Saying a prayer for you, Mushcreek...and sending a hug. Please hang in there.

Hugs.

Mush, first of all, good for you for taking control of the situation by listening to what your body was telling you.

Secondly, I would like to tell you that you should not write a script for a negative outcome. You're doing that and that's not a healthy habit to nurture.

A couple of years ago, my husband had some troublesome symptoms which led to a catheterization. Very frightening for us....his Dad suffered his first heart attack when he was my husband's age. It's easy to write a script.

My husband has a much, much healthier lifestyle than his father so has had that going for him. And after his procedure by a well respected cardiac specialist in my city, we felt super charged by his comments afterwards to me.

"Your husband has a good, strong heart."

By the way, his father lived for twenty years after his attack. I have a brother who though younger than I, has had three heart attacks. His cardiac issues have nothing to do with his siblings in any way. His were caused by medications he was given as a child which affected his teeth, skin, and vessels.

I wish you the best of outcomes, and encourage you to expect the best, not the worst.

Good for you pushing for further evaluation! Wishing you a successful outcome!

:)

Wishing you a good outcome. My SIL went in for cardiac tests last summer, happily they found no blockages. She was prescribed cardiac rehab, which consised mainly of riding a stationary bike. She lost lots of weight, looks and feels great now, and she walks everywhere (weather permitting). Anyhow, the time will pass and before you know it , the test will be done. Good luck!

The procedure is very simple.......I've had it. Do not be scared, be thankful that they listened to you and that they are doing something about it! You know your body better than anyone else. Looking forward to you reporting back.

So sorry you have to deal with this, but thank goodness you are! I have a friend who had a heart attack in his early 50s and he had the catherization, changed his lifestyle a lot and he's now in his 70s and still doing well.

When I get scared of medical procedures (type A personality that does not like to not be in control! If I could've removed my own gall bladder I would've!) I try to change my attitude and approach it with a sense of curiosity, wanting to know what the drugs do, the machines do, how it all works so I can marvel at these medical advances...and it does reduce my anxiety.

Sending you thoughts of courage and comfort and know we'll be hearing from you afterwards that it was easier than you thought!

Wishing you well. I think you are absolutely doing the right thing by going to the cardiologist to determine if there are any issues with your heart. You know your body and if something feels off, and with your family history, it’s the right thing to do for peace of mind. Good luck!

I had an angioplasty about 10 years ago and the procedure was very interesting. You may be able to watch on the screen if you are so inclined. Best wishes for a good outcome for you.

Good wishes for a positive outcome!!! Ditto to what Rhizo and Annie have said.

I wouldn't discount the need for anti-anxiety meds just yet. We can *read* that you are ANXIOUS! haha Being anxious not only doesn't help, it can harm.

Glad you don't have to wait long for your test.

Also...you wouldn't be the first person to have cardiac concerns who felt depressed (and anxious) *after* all the drama was over. It's scary, and it gives us a new understanding of our mortality.

Good luck and may all be just fine.

Sorry you are having problems but glad you took matters into your own hands. You are the only one who knows how you feel.

I had this done a couple years ago after a questionable nuclear treadmill test and all went well and I hope it will be for you also.

Thanks for all of the well wishes! I'm pretty positive about the test and outcome; I guess I was trying to be 'funny'. I'm very curious about any procedure, and like doctors that tell me what's going on, and don't try to dumb it down. I guess it doesn't look too serious, as they didn't restrict my activities in any way. Oddly enough, I feel better when physically active.

I'm a little late to wish you well, but sending my good wishes to you also. My husband had flu like symptoms and I thought he had pneumonia. I took him to the emergency room and the doctor said congestive heart failure, and told him to see a cardiologist on Monday. (This being Friday night). I had to take him back again the next day, and they admitted him....turns out there was nothing wrong with his heart, he had the very first symptoms of vibriosis...flesh eating bacteria. By getting him right back in, it probably saved his life and his leg. His labored breathing, was caused by asbestosis. Not good, but could have been much worse if we had waited, even a couple of days. So, it is good to listen to your body, and I am glad you did, and hope you have a good outcome from the test.

Your doctor listened to you which to me indicates that you are in good hands and that is a positive thing and now you just have to try and keep the anxiety level down. See you on the 16th.

