GP and blood tests

[Caitlyn6]

Can my GP test for anything cardiovascular with a blood test?

[Caitlyn6]

Thanks. Can they also do troponin?

[Milkfairy Heart Star in reply to Caitlyn6]

Some GP practices will do Troponin levels.

However the test needs to be done within a few days of the cardiac event.

Troponin levels can be raised for other reasons not just if the heart muscle has been damaged during a heart attack.

[Caitlyn6]

Thank u

[leach234]

Blood tests can determine if you’ve had a heart attack.

[Alison_L]

Hi Caitlyn. Yes, my troponin was picked up by a GP blood test. I'd had a silent heart attack and went to the GP with a gippy tummy. Got a phone call 8 hours later from an hysterical out-of-hours doctor who shouted at me "YOU'RE HAVING A HEART ATTACK! YOU NEED TO BE IN HOSPITAL!! I'LL SEND AN AMBULANCE NOW!!!" I politely declined the offer as I was happily sitting in a pub with friends at the time, but after discussing it, I wandered 1/2 mile back to the bus stop, got a bus to the local hospital, where 45 minutes after the call, I sauntered into A&E and said "I've just had a weird phone call...".

[Caitlyn6 in reply to Alison_L]

Thank you 🙏

[Sunnie2day in reply to Alison_L]

Blimey! Don't stop there - finish the story, what happened when you arrived to A&E? (I seem to recall the rest of the event but refresh my Bisoprolol fogged memory if you are happy to )

[Alison_L in reply to Sunnie2day]

Haha, sorry it's quite a long one....

The A&E was being refurbished, so there was no reception. It was a Thursday evening, so not as busy as it would be on a Friday/Saturday. The first person I saw was the triage nurse, who was doing the job of the receptionist as well. I told her the screaming doc had told me my troponin level was 154 (I had no idea what that meant). They couldn't pull up my records as my local hospital is not the same NHS Trust as my GP - this being London! But they rushed me through taking blood tests, BP, HR, etc, all the while looking at me curiously - I was standing up, walking around, looking perfectly healthy. BP & HR seemed fine, so I don't think they rushed through the bloods, but when they eventually got them back 3 hours later, the doc told me they were going to keep me in overnight.

They didn't have a bed immediately, so I loitered around for another couple of hours, until I saw the doc again... "Why are you still here?" "Nobody's spoken to me since I saw you 2 hours ago. I think they were looking for a bed". She then got me onto the holding ward, and I was then transferred to CCU in the morning. Had a couple of tests there on the Friday, but then all the docs go home for the weekend, so I twiddled my thumbs, getting more and more grumpy, exploring the hospital grounds (they could hardly tie me to the bed when I was up and dressed each day), until Monday, when they did an angiogram, told me I'd had a serious heart attack, stuck in a shiny stent, and discharged me on the Tuesday with a sack of drugs and a warning that they'd call me back as an outpatient for a second stent in 3 months.

A week went by and one morning I felt very dizzy. Took a puff of GTN. Waited 5 minutes. Felt even dizzier. Took second puff of GTN. Hit the deck!! Hubby called ambulance. By the time they arrived I was feeling much better, but they decided to take me to hospital anyway - different hospital, the local heart specialists, currently starring in 24 Hours in A&E. Lots of tests. Decided I'd used the GTN inappropriately, told me I should only use it for pain, and discharged me after about 12 hours.

Two days later, I came over dizzy again. Mustn't use GTN! Hit the deck. Several times. Hubby called ambulance. Paramedics: "You're having VT episodes" "Am I? What's that then?". They cart me off to big hospital again, I faint again on the way in, so they turn on the blue lights. Another 10 hours in A&E. Clearly I'd been having VT the previous day, but had cunningly disguised it with the GTN!

8 days in CCU followed with all the tests under the sun, including echo, TOE ("never again, please"), MRI, and another angiogram ("no, you don't need another stent"), and 10 days on the main cardiac ward. Finally discharged after 18 days, with a shiny ICD and an even bigger sack of drugs. "Your mitral valve is leaking, moderate to severe. The surgeon will see you in a couple of months to talk about replacing it."

2 months later, surgeon said the drugs were doing their job, so surgery unnecessary at the moment (phew). 1 year later, 2nd stent put in (actually a balloon, but we won't quibble), so first hospital were right after all.

Two years 5 months after my gippy tummy, here I am, 2.5 stone heavier, with poorly feet and knackered knees, and a slightly changed sack of drugs, awaiting my next echo/pacing clinic/meeting (phone call) with consultant in January. But still doing the 3 times a week outside exercise class I started for my neighbours in March, based on the cardiac rehab warm-up and cool-down. And doing a weekly voluntary drugs delivery for the original hospital - I enjoyed the rehab so much I volunteered to help them, but that stopped in March.

The End.

So far...

[Caitlyn6 in reply to Alison_L]

Gosh what a palaver ...... 💕

[Alison_L in reply to Caitlyn6]

Certainly was. I don't like doing things the "normal" way

[080311 in reply to Alison_L]

That is the most amazing story hope you continue to keep as well as you can and that sense of humour continues .

Pauline

[Alison_L in reply to 080311]

Thanks, Pauline

[Sunnie2day in reply to Alison_L]

WOW! I had to read that three times through for it all to truly percolate through the Bis-Fog. The first time through I giggled, my husband was passing through the living room and asked what I thought so hilarious about what you went through, he only hushed (he's a great scold, that one) when I pointed out I was ok with giggling as you are still here and cognitive enough to write the story.

The second and third times I read it through I was jaw-to-the-floor at what you went through and how you can recount the events in such a way as to make light but also get the severity points across.

I also found it interesting you note just after your HA you were looking and acting as though you'd not just had a HA - I know of several people who were the same, completely ambulatory and not at all in crushing pain, etc, and as a consequence their condition wasn't fully taken on board until the blood work (done reluctantly owing to the seemingly 'fine' appearance) came back flagging a serious troponin level.

WOW, and thank-you for telling us about your heart adventure. WOW!

[Alison_L in reply to Sunnie2day]

Thanks Sunnie, you're welcome! Yes, that's the daft thing - in the 2.5 years, I've never had anything resembling chest pain. I wasn't aware of silent heart attacks before, but apparently they're quite common.

[Handel in reply to Alison_L]

Blimey!! You don't do things by halves do you?!! Hope you're feeling much better now. An excellent story though. I can't stop reading it xxxxx

[Alison_L in reply to Handel]

Thanks, Handel. Not feeling too bad now, but then I never really felt ill. Just had lots of docs telling me I was really ill, and sticking wires and devices into me. The weight I've put on means I'm nowhere near as active as I was pre-HA. xx

[Handel in reply to Alison_L]

You'll get there Alison. Keep smiling - we're sending you virtual hugs xxx

[Denva in reply to Alison_L]

So loved your story. Not only the humour you injected into it but how beautifully you described your journey. Thank you. 😊😊

[Alison_L in reply to Denva]

Thank you, Denva

[Sunnie2day]

My GP sends bloods out to the teaching hospital lab (20 miles south of us) so everything 'suspected' can be tested for. My last bloods included troponin, inflammation, and sugar levels, if I recall correctly, plus a couple of other things. The order from the GP was marked for 'Cardiac Screen', if that helps any.

[Caitlyn6 in reply to Sunnie2day]

Thank u

[Ianc2]

Hi Caitlyn. Impressive story. What is your plan for shifting your weight?