No follow up after heart attack? Is this usual?

[Flissy100]

Had a doozy heart attack (not the first) end of January, bypassed a very good local hospital and they took me straight to JR Oxford, straight to angio theatre, 3 stents and a 5 day stay.Had to return beginning of March for stents to LAD which they couldn't do in Jan, only as a day patient,

For some reason they couldn't use collagen plug so I had 2 young doctors with their fists in my groin for an hour, 3.30 came and nurse said I could go home, no discharge letter just given a leaflet.

Was feeling fine on way home , pain started later in evening , anaesthetic wearing off?

Thursday was in agony, so painful could hardly walk, Friday rung ward to ask advice - paracetamol they told me,

By Sunday I was black and blue right across from hip to hip, my daughter cried when she saw it.

It took 3 weeks for soft tissue to heal, then nerve down my leg and my hip was giving me horrendous pain

In between time heard from rehab team, l was in no fit state to even contemplate it but went along so I could ask advice, shuffling along with a walker!!

No advice whatsoever, just let it heal

Have not had a follow up with consultant,

In the 5 weeks after ha I was feeling lot better but after March assault don't seem to be going forward

So fed up

[GFFF]

i was in the JR after my HA and stent, the medical care is perfection but there does seem to be poor communication of what happens next and how the follow up care will be. I was told to go home and rest, GP will be in contact, personally cardiac rehab was a no ho due to covid. Hope you feel better soon, take it easy and listen to your body x

[baltibob]

I had a cardiac arrest in Feb and was resuscitated with CPR and 2 defib shocks, and taken to Royal Berks in Reading (so not too far from you). I then had a second arrest, and came to after 11 defib shocks. I was then put in a coma, had an angiogram and then a stent fitted and spent 4 days in ICU. I was out 3 days later. My left ventricle took some damage and is at 30-35%. The two things that caused me the most issue when I got home was my trouble sleeping with fractured ribs and a hard bed, and a really bad infection in my wrist from a canula, which was really painful, even when clothing just lightly rubbed up against it,

After going home, I had lots of phone contact from the nurses in the heart team, which was very good, but I didn't have a fact to face appointment (other than for rehab classes) until a couple of weeks ago. I have yet to see or speak to a consultant. I have another echo scan at the end of next month, and I assume I will see or speak to a consultant after that.

It sounds like you had a bit of a bad experience and could have done with a bit more attention, and possibly some help at home, or some nurse visits. I am glad you are feeling better now though. I would give your heart team a call if you think you need more guidance and support. Mine have been helpful when on the one or two occasions that I have called them.

[BeKind28-]

Hello

There is no wonder you are feeling fed up sounds like you had a really bad experience and now the after care is not there that you need either and I do feel for you

I would maybe phone the Rehab Nurses and ask for some support

I would also phone the Consultant's Secretary and ask if there are any follow up appointments arranged and if not why

I would speak with my Doctor to

There are also some really good BHF Nurses you can phone that would give you some really good advice which could help

Let us know how you get on x

Heart Helpline team on 0300 330 3311 Mon-Fri 9-5pm

[Jedi14]

Sorry to hear about you and your families experiences, it must have been awful. My experiences, it seemed like a relatively painless procedure/s. But even before being sent home had cardiac rehab nurse visit. There were continuos follow ups, sometimes self led so that I could get back to normal/work. Initially recommended daily walks etc, gradually phased back to work. I had my own targets in mind.

[Qualipop]

Heart attack 6 years ago now. I had to go back for another angiogram to check on two blockages. NO stents were fitted but that was it. I had one appointment with rehab who refused to let me even try as I'm in a wheelchair and over to GP. I never even spoke to the cardiologist. All I got was a discharge letter that needed a degree to understand it. When he did the two angiograms he was very rushed and had no time to explain anything. It's apparently a case of "We fixed your plumbing, now go away". After the second one they released the pressure bandage ( on my arm) too early and my arm was completely black from wrist to elbow for weeks. I don't even know who my cardiologist was.