Hello, mushcreek! You e gotten some very good suggestions and encouragement. I'm glad that you are following up with this and that you got your doctor's attention. He's moving in the right direction for you. So much of the diagnostic and intervention cardiac technology has advanced from where it stood even a decade ago. If you let them know that you're apprehensive, the doctors and staff will do all they can to inform and reassure you -- perhaps giving you a little bit of medication for any "nerves" you might have. Those professionals do these procedures (and other, more complex ones) daily. You do not. They get this, so just be honest with them if you feel anxiety. Most people would. But as others have attested, it's pretty easy and so wise of you to advocate for yourself. So many of us are "taught" (depending on generation) to not "complain." But that can be a harmful posture and women are increasingly more tuned in to the new, enlightened medical messaging that we absolutely must pay attention to certain symptoms and be sure our doctors hear our concerns. It is not "complaining" but rationally "informing. (I know you understand this.)

I wish you the very best.

I have bad anxiety and flare ups always feel like heart issues for me. I'm constantly thinking I'm having a heart attack though I'm in my 30's. I had a complete cardiologist checkup a few years ago after a particularly bad attack with an ultrasound, stress test and 24 hour monitor with everything coming back fine. Yet I still constantly feel like my heart is about to stop.

I only mention this in case you find yourself anxious. Sometimes it can manifest into these sort of symptoms that you could watch for after your procedure. The "happy pills" might not be a bad idea. I sure wish I could take them.

I'm glad you listened to your gut and got it checked out and I'm sure everything will be fine.

Mushcreek -- if you get to wait "a couple of weeks" for the procedure, I doubt you have anything to worry about.

At the end of February/beginning of March, I started experiencing some chest pain. At first, it was relatively mild and would go away fairly quickly. As the days went by, the pain was increasing in intensity and frequency, as well as the length of time it would take to completely subside. There was no doubt in my mind that the pain was my heart, and it extended down the back of my left arm as well as up into both sides of my jaw and even into my ears. On March 8th, my husband had to leave to go to southern California to attend the funeral of a life-long family friend, and that weekend he was scheduled to ride the Solvang Century (a 100-mile bike ride for charity). I assured him I would be fine. We spoke by phone several times each day and I always told him I was ok.

In actuality, the pain was getting worse, and I knew it was serious. When Hubs arrived home on Monday he wanted to take me to the ER right away. I said no. I spent the day in bed on Tuesday, moving as little as possible, because any exertion brought on the pain. I had to be perfectly still in order for it to subside. I spent most of Tuesday night sitting on the edge of the bed because of the pain. Just the exertion of rolling over into bed would cause the pain to rear its ugly head. Wednesday morning at approximately 8:00 a.m. we were at the ER.

An EKG was done, blood was drawn, a chest X-ray was done... Then I had to have a nuclear stress test. I'd had three done before, the most recent of which was 2012. I knew that when the stuff was injected to stress the heart that it would be very uncomfortable. I was wrong -- it was nearly unbearable. I was sobbing I was in so much pain. By 4:30 in the afternoon I was in the cardiac catheterization lab getting a stent in my right coronary artery. It was 99% blocked.

I was awake but sedated during the procedure. I did experience some discomfort, but considering my artery was 99% blocked I think that was to be expected. And I have three other arteries with blockages -- one at 50%, one at 70%, and one at 90%.

You will be fine. The only advice I have is to make sure that the doctor who performs the catheterization is one who specializes in it. You want someone who does this procedure a lot. My cardiologist is in a group, but only one is a PCI (Percutaneous Coronary Intervention) specialist. The PCI specialist is the one who did my catheterization and stent placement.

Oh, I wanted to add, in case you weren't already told, that you must have an adult drive you home after the procedure. The hospital will not allow you to drive yourself home. You may be kept overnight in the hospital, as I was. Still, the next day they wouldn't have discharged me if my husband hadn't been there to drive me home.

I had a cardiac cath after an "abnormal" stress test. Lucky for me, no blockage. Like someone else said, if they're letting you wait several weeks, they must not think it's critical. That would probably bother me more than anything. If it's important enough to have, why wait so long?

