that between every 800 and 1,000 procedures, there might be one (1) "complication" arise. I forgot to ask him how many procedures he has done since the last "complication". :eek:

But I guess these odds are better than going through another heart attack. Those odds don't seem so good. The doc said I should consider myself as a "HEART ATTACK SURVIVOR". Not everyone who has one can get to wear that T-shirt.
 
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