Angioplasty and Stents Risk

[Prada47]

Hello

What has prompted this post is an earlier post on Good Byes.

I have been reading the pamphlet Cardiac Catheterisation and Cardiac Angioplasty sent to me from the Cardiac Intervention Unit of my local Hospital, and it doesn't beat about the bush quote "Approximately 1 in 555 people having elective angioplasty and stent will Die whilst in Hospital because of the Procedure "

" Heart Attack and Stroke that do not result in Death occur in Approximately 1 in 1000 patients having Angioplasty/Stent. I have been told that the Risk is double in my Procedure so it is 2 in 1000

Your Doctor will not proceed with Angioplasty/Stenting unless the benefits that can be gained from performing this procedure Far outweigh the sum of the Risks involved. Glad of that !!! Because I have done the same and I want to proceed, I so much want to get rid of this Short of Breath which is mostly when Showering and Dressing I dread the thought that I may not be able to do it all myself in the future.

So tomorrow off to meet the PCI/Pre Admission Nurse Specialist for a chat and to go through my medication list, and have blood test etc.

Should everything be fine Procedure will be on the 26th March

I haven't wrote any Good Byes, my wife of 50 years (in August) knows that I Love her, my Grandchildren know that Grandad has always adored them (ages 2 7 and11) .

What I have done recently is changed my will so that everything goes to my Wife and then when she passes on £25 k will go to each Grandchild from what would have been my half of the house and bank, the rest between our 2 sons. I don't think it's morbid to arrange these things it's just sensible before having a procedure.

Oh and I will have a DNR recorded should I have a serious stroke during the procedure (my Wife is Aware of this )

Interested to hear what other people have done for forward planning. I know for some people it is not easy talking about what may go wrong and should I have scared anyone would the Moderator please remove my post.

Regards

Frank W

[skid112 Heart Star]

Hey Frank, I'm thinking you have many more years in front of you but to my mind that's sensible planning.

Couldn't do anything about my will when I had my HA and CABG, but have since updated it.

My grandkids are very young, 22 months, 11 months and the third is due an appearance in a week, I currently give annual sums to them. My wife gets the majority with my three children sharing the rest.

I had written goodbye letters pre procedure, these have now been disposed off as I figured starting the letter with 'well that didn't go so well' wouldn't be needed.

Hasn't given too much thought to the DNR, but I'm going to think about it and discuss it with family.

Cheers Mark

[Prada47 in reply to skid112]

Hi Mark

I have no intention of going soon, another ten years will be fine !!!

Just reading the official stuff from the Cardiac Unit brought it home that these are Routine Procedures albeit with a Small Manageable Risk.

Our son served twice in Afghanistan and before he mobilised he gave me a letter to read should it all go wrong ( which it didn't ). The letter sat in my bedroom drawer for all the months he was away, the day he returned I shredded the letter without opening it.

On reflexion I wished he hadn't done it. It was like a constant reminder that he was at Risk, and I wouldn't have wished that on my wife, whilst I was having the Heart By-Pass op. Strange how our emotions work !!

Best Regards

Frank W

[IanGordon]

I guess the phrase 'hope for the best but plan for the worst ' best sums it up. Heart and other health problems force us to confront our mortality and maybe plan for the future, albeit maybe curtailed by events. Although risk is ever present, there is a wealth of medical experience and data so that this risk is known and treatments potentially give a better outcome than doing nothing. Choose life, risky as it is and try not to be too phased by the risk as Positive Mental Attitude is your friend and ally. And yes, I have updated my will!

[Prada47]

I agree Ian

I am a pretty positive guy it's just about organising things that should of been done before. Like making sure my wife knows the password for the Bank and how to contact my Pension provider etc.

Regards

Frank W

[stevejb1810 in reply to Prada47]

Yep, I’m definitely in the PMA camp too. Frank, if my maths are right you run a 0.4% risk of something not good happening (death or having that DNR enacted). In our corner of the medical world (cardiac patients that is), that’s not too bad 😃 hope it all goes well

Cheers

Steve

[Prada47]

Thanks Steve just had a pre admit meeting with a Nurse Specialist who was pretty positive. 0 .4 % is manageable !!! I am not worried just putting things in order. Next Tuesday when I get home I will change the bank password LOL

Regards

Frank W

[Prada47]

Just took the 60mg of Cloridogel ready for Stents on Monday, because it's less than a week they have front loaded the Clopidogel now I need to take the 15mg daily !!!