My dad . Heart attack

[baly_2023]

Can't believe it, my dad's been in hospital last 3 days.

He's in his late 70's, went in on Tuesday with dizziness, sweating and breathlessness was taken by ambulance.

Had an angiogram and 3 stents put in yesterday and they said he had a heart attack.

My mum and dad didn't tell me as they didn't want to stress me out.

I don't understand how come they stented the day after, I was scented immediately. He's old , he's having a heart attack why wait till the day after.

I've just phoned as he seems OK, sounds ok, going to visit tonight but need to understand why they didn't angiogram and stent immediately.

And there was me thinking all is OK with the world.

[Milkfairy Heart Star]

I am sorry your father has had a heart attack.

Not all heart attacks are ' equal'

Some are considered high risk if a person is having ST elevations, a ST elevated myocardial Infarction STEMI.

This usually indicates the coronary artery is completely blocked.

Time is of essence to ensure that the heart muscle isn't permanently damaged. Paramedics now assess people with symptoms of a heart attack at home .

An ECG is performed, if ST elevations are seen on the person's ECG , the person is taken directly to a heart attack centre and straight to the cath lab if necessary.

If a non ST elevated myocardial Infarction NSTEMI has taken place there is still some blood flowing through to the heart muscle. In this case an angiogram maybe performed a little bit later.

I wish your father a speedy recovery.

[BeKind28-]

Hello

So sorry to hear about your Dad

As already said each heart attack is different and each person is to but he has come to no harm having it done the next day and they will have had their reasons to why they did it the next day which you can maybe ask when you visit later but the main thing is he has his stents and will have a good recovery

It must have come as a shock but I hope your visit today will help you to feel reassured he is ok x

[Tos92]

So very sorry to hear about your father’s heart attack Baly.

Wishing him a speedy and healthy recovery.

Tos

[Valentina98]

Sorry about your Dad's heart attack, I'm sending love and wishing for his recovery.

V x

[WeeHoolet]

As Milkfairy has explained, some heart attacks are considered more serious than others, so your dad will have been assessed and treated according to his own needs and priority. No one doubts that this can be hard on relatives as well as frightening for the patient if perceived delays occur. Thankfully, from your post, it appears that your dad is doing well, and I wish him a good and speedy recovery.

[brads27]

I was the same the day after, I had 2 stents put in then a day off then 4 more put in. That was in 2018 been ok since.

[baly_2023]

Milkfairy BeKind28- Tos92 Valentina98 WeeHoolet apologies for my whiney post, bought back memories of my event 3 months ago and thought life is such a @#&@%#

He had a NStemi, , had a stent to the distal cx. Troponin levels 100, echocardiogram results were fine .

His face is full of colour and he's in good spirits, had a good chat, talked about the bhf helpline, talked about gtn spray and alot of things I've learnt too.

going to delete the post but wanted to say thank you first

[BeKind28- in reply to baly_2023]

Hello

Your post is not whiney at all and why would you think of deleting it ?

I hope you don't

I am so pleased to read your update and that your Dad is looking and doing well and you will be a great support for him to

Glad you seem better now you have seen him x

[baly_2023 in reply to BeKind28-]

It seemed like a child having a tantrum, but I will keep , take care

[BeKind28- in reply to baly_2023]

To me it seemed like a man that was upset because his Dad had a heart attack and he needed to vent how he felt x

[Milkfairy Heart Star in reply to baly_2023]

I agree with BeKind28.

It's okay to be upset and vent, nobody will be making a judgment.

[Juke77 in reply to baly_2023]

Don't apologise for being upset and worried about your dad.

[Carercmb in reply to baly_2023]

Don’t delete it helps others as we all feel like this at times. You are a caring son and worried we all get that.

[WeeHoolet in reply to baly_2023]

Don't delete your post! BeKind28 is right in saying you were upset. That isn't whining; it's natural concern for your dad. And now you and your dad are helping each other, which is great. All the best 🙂🦉

[Cruiser25]

I think, like a lot of us hearties, all this is new, unexpected and frightening, and learning about this frightening new world takes time. I quickly started quoting to family and friends...

"I don't know until I know"

One thing I learned v quickly...this forum and it's amazing members is a great place to reassure you, especially when it's one of those days & yes we all still get them...all part of the wonderful spice of life.

