Had my angiogram yesterday. Totally awake, I think the happy juice didn't work, or they gave me saline by mistake. Watched on a big screen, and was talking to anyone who would talk with me.
All five bypass grafts in great shape, replaced aortic valve in great shape, everything okay five years after surgery.
BIG Sigh of relief.
Now, just have to find out what's causing the angina.
Long story short, you will have to put up with me just a while longer.
Any morning you don't find yourself in the obituaries is a good one! Getting older is certainly an adventure. . .I keep wondering when my Wild Oats turned to Shreaded Wheat;-)
Had an angiogram on my lower right leg. Had two plaqued up peripheral arteries going to my foot. Enter the Silverhawk, cardiovascular surgeon's version of a drain snake with a cutting tip. 2 hours later plenty of contrast in those arteries where it was just a trickle. Seven weeks after that, I developed a PE from an upper arm vein and not a DVT luckily. I recommend a cat scan of your chest with contrast agent for that warm, fuzzy feeling all over :)
One time when I was younger and diving commercially, I had the government take a $2500 bite out of a two week paycheck of mine. I said, "Well, I hope it goes to help someone." (I was thinking something entirely different.)
Good to hear it. About 35 years ago I was given a 10% chance of living
10 years (melanoma cancer) today a dozen or so new cancers later, I am still here. The last one they gave me a 97% chance of living five years. At my age, that's great even without the cancer.
Get a nuclear cardiac imaging / stress test. Mine is done in the doctor's office (with a machine and staff that's worth significant bucks).
It maps blood flow to all areas of the heart under stress and compares that with non-stress circulation.
I don't know where you are, but availability of high-end machines varies (my cardioligist does angiograms in his office!). For example, there are more MRI machines in Seattle than in all of Canada. I'm in Houston and we have twice as many MRI machines in our town than does Seattle.
I enjoy reading both of your posts and getting very good advice.
Good to hear it. About 35 years ago I was given a 10% chance of living
10 years (melanoma cancer) today a dozen or so new cancers later, I am still here. The last one they gave me a 97% chance of living five years. At my age, that's great even without the cancer.
I retired almost two years ago. Just previous to that, I was granted SS disability. So, the union insurance lumped me with a new group. Medicare does not kick in until you have been on SS for two years.
On my old group when I was working, I could pretty much go to any doctor. With that new group, I had to go to Larry, Moe and Curly. The regular annual nuclear test that I used to have every 12 months in my doctor's office took 19 months to get approved through Larry, Moe, and Curly MDs, and the new plan.
It's a three part deal, tread mill, x rays and echocardiogram. I went in for the test, and they were going to put me on the treadmill first. They did that to a friend of my wife's, and he died on the treadmill. They asked me why I didn't go have the echo first, and I explained that I was the patient and they were the administrators, and that I was just following directions.
They took the nuclear text x rays and echo in December, something my old doctor always did in July. Said I needed two stents.
I said I would wait until I got on Medicare, and could go back to my old doctor. April 1 comes and I am on Medicare. BUT I didn't notify them by certified mail that I wanted to disenroll, so they automatically put me in another group that takes control from Medicare and administrates your health care. You have to go to who they say you can go to. So, I have to wait another month to get out of the clutches of Larry, Moe and Curly, MDs. Now I'm up to twenty months on something that would have been done eight months ago under my old plan.
Insurance companies ..................... ahhh, I could talk about them all day.
My sincerest wish is that every adjuster, agent, and administrator has some serious tragedy in their lives that involves being tied in knots with a greedy insurance company, inept adjuster, and greedy administrator.
I have no doubt that had I gone to Larry, Moe, and Curly MDs. as they wanted me to do that they would have placed two stents somewhere although I did not need them.
Don't even get me started on workman's comp. I was permanently injured Oct.
20, 2003, and I was accepted by SS for permanent disability April 1, 2005. I won't get my first check from them until September, 2007 because they applied my settlement to my future payments with SS. They can do that in my state. Someone who didn't have savings or anything built up would be living on the streets by now.
Too bad all the politicians don't have to live with the insurance policies and Medicare like the rest of us normal humans.
| Don't even get me started on workman's comp. I was permanently injured Oct. | 20, 2003, and I was accepted by SS for permanent disability April 1, 2005. | I won't get my first check from them until September, 2007 because they | applied my settlement to my future payments with SS. They can do that in my | state. Someone who didn't have savings or anything built up would be living | on the streets by now. | | Too bad all the politicians don't have to live with the insurance policies | and Medicare like the rest of us normal humans. |
Call your congresscritter and state insurance commissioner. They tried something similar with me and a few phone calls got that straight.
BTW typically they can offset only 1/2 of the SSA benefits as you paid half the contribution.
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