I delt with chest pains today and called my Dr. and I am going to set up an appt. tomorrow to see a Cardiologist. He said he got the paperwork from the hospital and I did have a heart attack. I knew something was different was I went down to the ER a couple of weeks ago. They are so slow at getting the paperwork out and because I was scheduled for the VNS the next day I had made my mind up to go through with it.

I try to keep calm and I told that ER Dr. I wasn't in any stress but he says I have silent stress.

My problem is going to be finding a good Cardiologist around here. I have one I had seen back 5 years ago when I started with the ischemia and stroke but I didn't like him.

I am going to be having an echocardigram. Have any of you had one of those before? What do they do when you have one. Now I am wondering how they are going to deal with things since this VNS is right near my heart.
I'm wondering how they will do the test.

I'm just really frustrated right now with this mess. I get past one thing and then run into another.

Thanks for listening.
Ada

Oh gosh Ada!
I hope they can work around the VNS while they figure out the heart stuff.
One day at a time - I guess.

Try not to stress Ada.

It wont hurt a bit honest.

Hi Dreambeliever--No Need to worry about an echocardiogram. The technician will have you put on a gown, and then you will lay on your left side. The technician will have a "transducer", that is hooked up to a monitor. The transducer sort of looks like a microphone, and it is placed over your chest and moved around to better visualize the structures of your heart.

Actually, it is very similar to a pregnant womam having a sonogram of her baby in her womb.

An echocardiogram bounces sound waves off the different structures of your heart; the waves that "bounce back" (the echos), are captured by the transducer, and then seen on the monitor. It is actually very interesting to watch! You can see the outline of your heart beating, you can see your heart valves opening and closing in "real time", etc.

The echocardiogram is very valuable in determing MANY aspects of heart function. It can determine if the heart is enlarged, if the heart muscle has enough contractility, if there is an area of scar tissue caused by a myocardial infartion (heart attack), if the heart is able to pump out a normal amount of blood volume, if the heart valves are opening and closing properly, etc.
AND--the miracle of all this technology is that it is TOTALLY NON-INVASIVE, and absolutely SAFE.

I don't foresee a major problem with the wires from the VNS on the vagal nerve...the tech may have to have you get into a different position, or angle the transducer a little differently, or press the tranducer against your chest a little harder than normal to get a "good angle" so that the soundwaves aren't bouncing off the wires and creating a lot of "noise" on the screen.

Actually, the only slightly annoying part of the procedure is the gel that is used to help the transducer bounce the soundwaves and recapure them...it is COLD! However, a lot of techs warm the gel up first...

A "piece of cake", considering all the procedures you have been through!

Hope everything turns out well for you!

Brokenwings

I already know that the echo is only one of the test I will have but I was interested in it. Thanks Brokenwing for telling me about it. I know there will be stress test and posibily an angiogram. It's going to be a complete workup. I'm just sick of test and needles at this point.

Allen, I do notice I am more stressed here lately. I have like 10 things I can't keep off of my mind along with missing Bill. Yesterday, I didn't seem to be stressed but I guess you can be and not know it.

They did tell me if I had to have an MRI ever that the VNS would have to be removed so I'm hoping none of these test require that.

Thanks again all of you.

Ada

Hi again Dreambeliever--The VNS shouldn't affect the stress test or the Angiogram procedures. The stress stest involves you walking on a treadmill while you are hooked up to an EKG machine and a blood pressure cuff.

Is the stress test you are having a "thallium stress test"? If so, then this type of stress test involves a tech injecting a "radio-isotope" into your vein several hours before the actual treadmill stress test. The radio-isotope is a special kind of dye that is particularly good for "illuminating" your heart muscle under flouroscopy (x-ray). After you have completed the treadmill portion of the test, your heart will then be visualized under the flouroscopy so that the Doc can see the area of the heart muscle that may have been been affected by the "heart attack", and the extent of any potential muscle damage that might have occurred.

For the angiogram, that is considered an "invasive" procedure, in that a lead wire and catheter will be "threaded" through the femoral artery of your leg and up to your heart; another lead wire through the subclavian artery (near the top of your heart)...the VNS wires involve your vagal nerve, not the arteries that the Cardiologist will need to use so that the Angiogram dye can then be injected.

Although an Angiogram can be uncomfortable, the Doc will be sure that you are given sedatives, etc. so that you are as comfortable as possible..and, most Docs will even position the x-ray monitors so that you can watch your heart on the x-ray monitor. The Docs will be looking at how the dye flows through your arteries, to determine if any of the arteries have "obstructions" (blockages), and also to see how the heart muscle is functioning, etc.