[Weetabixie]

Hi Baly_2023, I wasn't expecting that, I'm sorry to hear your father has had a heart attack, mine didn't show up on the ecg Troponin was 900 then 1,359, was tented almost two days later. Luckily your father was taken to hospital at the time and glad to hear he's seems to be doing and looking well now. Glad you haven't deleted the post and you most certainly weren't behaving like you were having a tantrum, you sounded like someone worried about their dad. I wish him a speedy recovery and hope you and the rest of your family are ok

[baly_2023 in reply to Weetabixie]

Thanks Weetabixie , it was a shock, it's is second one in 4 years, but he seemed in good spirits

[Catwifie in reply to baly_2023]

My tuppence worth..I was treated the same as your dad..angiogram the next day as I had a NSTEMI..thankfully didn't need stent..medication only. Hope he makes a full recovery. You weren't whining! You love your Dad..you were worried 😊❤️‍🩹

[Dyllibobs]

I'm so sorry to hear about your Dad having a heart attack. It's so worrying when it's someone you love deeply. It's good to hear that he's looking well & making a good recovery. X

[Eric_]

Hi, it could be he stableised well with intervention meds and could be fitted in at the earliest, which was the next day. 24yrs ago I was stablized and had a stent put in 12 hrs later. 🙂

[Hare123]

it took 8 days before they sorted the stent following my husbands heart attack, because they did not have room on the ward he needed to go to. He was kept stable, and well cared for in this time.

[Hrty]

In my case it was almost 24 hours after the ambulance was called that I went down to the lab for my angiogram and in the end I wasn't stented and been managed medically ever since. My mate, we met in the ward, was blue-lighted straight to the lab, went in after me, and had 3 stents inserted. Bloke in the bed opposite was in ward when I got there and went down to lab the day after me. We are all different with differing needs. All the best to your Dad for his continued recovery

[Carercmb]

I can understand your frustration at you not being told at the time . I have done the same with my children as I felt safe that we had the hospital support at the time.

We knew we were going to need support in the aftermath.This is where you can help them most.

Good that they don’t take your support for granted and try and manage alone.

As others have said not all heart attacks are the same in symptoms and maybe the hospital were waiting for confirmation.

Pleased all is well and great they have a family member who cares.

Hope all goes well.

[Survivor1952]

My HA was, apparently, in the early hours of a Wednesday morning, it was a silent one and I had no idea I’d had one. I didn’t get my stents until the following Monday. There was an immediate improvement in my health.

[DWizza]

Really sorry to hear this Baly but glad he’s looking well and bern seen.

I had angiogram the day after my heart attack , trop levels 402.. then I was told no stents , too blocked , triple CABG but a discussion would have to take place. I was sent to St Thomas’ and had to wait from 10 days for my surgery. Was cancelled twice. My wife and family were pleased that I was in the best place if I turned into an emergency while waiting .

[Bluelobby]

Hes lucky , I was stented 3 days later , pressure of the nhs I suppose .Hopefully moving forward he can feel alot better , good luck

[Stent2024]

sorry to hear about your dad , maybe they thought he was too fragile at the time ? They had to stabilize him first ? Wish him well

[Qualipop]

My stents were put in the morning after my heart attack. It was a mild one so it obviously wasn't deemed urgent.

[MWIC]

Sorry to hear about your dad - when I had a HA it was 2 days before I had angiogram so guess there are reasons and may have been that it wasn’t needed urgently - wishing him the best of luck

[Blearyeyed]

Sorry to hear about your Dad and I'm sending my best wishes for his recovery.You've had lots of good answers for the reasons for a delay.

Another reason is age and the need to assess the risks of surgery against the benefits.

In many cases , particularly in an older age group, breathing difficulties or low oxygen volume whilst the patient is being stabilised after a cardiac event can mean it would be a bigger risk to use anaesthesia and ventilation during immediate surgery and it could cause more complications post recovery than the risk of waiting until the patients breathing and symptoms have stabilised.

Depending on blood flow through the arteries and the complexity of the surgery for a particular patient it is often a wiser clinical decision to wait , allow a period of recovery and have a particular surgical team in charge of the operation, causing a short delay.

Some patients with other chronic health conditions that could affect breathing or involve more risk of an infection from an autoimmune response to the drugs , incision, or materials used in the surgery, may sometimes also be given a later surgery date after they have recovered strength and given prophylactic antibiotics in certain circumstances.

Some patients may need some time recovering on an IV of Saline if they are also suffering from internal dehydration or electrolyte imbalance at the time of a heart event as dehydration can also affect the success of a surgery.

These delays do not put the recovery or health of the patient at risk , but actually improve the success rate of the surgery and recovery speed that the patient has.

Take care and I hope you father feels better soon , Bee

[baly_2023 in reply to Blearyeyed]

Thanks Blearyeyed he's back home now.

[Bunkular]

He likely was stabilized when put on some heart related meds and that could give the docs time to consider whether stents are necessary. In my case I have 3 arteries partially blocked and so meds are the way they recommended. Usually 70% blockage is the cut off point whereby any coronary arteries above that require a stent. Under that - not.

[trafar]

If they have no resources to do it unfortunately you have to wait. I had a HA last year I couldn’t get an ambulance for two hours, I eventually got taken into hopsital at 5:30 on Friday night diagnosed at 9:30 had to wait till next morning to be blue lighted to Papworth hospital.