Heart attacks

Ravenworks · June 17, 2019

Who here has had a heart attack?

I'm curious as to what your recovery was like?

Sisco · June 17, 2019

Never had one, but sold drugs to treat them for 32 years. The best recovery will be if the patient gets fast treatment. Minutes count. The person who pops an aspirin upon first suspecting one has reduced their risk of death by 24%. If he gets administered a thrombolytic within an hour, it is reduced another 24 %. Or a catheterization to open the blocked arteries, even higher. Speed is of the essence. Time is muscle. I know this doesn’t answer your question, but it is something we all need to remember. My friends who have had them have varied all over the map as to recovery, depending on the amount of blockage and the severity. There are just a ton of variables involved.

Ravenworks · June 18, 2019

1 minute ago, Sisco said:

Never had one, but sold drugs to treat them for 32 years. The best recovery will be if the patient gets fast treatment. Minutes count. The person who pops an aspirin upon first suspecting one has reduced their risk of death by 24%. If he gets administered a thrombolytic within an hour, it is reduced another 24 %. Or a catheterization to open the blocked arteries, even higher. Speed is of the essence. Time is muscle. I know this doesn’t answer your question, but it is something we all need to remember. My friends who have had them have varied all over the map as to recovery, depending on the amount of blockage and the severity. There are just a ton of variables involved.

I killed over in the recovery room waiting for my ride home.

I coded 3X'S, I was down almost 4 minutes, also I was cathed and stinted in 30 minutes.

BUT.

They poured the Heparin to me and caused me to bleed out.

I have Non-hodgkin's lymphoma and the doctor and nurses never looked at my chart.

Nor did they see where the surgeon gave me platelets before surgery because my normal is around 75k, the one pack brought me up to 144k.

This was about the time my wife walked in an noticed my catheter bag had fire engine red blood in it.

My platelet count was at 22k,they gave me 6 units of blood and 5 packs of platelets.

She is a retired BSRN and a very good problem solver,if it wasn't for her I'd be dead.

All this happened on April 23rd.

I was on By-pass for four days, then I was in cardiac ICU for a week, ICU for 10 days and the balance of my 30 day stay on a step down unit.

I start rehab on Wednesday,but I will tell you this,nothing has put me down like this did.

Something that I am greatful for is where this happened as I usually work out in the middle of nowhere.

I had almost 100% blockage and never paid attention to the signs.

There was no bright lights,no harps,nope it was more like someone turned the switch off.

Sisco · June 18, 2019

Holy crud man! Glad you are still with us! I used to sell Low Molecular Weight Heparins. That Non Hodgkins Lymphoma should have been a red flag. There are other short acting anti clotting agents they could have used.

Cardiac rehab has come a long way. Good luck with it!

Armed Eye Doc · June 18, 2019

Damn, it is good that you are still here. You've had a hell of a couple of months.

My wife had one a couple of years ago. She was at work when it happened. She had symptoms most of the morning and called me when her left arm started to go numb. I brought aspirin and blood pressure cuff. I gave her 2 aspirin and her bp was 160/110 iirc. She went to the hospital and had a Cath the next day. She had 2 blockages in the same artery, 80 & 99%. She was blessed and didn't have heart damage and went home after a couple of days.

sketch · June 18, 2019

close call Raven! hope you have a speady recovery.

jtallen83 · June 18, 2019

1 hour ago, Ravenworks said:

There was no bright lights,no harps,nope it was more like someone turned the switch off.

Man you got robbed, the weird dreamy schit was the only part worth remembering, past that I felt death was over rated.

Glad you’re back with us Brother, hope you have a speedy recovery 👍

unforgiven · June 18, 2019

Get well soon brother 👍

Ravenworks · June 18, 2019

Eye Doc, how was here recovery,believe it or not I had no muscle damage to the heart-CRASH did their job?

I mean to tell you I'm not up to running around doing my normal errands,but I am out and about short periods of time.

I just get to wore out.

Also,how freaking long before the sternum and ribs quit hurting, all the doctors just shrug their.

I fuqking hate that

Edited June 18, 2019 by Ravenworks

Belt Fed · June 18, 2019

That sucks Raven, happy to see you still here. Stay positive and heal up. My mother in law had two open heart surgeries. took her a little while to recover.

Armed Eye Doc · June 18, 2019

1 hour ago, Ravenworks said:

Eye Doc, how was here recovery,believe it or not I had no muscle damage to the heart-CRASH did their job?

I mean to tell you I'm not up to running around doing my normal errands,but I am out and about short periods of time.

I just get to wore out.

Also,how freaking long before the sternum and ribs quit hurting, all the doctors just shrug their.

I fuqking hate that

She did not code, so she did not have bruised/broken ribs. Bruised ribs take about 3-6 weeks to heal.

It does take a few weeks or more to start to feel almost normal. She was back at work in a couple of weeks, but she mostly answered phones at that time.

