Gary's Guestbook

Gary Mercer  Thanks for your thoughts. Probably going home on Monday. Pain not to bad but gained 17 pounds during surgery. That is a lot of fluid to get rid of.mine turned into a very interesting surgery and I'll let you all know later

Michael Poe  Yes Gary I do agree it is probably the easiest test you'll ever do. No pain and as far as I know no side effects either. They give you some meds wheel you in and then you wake up in your room. You're there for about 4 hours for observation and to let you come back from the meds. Michael

NIEVES VELAZQUEZ  The heart cath is a breeze Gary. I wish everything was that easy. My biggest pain, as always, is trying to get a vein to thread the IVY needle…

Jason Leber  Hi Gary, I agree with Olga regarding the catheter.....no pain. In fact I found it really interesting as I was also fully awake and didn't take any sedation because I wanted to see what was happening on the screens (I could watch as they fed the catheter in). It only felt "strange" as you can feel it travel upwards and into your heart. I took the approach of a very cool science project that I got to be part of. Its' pretty amazing. My only advice would be to take it really easy for few days following. Mine was done through my groin and the plug that was used to seal the artery blew out the following morning and I bled internally! Thankfully my wife is a nurse and she stopped the bleeding quickly. It's been two full weeks now and I am still bruised and only slightly sore. Most of that was all caused by the bleeding so if that hadn't happened I would've healed quicker.
Good luck!
Jay

Eleanor R  Hi, Gary. As part of the medical work up leading to replacement of my aortic valve, I too had a heart catherization. I was afraid. I had never had major surgery, nothing ever to do with my heart. I imagined all kinds of dire outcomes. I was only mildly sedated and for a very brief time. I could have watched the procedure on the wide screen TV, as the "interventional cardiologist" did as he conducted the procedure. No thanks, not for me. I closed my eyes and just did whatever he instructed me to do (relax, cough (why?) It was over quickly, and a plug was inserted. I had to lie flat for a little over two hours. For me, that was the hardest part, trying to not move off my back. I'm not a back sleeper and being flat was hard. I had my adult daughter with me though and she helped me pass the time. During this time the cardiologist came by to tell me his findings, which were good, no blockage of arteries, hence no need for bypass surgery along with the valve replacement. Instructions to rest, don't climb stairs or lift weights for a day or two, and to monitor the opening. Frankly, I actually had to look for it, since there was no brusing at the site. A good outcome, and not as nerve racking as I had imagined. Turns out that our imagination is often more powerful than reality. I hope this turns out to be the case for you as well, pretty sure it will be. Best wishes to you. Eleanor

NIEVES VELAZQUEZ  One of my heart caths was done through the groin, I liked it. The other one was done through the wrist, I did not care for that one… No pain or aftereffects with either one. A breeze

NIEVES VELAZQUEZ  CLEVELAND CLINIC is tops according to some of my life time friends… We are all old now and the heart seem to be the one getting to most of us.