Feeling a Bit Frightened and Anxious...

[cherrabah]

...and it's not even me. Tom, my husband of 50 years, is hitting a wobbly patch so I feel like sharing or offloading - so thanks for listening. His 'widow maker' heart attack was in February and the brilliant emergency services had him whisked away and stented (4) all within a few hours, home again after a few days then onwards with recuperation and a zillion pills. We know there's some permanent heart damage and his ef of 43 or thereabouts is probably here to stay but we can work with that. However, a recent MRI (privately , as it was a need-to-know extra) showed a mural thrombus. Or in plainer English, a blood clot somewhere in his heart or artery or stent or wherever. Not good. Blood thinners and anti-coagulants to try and disperse or flush out (??) said clot. So back to local GP with an exchange of aspirin to edoxaban and the old prasugrel to a new medication of clopidogrel. All the other things like eplerenone, ramiprill, atorvastatin, bisoprolol etc just the same.

But he also has two hernias that cause quite a lot of discomfort. However, no surgery until after February when clopidogrel can be stopped as well as edoxaban, albeit temporarily with one of them. And he also has a humdinger of a horrible cold (sneezing and coughing with two hernias not recommended). Furthermore, he has nasty stomach cramps - possibly from the change of pills. He is an excellent patient, enduring all this with stalwart tolerance and no self pity whatsoever. I, however, have this enormous need to write this lot down, to offload, and have maybe just one of you, say "It's okay. This day will pass ..." There. I feel better already. Thanks.

[Hidden]

Hello

So sorry to hear about your Husband having such a rough time and of course it will affect you to , sometimes it can be harder for loved one's than those going through it all

I know if affected my Husband when I started having my heart attacks and then a triple Bypass and still is even though I have to say your Husband is a better patient than I am as I am still a mess trying to cope

This cold that seems to be about I have had it to and the coughing it has hurt my chest as it was only 3 months since my Bypass and it is still healing so I can only imagine how your Husband must be feeling

I am no expert on heart disease like so many are on here who I am sure when they read your post they will give you some knowledgeable replies but wanted to let you know I had read your post and I think it is a good idea to write things down and I am glad you have

I hope it helped and as they say this to shall pass and I am sure things will improve and get better x

[Shar28]

Hello cherrabau, I’m the wife of a heartie too and I’ve found this forum very helpful. As you said yourself, it will pass. Things will settle. There’s always ups and downs and we get through them.

But - sorry for the but - it’s important your husband doesn’t suffer in silence because the stomach cramps could be a side effect of the new meds/cocktail but could be something else and/or be something that can be sorted. So it’s important he talks to his GP about what’s happening.

I’d suggest keeping a diary if he doesn’t already about how he’s feeling, BP, heart rate, symptoms like the cramps etc so any patterns can be discerned more effectively and also to enable objective reviews as and when they take place.

And the other important thing is to look after yourself too. After all, you can’t look after your husband if you get run down or unwell.

Best wishes to you both.

[Dave678]

Sounds like hubby is similar to me cherrabah - widow maker last March - EF of 30-35 with hernia op, colonoscopy and 3 teeth extractions having to be delayed until 3/22 when can stop Ticagrelor in my case. At least I don’t have a cold or stomachs cramps and am able to live a great life - biking, walking etc (aided by oodles of pills) and have a great excuse to have a rest/nap when I fancy one! Hopefully we’ll both be better next March time after our ops + be able to enjoy life even more👍 Make sure you keep pampering him though! 😉

[Janma123]

Hello from another hearties wife! It is very worrying when our other halves are struggling especially when they try to hide how they feel.Is your hubby taking something like omeprazole to protect his stomach from the cocktail of meds he is taking? It might be be worth speaking to your doctor or pharmacist as it could be the change of medication that is causing the problem.

As the other posters have said make sure you take care of yourself too as it’s all too easy to run yourself into the ground and get overwhelmed yourself.(I need to take my own advice here!)

Take care, Jane

[taliesin1411 in reply to Janma123]

Or Lansaprozale for stomach issues.

[cherrabah in reply to taliesin1411]

Thanks and yes - he’s on that too. But I guess there can still be the odd tummy grumble filter through …

[R3mi]

Hi CherrabahThis is a great forum for generating love compassion and support feed off of this and your confidence and strength will return. Focus on the strength of the obvious love between you two. The fight to continue is still strong in you keep that going for as long as you can. The length of time you have been together is a major blessing, accepting that will help you to cope with those things that challenge your normal ability to get on with things that you have both done exceptionally well over such a long period of time. Carry on with your indomitable spirit it won’t fail you. What it is asking you to do is move up a gear in determining something you have done all through your lives which is challenge things and not giving in. Good luck🍀

[cherrabah]

Thank you all for such lovely, supportive and helpful posts - it feels really good to be able to use this great forum to share and offload thoughts and concerns. So many wise words of wisdom and similarities … wish you could all pop round for coffee and chat 😊.