Cardiac rehab will be your way to rebuilding your strength and stamina again. It's a slow process, but necessarily so.

survivalshop · June 18, 2019

Ravenworks ,Its good your" Angle" Wife showed up ! Many people have Heart Attacks & don't know it or shrug off the symptoms , I know I did !

I have three Stints & had my Aortic Valve replaced last year , one day in the Hospital & more med's , but that valve sure made a difference .The Valve ( TAVR ) & double Stint were done through my Leg & one of the Stints was done through my Arm .

Edited June 25, 2019 by survivalshop

Ravenworks · June 18, 2019

17 minutes ago, survivalshop said:

Ravenworks ,Its good your" Angle" Wife showed up ! Many people have Heart Attacks & don't know it or shrug off the symptoms , I know I did !

I have three Stints & had my Aortic Valve replaced last year , one day in the Hospital & more med's , but that valve sure made a difference .The Valve ( TAVOR ) & double Stint were done through my Leg & one of the Stints was done through my Arm .

Wow,I thought that they had to crack you open to replace a valve.

Good thing they don't have to do that anymore. I couldn't imagine the pain of having your chest cracked open.

I don't even remember going to the hospital for my hernia surgery, let alone anything else that happened.

All I know is what I've been told.

Armed Eye Doc · June 18, 2019

1 hour ago, Ravenworks said:

I don't even remember going to the hospital for my hernia surgery, let alone anything else that happened.

So, you went in for a hernia surgery and then had the heart attack when you were waiting to go home?

Ravenworks · June 18, 2019

31 minutes ago, Armed Eye Doc said:

So, you went in for a hernia surgery and then had the heart attack when you were waiting to go home?

Yes that is correct.

I was talking to a couple of the members of the CRASH team when it happened.

RedRiverII · June 18, 2019

God Bless Brother, I'm glad it is going well for you.

Ravenworks · June 18, 2019

Just now, RedRiverII said:

God Bless Brother, I'm glad it is going well for you.

This hasn't been anywhere near as hard on me as it has been my family.

They lived it, I was unaware

Thank you

Edited June 18, 2019 by Ravenworks

RedRiverII · June 18, 2019

I hear that loud and clear. I read it, " ...turned the switch off." I wish you a nice calm steady recovery.

Ravenworks · June 18, 2019

I don't know how I screwed up the quote.

But this was my reply-

This hasn 't be en anywhere near as hard on me as it has been my family.

They lived it, I was unaware.

98Z5V · June 19, 2019

15 hours ago, Armed Eye Doc said:

So, you went in for a hernia surgery and then had the heart attack when you were waiting to go home?

14 hours ago, Ravenworks said:

Yes that is correct.

That's scary as hell- you never know what "one thing" can lead to another. Pretty damn terrifying. Glad you're still here, because "going in for a hernia" never seems too serious, yet it can turn...

Ravenworks · June 19, 2019

5 hours ago, 98Z5V said:

That's scary as hell- you never know what "one thing" can lead to another. Pretty damn terrifying. Glad you're still here, because "going in for a hernia" never seems too serious, yet it can turn...

Coming home from Florida this year I told my mother that the doctor's were going to kill me.(I was showing signs but didn't recognize them,neither did the doctors)

I have a second home in Fort Myers and found out during the winter months health care down there is like a 3rd world country.

All I have been thinking about is being at work.

I've been an operating engineer for 30+ years and we had a pipeline boom come through Ohio.

So I jumped on the pipeline train for 5 years and was working 80 to 100 hours a week.

If I had to wait on a life flight because of the remote location's we worked init would had taken at least an hour to get out there.

Nope,those hillbillies would have stuck some chaw in their mouth then tossed me in the back of a pickup truck like a dead deer.

Edited June 19, 2019 by Ravenworks

Sisco · June 19, 2019

31 minutes ago, Ravenworks said:

I have a second home in Fort Myers and found out during the winter months health care down there is like a 3rd world country.

Interesting. We found the opposite over in Stuart, Fla. A cardiologist picked up on my wife’s arrhythmia condition that had been completely misdiagnosed by the cardiologists up in Duluth. My wife ended up with a cardiologist affiliated with the Cleveland Clinic, and he is one of the best I have seen in my 32 years of calling on them in Major teaching institutions.

Glad you had no muscle damage friend, that is the most important factor by far.

Ravenworks · June 19, 2019

Well,let me add a bit more to that statement.

The facilities are overwhelmed during the winter months.

You have a town that is around a million people that swells to 6 million.

I still don't care for Lee County health care.

RedRiverII · June 19, 2019

God Bless Brother, I'm glad it is going well for you.

98Z5V · June 20, 2019

17 hours ago, Ravenworks said:

Nope,those hillbillies would have stuck some chaw in their mouth then tossed me in the back of a pickup truck like a dead deer.

I'm from there, and I wouldn't have done that. I at least would have been in the back of the truck with you, and stabilized your head.