Last week I had the misfortune to have what I have been led to believe was a small myocardial infarction, which I am happy to report I have apparently survived.
In true doctor fashion I had been ignoring some minor chest discomfort until last Sunday week when a doctor friend insisted I go an be assessed at the local teaching hospital (RNSH) at which I had worked decades ago. My, have things changed!
Once I confessed to the emergency doctor that I had some chest discomfort things rolled on fast.
From 6:30pm to 7:30 I was examined, blood tests done and some potent analgesics were given while a cardiograph was done and assessed. – till now much as I expected might happen.
Then things ramped up a notch as I swiftly found myself in a
catheter lab surrounded by huge TV screens as various lines were inserted into arteries
and veins, and a team of experts assembled. (In the dark, surrounded by screens, the staff looked quite ghost-like!)
Despite the powerful ‘happy juice’ I recognised the screens were now filled with images of my heart and my coronary arteries – with the right one being apparently blocked part way down.
No worries – soon artery was dilated and a stent (tiny tube) was put where the block has been.
More pictures to ensure all of the heart was now supplied with blood.
An hour later (9:30) back in my more comfortable bed – the others in the cath are bloody hard – and very comfortable with no chest pain and the knowledge that all of my heart now has plenty of blood to keep on pumping with!
48 hours later I has kicked out of hospital, with some new tablets, to check in with my cardiologist in 4-6 weeks and to stay in touch with my GP!
So here I type to you – gentle reader – amazed at the tech in the catheter lab, the catheters and the stents – all of which are so new and so powerful in the hands of our experts we are really lucky. We all know just how much work has gone into developing all this and proving it up, but I reckon it was worth it.
All this ignores the amazing advances I witnessed during my stay in the use of ultrasound to image almost anything from eyes to prostates - just saying nothing of MRI and all the other innovations!
Well, I for one, is grateful, as is my 75 year old ticker, for all these advances!
They all really seem to work and keep us going! (I remember the days when the "heart attack" was 2 weeks rest and 2 weeks light duties! - times have really changed.)
Thanks to all for the apparent miracles!
David.
2 comments:
Very glad you made it through your heart episode in such fine fettle, David. And thank you for sacrificing yourself in order to do some first person research into the quality of technology deployed in NSW's healthcare system. Hope you are recovering very well indeed.
I'm all for informed commentary but I do think you are going a little beyond the call of duty in wanting your data source to be based on first hand knowledge :-).
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