Best wishes Mush, my twin sister just had to have 2 shunts last month and she is feeling fine. :)

Yikes! well, better to face whatever is going on and deal with it. Good luck!

Wow, Lindsey! I'm glad you're okay but I'm curious why you waited so long if you knew it was your heart?

Chi, you have to understand the dynamics of my husband, which is difficult to explain here. The pain was getting worse as my husband was leaving for southern California. If I'd asked him to stay, he would have done so without a moment's hesitation. But the woman who had died was Hubs' mother's best friend. (I can't really call her my mother-in-law, because she died long before Hubs and I met.) But, Hubs' mother died when she was 45 (Hubs was 18). His mother's best friend had four children, all of whom were (and still are) very close with Hubs and his brothers. This woman was like a surrogate mother to Hubs and his brothers. It meant a lot to him to attend her funeral. I didn't go because I knew I wasn't up to the trip. Also, Hubs had made a commitment to ride the Solvang Century. He could easily have bailed on it if he would be the only one affected, but there were two other guys depending on him and I didn't want to screw them over. I knew in my heart (no pun intended) that I would be ok until he got back. Even though the pain was getting worse, I knew if I told him that while he was gone, he would have dropped everything and rushed home. I knew I'd be ok, and I didn't want to risk him driving like a bat out of hell to get home quickly.

Back in 1988 or 1989 (can't recall exactly when), Hubs was working out of town during the week and was only home on weekends. It was a good 4-hour drive one way. In the middle of one week, my sister and I had gone out shopping, and had stopped at a restaurant called Flaky Jakes for lunch. (The restaurant no longer exists.) We had the exact same thing for lunch, except that Sis had some black olives and I didn't. Both of us were sick with vomiting and diarrhea all night. The next day my sister was better, but I was still sick. The following night I couldn't get to sleep. I couldn't take a decent breath, and it felt like there was an elephant standing on my chest. I didn't think I was having a heart attack, but I did think that perhaps my lung had collapsed. I'd had surgery to remove a rib (Thoracic Outlet Syndrome) in 1985, and my left lung was punctured during the surgery and I ended up with a chest tube for a couple of days. With all the vomiting I'd been doing, I was concerned that perhaps I had somehow caused that weak spot on my lung to open. I knew I had to go to the hospital, but I knew it wasn't my heart, and I didn't want Hubs to freak out. I knew he had to be in a hearing the next day (he's an attorney). But, I didn't know how long I'd be at the hospital and I was concerned that if I wasn't able to talk to him in the morning (we spoke several times a day, and always at the start of the day), he'd think the worst. So, I called him to let him know that I was going to the hospital but that I wanted him to stay put unless he heard otherwise. He said he would. Two and a half hours later he showed up at my bedside in the ER. A four-hour drive reduced to two-and-a-half hours. I didn't want him doing that from Solvang! And, by the way, my lung had not collapsed. But because of all of the vomiting, my electrolytes had gotten out of whack. My potassium level was low. Normal is 3.5 to 5, and a low level of 2.5 is considered life threatening. My potassium level was 2.

The doctor doing the procedure is a PCI specialist, and highly regarded. If they do anything like a stent, it's an overnight stay in the hospital. Just the cath alone takes half a day before they let you go, mostly to be sure the entry site is sealed up and won't start bleeding.

As for my fears- there is some risk involved. As the cardiologist said, they don't do them for the heck of it- there has to be a reason. My symptoms are mild enough that he didn't really push; just said that in his opinion, I should have the cath. If I said, "No, thanks", he would have probably left it at that. From the way I feel, though, something has definitely changed, and it's foolish not to check it out. The guy at work that died was only 49, and had been having symptoms for a while before he had a heart attack. He ignored everyone's suggestions that he go to a doctor.

Yes, Mushcreek, in my opinion (not that it counts for anything), I think it's best to spend the night in the hospital after the procedure, although I know that it's often done on an outpatient basis. I went from the ER to Nuclear Med (for the stress test) to the ER, then to the cath lab, to recovery (for two hours), and to the telemetry unit for the overnight stay. Discharged shortly after noon the following day.

There are risks with every procedure, no matter how minor, just as there are potential side effects and risks with every medication (over the counter as well as prescription only). Don't get wrapped up in worry about potential risks. My cardiologist offered to do a cath about 8 years ago because I was waking up with chest pain. I declined the offer. And, in thinking back on it, I don't really know that anything significant would have been found then.

