Blood tests follow up

[Hope200]

My husband had an angiplasty in Sept and is on the usual meds. He is due to see his GP for first time this week since his heart attack and wants to know what blood tests he should be asking for as we recall someone telling us ‘ Make sure your gp gives you blood tests after 3 months’ . It will take a while no doubt to get another appt for blood tests so we just want to know what to be asking for.

Thanks

[Jasppip]

The details of which blood tests I needed were on my discharge letter from the hospital I had 1 after a week and then again after 3 months

[Chappychap]

At least here in Hampshire blood tests couldn't be easier.

You doctor gives you a blood test request form, this document makes it clear which of the many hundreds of different blood tests he or she has decided are relevant in your particular case.

You take this form down to a local blood test facility. At least where I live it's a drop-in centre with no appointment necessary, you take a ticket and wait for your number to be called. I think the longest I've ever waited is about ten minutes but I've heard it can be over 30 minutes on occasions.

The nurse takes one or more blood samples (just a few ml for each), and sends these off to the lab along with the doctor's request form. 72 hours later your doctor has the blood test results and you can schedule another appointment with your doctor to get the results.

[Nathan53]

If I recall correctly he needs to have his kidney function checked as BP meds such as ramipril can effect kidneys ( not common). Also liver function test as he will be on a statin. After the 3 month check I was advised to have kidney function checked once a year and liver function every 6 months.

[dunestar]

Thanks all, this is very helpful to me as well. My meds have all been prescribed by the hospital where I had my stress echo/angiogram. They discharged me after the angiogram. I guess in the good old days my GP would have contacted me after getting the discharge letter (no mention of follow up tests) to discuss a monitoring regime. But those days have long gone. I've tried twice to get an appointment for a particular doctor and been told none are available. Finally I've got an appointment for next week, but I've had to wait 6 weeks. So I need to make the most of the opportunity.