Hopefully, this information will be useful for you, Dreambeliever, so that you can ask your Cardiologist questions and have your concerns adddressed. AND, hopefully, you won't have to have any more "poking and prodding" done once you get these procedures over and done with!

The very best wishes to you Dreambeliever~ you have had a "lot put on your plate", and I so admire your STRENGTH. You are one brave lady, and I am sure that you have inspired and touched a lot of people by sharing your thoughts and experiences on this Forum!

Most Sincerely,

Brokenwings

As Brokenwings stated, I too admire you and your strength. All you have gone through and you are still fighting so hard (and well)! I give you two thumbs up!

You are so helpful here!

I hope your visit goes well with the cardio. I know about heart problems- my mom, grandmother, great grandmother, grandfather, etc... have dealt with heart problems. Scary! Make sure the Cardiologist listens to you/ any concerns you may have! But you know that anyway. (my mom dealt with a bad one before- argh!).

Many hugs, friend!

Thanks so much for the help and the good words for me and to me. I sure do appreciate all of you on here. Even though I have my kids and my grandkids I am still living alone and at times feel alone. So I can come on here when I am bored, lonely, or down and get my laughs and get good support.

Brokenwings, I appreicate the info you gave me. I have actually been through all of those test. I've had the angiogram twice but I just didn't know if this thing would interfere with the machines. I do know that for me to have an MRI it has to be taken out, they told me that. I guess I'll never have an MRI again. LOL

One of the girls down at my Drs. office is setting up my appt. I called the Cardiologist and since I hadn't been there in awhile they needed a referral so Debbie said she'd just get it done for me. I was having second thoughts about going through all of this. I hate those trips out of town, God forbid that they could do it all in one day.

IHH, like you, I lost Mom, my Grandmother and both Grandfathers to heart attacks and the rest of my family all go with cancer.

As far as my strength, it took me 20 years of medical problems and my Dr. that I always put in the catagory of Sainthood to help me get it. When I'm down he is always pulling me back up. He's always telling me to fight for what I believe in and what I need. Awhile back he said he had to talk me back down because I was coming on too strong with my Drs. and him. LOL I always tell him he's taught me well. I never ever would have thought I could have made it as far as I have. My Neurolgist handed me an Oprah Magazine about 2 years ago and told me he wanted me to write my story. I thought now which disease or illness do I write about. LOL The one that interests me the most is the depression but I didn't know how to incorperate all of my other medical problems into a story. My brain wouldn't let me think straight anyway.

It has been the hardest journey I have ever taken in my life but at times now I think I am seeing the end of it. I still know I have about 6 more surgeries to go and what else I don't know but I try to take them as they get worse and we can't control them with shots and meds. I know when I'm ready for one when my PCP says ok, lets look for a Surgeon. LOL That tells me he needs some relief from putting up with me. LOL

At times I think I might one day get to go back to work but I honestly know at 55 that's not going to happen. Do any of you still think that way?

I know there are people out there that are worse off then I am and I wish they could get to a better place in their lives but I realize a lot of them won't.

Thanks again for the help.
Ada

I am sorry, Ada.

My great grandmother died of a heart attack. My grandmother has had two heart attacks, and we think my grandpa died of a heart problem (no autopsy was done- he was 67, and he had a lung condition, heart condition, etc... he died right after a surgery he had to put in a breathing tube).

With heart conditions running in the family I guess it's no wonder that with both my mom's mom and my mom's grandmother having a heart condition she would have one too... hers is mostly palpitations of the heart/ chest, upper back pain and the typical pain running down the left arm. She found that with taking magnesium -which would relax the muscles of the heart- her heart won't act up as much!

My mom had to have an echocardiogram done, and have a monitor placed to monitor her heart for 48 hours, and then she took it back to the Cardiologist and he read the results.

Doesn't make me feel good that heart conditions run in the family... I think I am next...


My grandmother did find that with eating well (low carb diet, low fat) her heart condition has been a lot better. She is also a diabetic, and so the diet was needed anyways. My grandmother had many tests done, and one she had was where they fed a wire up her, into her heart to make sure things were okay (after she had a bad episode)... I *think* she has a stent or something in her heart... she found that with stress her heart would "act up".

Stress makes a lot of conditions worse, I believe... stress is hard on the body.

Relax... don't stress about anything...