Art Villarreal’s Living Green

Previously I talked about my ER visit concerning my heart symptoms. While it was not the best of visits, it obvious I may have a serious condition and I had to do something to change my current path.

I knew I needed to increase my level of activity, eat healthier, and get my diabetes and blood pressure under control.  I needed to change my lifestyle in more then just an environmental standpoint.

It was time to have a conversation with a cardiologist. I don’t remember her name, and I probably will not ever see her again, but she reminded me of the Mrs. Garrett from Facts of Life.

She came in at 6 in the morning, which interrupted my 3 – 4 hours of sleep. After asking me the same questions about what happened to me, she gave me my options, and there weren’t too many.

One, I could take a stress test and if things turned out ok, I could go home. If things turned out less then optimal, I would have cardiac catheterization intervention. Or two, I could skip the stress test and just get the cardiac catheterization to see what was going on.

I said the hell with the stress test lets just get the Cardiac thing done. So now it was more waiting. In fact, by the time I had my heart cath, it was 48 hours after the onset of my first symptoms.

Next came the somewhat humbling part. I had to wear nothing but my gown, and because of the room traffic, had a hard time getting to bathroom, so I held my bladder.

By noon, I was taken to the OR holding, then to the OR where I would be having my procedure done. I was covered with blankets, had my gown taken off, covered with a hand towel on my groin, shaved, and covered with sterile sheets.

By 12:30 the cardiologist came in and started talking to me, I was given a sedative intravenously, and then without any notification, the procedure started. In fact, I didn’t realize the procedure started until I felt a little pressure. I thought that was the local anesthetic they were injecting me with, but it was actually her hands inserting the catheter into my femoral artery.

I was dozing off and on, and then I felt the burning sensation throughout my entire body. I mentioned that and the cardiologist acknowledged that that was the radiological contrast flowing through my body.

And then as quickly as it started it was over. My procedure lasted only 20 minutes. Others tend to last 30 to 45 minutes. Usually it’s because there is some intervention needed such as a Palmaz Stent insertion, or balloon angioplasty. I didn’t require any. I did have a slight blockage, but nothing that required any intervention yet.

I say that lightly because the intervention I require is correcting my diet and increasing my exercise level.

Though my procedure lasted only 20 minutes, my recovery was very different. I was required to lie flat on my back for over 5 and a half hours. Remember I had not gone to the bathroom since before the procedure, so I really had to go.

My ER doctor came to visit me after my procedure around 7 pm. He gave me the stern warning that I had to change my lifestyle if I wanted to live a comfortable life and he also said I could leave that evening. And so came more waiting.

In all, the physical stress my body is under has to change. I will need to increase my activity, change my diet, and control my blood pressure and diabetes. I want to live a long and fruitful life.  And if I want to run to my next bus stop without felling like my I may collapse any moment, I need to take care of and respect my body, because it’s the only one I have.