Talking to your gp would be the next step, they should have the details of angiogram and what follow up is needed. If you have any questions about medications, your Pharmacist should be able to help. Every area is different, and covid has certainly changed a lot of normal protocols. Take care.
There's a steady stream of people arrive on this forum expressing similar sentiments. You go through what's possibly the most extreme experience of your life. And then, just as suddenly as you got on the NHS conveyor belt, it drops you without so much as a good bye wave. Is that really it?
In the pre Covid era you'd likely to be invited to attend a six or eight session cardio rehab course, where you'd be given a tailored exercise programme and a mass of help to understand the more important life style changes you need to make, plus a more in depth knowledge of your medication. After that you should have an annual follow up meeting with your GP, where you're monitored with blood tests and an ECG, you're weighed and your heart rate is measured. These metrics give a good indication of progress and future risks.
The bottom line is that you're not "cured", the atherosclerosis that blocked your arteries is with you for life. But neither are you doomed. Serious life style changes in conjunction with your medication can slow down the progress of your heart disease to a crawl. With a little bit of luck and a fair bit of effort you can look forward to many more years of active life ahead.
In the absence of a face to face cardio rehab course the BHF (the sponsors of this forum) run an on-line version, and they also have a telephone support service where you can talk to their experienced cardiac nurses. There's also a wealth of support and shared experience you can access via this forum. It may all seem bewildering right now, but bit by bit the pieces of the jigsaw will fall into place.
I had stent fitted last November, my first contact with the heart team is next Friday with a telephone call from them.I should have had a 3 month checkup but they were too busy I was told.
Cardiac rehabilitation is excellent. The cardiac nurses organise this for you. It’s educational; informing you of diet and heart issues. You will meet fellow hearties and be given exercise. Speak to the cardiac nurse you will have been allocated. I had the same as you and found it very confusing at first but the classes helped. I’m sure they will be up and running soon. Till then read the booklets you were given on your discharge from hospital and/or speak to your GP. Take care.
I had a heart attack last August. Immediate care was excellent. Cath. lab etc.I was discharged and had a similar experience to you. No follow up. I had a phone call from cardiologist something like 2 months later. In the meantime, I had 3 visits to A&E. Because you get all sorts of pains, in my case around the chest and arm.
The visits to A&E were the result of phoning the GP with symptoms, and the GP saying go to A&E by ambulance which she arranged.
Each time there was no change to the ECG, Troponin? levels and they did a chest X Ray for good measure. In my case it's a case of getting used to a different way of life.
But in addition, after a heart attack, pre covid you got rehab. Much of the value of rehab is psychological, talking to others who have been through the same thing, access to a cardio nurse etc. Covid seems to have knocked much of that on the head.
If you do get the opportunity of rehab, I'm told it's really worthwhile. I ended up pretty low, and am having counselling.
Technically, it may be that you have had an NSTEMI. If so that's good, and may mean that any damage to the heart muscle is minimal. So you should make a good recovery. You should ask your cardiologist. I believe that most are still doing phone clinics rather than face to face.
You should have a cardiologist assigned to you (the one who rang you).
It's worth phoning his/her secretary and asking if you can have a phone call to talk about the sort of HA you had, likely outcome, anything you should be doing, any follow up (e.g. tests following any symptoms you may be having. A review of your meds possibly. Some very definitely have side effects, and there may be alternatives
Over Christmas, because of the 2nd wave of covid, many cardiologists had to stop their day job to deal with the pandemic. This has created a big backlog., but I have managed to talk to my guy by talking to his secretary first.
I had phone consultations (due to COVID restrictions) with a junior cardiologist (not the person who carried out my procedure) 6 months after my procedure and then after 12 months. I was then discharged. Their attitude was that the procedure was a success, I had “mechanically’ been fixed and they did not need to see me until the next time.
The people to focus your time and effort on is the community cardiac rehab team. They are experts in dealing with all aspects of HA patient recovery (not your consultants or GPs). They are also pretty amazing
I guess it is easier to review progress on a knee (or something similar) because they can physically/visually see how the procedure is working (or not) by the way you stand, walk, the physical discomfort/pain you are in, etc, whereas it might be much harder to that with a heart procedure as in my experience that is a mixture of physical, internal blood chemistry and mental health issues (fear/anxiety) which can vary widely patient to patient but can also be difficult to quickly assess in a single consultation. I'm no expert, merely a patient making observations. Who knows!?!
It may be confusing, but stay positive do everything you can yourself, follow the advice and allow time to take its course with the support of your cardiac rehab team
I found this to be the biggest problem after a heart attack- absolutely NO explanations or follow up. That's the norm. They fix the problem give you a bag of tablets and kick you o ut as if nothing happened. First port of call is you GP but you have to do that. Norrmally you would be contacted by a rehab nurse after about 3 weeks. If not, again ask your GP. They aren't doing rehab in gyms yet but the nurse can give advice, allay fears and you can do rehab online. You need your discharge letter explaining and to find out how much damage was caused. GP again. I wrote a complaint to our hospital about not getting any explanation at all. Nothing happened but it made me feel better. They just don't think about the mental impact it has on people. If you are struggling to come to terms with it your GP can refer you for counselling..
Firstly, good luck with your recovery.
My experience is the opposite so I think it’s luck as to the resources your local health authority has at their disposal.
I had a HA on NYE and subsequently had three stents fitted. I had contact from the cardiac rehab team on discharge from hospital and I am 6 weeks into my 8 week rehab course. I’ve had a follow up appointment with my cardiologist and lots of contact with my GP.
Best wishes for the future and I hope things start to improve
The left anterior descending artery (also LAD, anterior interventricular branch of left coronary artery, or anterior descending branch) is a branch of the left coronary artery. Blockage of this artery is often called the widow-maker infarction due to a high death risk.[1]
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