Post Heart Cath Report

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pamela said:
My cardiologist is an IC at the hospital where I had my first cath, however, since they wanted me bumped up the surgery list he asked a colleague to do mine. I blithely proceded into the OR and he made the incision. Shortly after I saw the tube bumping into roadblocks inside my silohuetted abdomen. The cardiologist asked me if I'd ever injured myself in the past.

I said yes and I also reminded him that I'd had pelvic DVT in my right leg (exactly where he was inserting the catheter). He blew up and yelled at me for not telling him sooner.

I tried to stay calm as I waited for a chance to tell him that it was written on my chart. He denied it was there and by then I'd been reduced to tears from worry, stress and valium. The nurse was facing a doctor in a tantrum, a patient in tears with a vein wide open and lord knows what else, when she took the chart from the doctor and flipped the page to show him the highlit info about my previous clot.

He ordered them to prep my left side. I don't believe the freezing had taken before he made the incision since it hurt. He couldn't get through to my heart on that side either and snarkily asked if I'd had a clot on the left, that I'd neglected to mention. I told him that I hadn't had, to my knowledge. All I really wanted to tell him, at that point, was that I'd see his ass in court.

Post-procedure they used plugs and sandbags but I had to lie flat for 4 hours since they'd opened both sides. When I rose and put the weight on my leg the plug on the right let go and I began to hemorrhage. The nurse used her fingers on the blood vessel for 30 minutes until she could let go long enough for the C clamp to be positioned. 2 and a half hours later they allowed me to try again and I managed to get out of there and back to our friends' house a short 14 hours after I was admitted for day surgery.

The hemotoma was black from under my right breast to below my knee and wrapped around the inside half of my thigh. It took about 6 weeks to go away. I recieved an apology from the cardiologist that did the procedure. I told my cardio that he had to promise that that man wouldn't lay hands on me again.

It turns out, if my cardiologist had done the procedure on me that day, I would have had it through my arm and been out in an hour after the cath.

Thankfully, my experience is NOT the gold standard of heart catheterizations.

Sorry for the long post. :eek:

Hi Pamela. Sorry to learn about your "not the gold standard Catheterization" and interesting comments about the cardio that did the procedure. Sometimes right-arm catheterizations have problems too. After mine I had to lay on my back for 4 hours probably due to blood loss. I wish another non-invasive test could be devised.

As I was reading through your post I thought we had been in the same hospital with the same cardio and then realized you are out west. At least he apologized.
 
Doctors Don't Read Charts!

Doctors Don't Read Charts!

Pamela, That is a horrifying story, but not surprising. Doctors today frequently don't read charts! Unfortunately we all need to be on guard, very aggressive and assertive with those in the "healthcare industry". I've had a much less serious argument with a resident before my surgery, which he later apologized for, and I've seen many examples with friends and family that might have had fatal results, if family members had not been present to intervene. I also spent 5 weeks in bed after outpatient knee surgery because the surgeon didn't follow my heart surgeons instructions for my warfarin. Best of luck in the future. Brian
 
jgibson said:
Just wanted to post a quick Heart Cath report. Sorry I wasn't able to get this in yesterday, but I spent most of yesterday just resting... So, here was what went down...


QUOTE]

Jeff - that was a great post - thanks. I'm getting my cath on Friday, 10/12 and am a bit nervous, but your post made it sound like a piece of cake! LOL
I was told I'll be laying on my back for 6 hours. I think I remember them saying they'll do the pre-op stuff that afternoon too. My surgery is scheduled for Friday 10/22. I'm getting more and more nervous every day - can't wait for it to be over.
 
JAJ99 said:
I'm new to post but have been following this site for several months. I'm scheduled for a mitral valve repair on October 22nd at Mayo in Rochester by Dr. Schaff. I'm having my cath procedure done the morning before surgery. Evidentally Dr. Schaff has studied this and it causes no problems to do it the same day. I'm thrilled as it saves me another trip to Rochester from the Twin Cities. I have to thank you all for the valuable information I've gained from reading this site.:)

We'll be recuperating together! I'm getting a new aortic valve on the 22nd at Lankenau Hospital in Philadelphia.
 
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