I think the biggest risk in having this procedure is that the person doing it hasn't done it enough. But since the doc doing yours is a PCI specialist (as is the guy who did mine), I think you can just relax and not worry. Anything that's wrong will be taken care of.

I don't know how old you are, or what insurance you have. But, you will likely be referred to cardiac rehab. I'm 68 and on Medicare and have a Blue Cross supplemental policy. The EOB forms that I've seen so far total up to over $110,000 for the procedure (including the ER, etc.), but it cost me $0.00 out of pocket. Medicare covers 36 cardiac rehab sessions. Most insurance covers cardiac rehab.

Prayers and good thoughts for you.

Sending you my best wishes! Glad "you" made them check and you caught it.

I understand your concern, anything unknown to us makes us cautious. I have had 4 heart caths and a quadruple bypass last year. Two of the caths thru the groin and two through the wrist. Only felt one of them and that was the last one thru the wrist, I think it was because I was dehydrated. Found them to be very easy procedures and they played music for me...my cardiologist knows I am a Willie Nelson fan so they played Willie for me. If they find anything it is easy to correct. Will be thinking of you, try not to worry over it.

Wishing you all the best, Mushcreek.

I'm glad that you did not ignore the symptoms. Sometimes, heart problem indicators are more subtle in women than men, and get ignored until too late. If you get a stent in a main artery feeding a heart muscle, you'll feel much better. I've been wearing a stent for the past 10 years. That, medications, and a change in life style has dome wonders for me.

Best wishes you!

Reporting in- I made it! I had the procedure yesterday, and they did find one artery blocked 70%. Not necessarily life-threatening, but definitely a candidate for a stent. It all went well and smoothly, and it was fascinating to watch. They had to go in through the femoral artery, so recovery was a bit long and, well, odd. First, you flat for two hours for the blood thinners to work their way out of your system. Then, they remove the port, and a tech has to keep pressure on the artery for 20 minutes! It starts out painful, and he pointed out to a trainee that too much pressure can make the patient pass out. After 20 minutes, they gradually remove the pressure and watch everything very carefully. After all that fun, it's another hour flat on your back, then another 5 hours tilted up a bit for comfort. 8 hours total!

I'm 64, in good shape, and live a pretty lifestyle. I'm paying for my past sins, I guess. I was definitely one of the youngest and healthiest looking people on the cardiac floor. Only a week off of work, though, and all sorts of new meds, at least for the next year. Still, I feel thankful that I persisted, they caught it, and they fixed it before it became a life-or-death situation.

So glad you persisted! And very relieved to hear from you after the 15th of June! Best going forward with your healing and into the far future. Lovely to hear from you!

It’s good news to hear that you were able to identify and rectify the problem. I would be dying if I had to lay flat on back for any length of time, so you are to be commended for how well you tolerated the treatment. I hope you continue to heal without complications.

I'm glad that's behind you and your outcome good! So much better it was corrected before a real problem, and not after - before you had the possibility of damage to your heart ;0) Thanks for letting us know.

Wow...good news and good to see you here. That was quite an ordeal it

sounds. Hugs.

I am thankful your procedure is over and you are on the mend. Some times we just have to be our own advocate for our health care.

So glad for the good news!

Yay, Mushcreek!

What meds were you put on? I am now on Effient 10mg - once daily.

Lipitor and Brilanta, plus nitroglycerin just in case. I don't like what I read about side effects, so we'll see how I feel.

Well, don't NOT take the Brilinta (and a low dose aspirin) without consulting with your doctor. You've been prescribed the Brilinta to avoid the stent becoming clotted.

You were very smart to listen to your body and change drs. etc. It paid off as you're now as fit as a fiddle. Happy for you.

I've been doing some more research. The artery was the LAD (Left Anterior Descending) AKA 'The Widowmaker'. It supplies over half the blood to your heart!

Thanks for the update, mushcreek. Glad you persisted and advocated for your own health care; sad you were not taken seriously and needed to.

The LAD supplies blood to the left ventricle, the largest heart chamber, and the one that does the most work - it pumps blood from your lungs to your body.