Anything new ?

[Stereodude]

Yikes! Can you get a 2nd opinion on any of that stuff?

 

[Bozo]

Having a heart cath is not bad at all. I've had 4.
The stints they use now are much better than just a few years ago. They can last a very long time.
A friend just had a heart cath and they went through his wrist. The wires and such are very small now. The last one I had was 3 years ago and they went through my groin. My friend never had any of the usual symptoms of heart trouble but says he feels 100% better after they installed a stint for a small blockage. His blood thinner is an aspirin every day.
Remember that an once of prevention is worth a pound of cure. I went from okay, to heart attack, to bypass surgery in 3 years.

 

[CougTek]

I don't really know what to say except that I hope you'll be well and that the hole thing won't affect too negatively your life's quality. I have a friend who had heart surgery last year and he's fine now. He's the one who drove the ATV when we dive into the moat. If his heart lets him have this kind of excitement without busting, I think he's in pretty good shape.

Maybe Adcadet could elaborate more about the possible outcomes of your current condition.

 

[ddrueding]

Wow time, I do wish you the best.

I can see myself in your shoes in a few years. I already have occasional heart pain, and I manage to make myself dizzy when I sneeze. Resting heart rate is well above 50, and just walking around puts it in the high-70s. A burst of solid exercise can get it into the 190+ range.

Spent some time on an EKG...no specific notes from the doctor. Now that my mother-in-law is visiting I might have her take a look (she was a cardiologist).

 

[Mercutio]

Those of you who have health care should be thankful you have health care.

 

[ddrueding]

How about being pissed at the system for charging so much in the first place? I don't really care who's paying, as it all winds up coming from me anyway.

1. Company health insurance - payed by the company so I make less money
2. Govt health insurance - payed by the govt so I get taxed more
3. No health insurance - I pay directly

 

[Clocker]

My heath insurance plan...I pay 100% of the cost of any/every medical or drug expense for my family until I hit $5,000 per year. Not so great but better than nothing I guess. Definitely not as good as it was. Great as long as you don't get sick or need to visit the hospital! My 'premium' is only about $25 per month.

 

[Mercutio]

I fall in to too many high risk areas. I'm not going to even try to get coverage unless I can do it on a group plan tha1t there's no chance that I'll be forced out of. There's no longer any such thing as a "pre-existing condition", but it's still perfectly acceptable for an insurance company to raise your premiums to the point that you can no longer afford coverage. I figure that the only chance I have of not getting in that situation with the way that health care works here is to get in to some huge group plan. Otherwise, I'm going to wind up fucked over by the premiums. Since my employer doesn't help me at all and I don't want to buy an individual plan that costs more than my rent, right now I don't have many options. I pay $125/month for catastrophic coverage and every time I pay that bill it feels like flushing money down a drain since the only way that's ever going to pay anything back to me is if I'm in a situation where I'd rather be dead to begin with.

 

[LunarMist]

There are risks associated with just having angiography, let alone angioplasty. Stents require a lifelong commitment to blood thinners, anti-coagulants, etc, and they tend to lose effectiveness after a few years. The cardiologist told me that outcomes were much better for bypasses.

WTF? I haven't even got chest pain! I'd love to hear other people's stories.

I think you should have the test if you are stable enough for that. Your experiences are serious enough that it seems to me you will not revert to a problem free status without intervention. Presumably you are on some meds to reduce chance of a cardiac event before that.

My heart is not great, but CV issues are not my worst problem. Your hypertension does not appear to be too bad, so it should easily be controllable with medications. You should feel better from that alone after a few days - at least I did.

 

[time]

Thanks everyone.

Lunar, I forgot to mention that I've managed to lower my BP to 120/80, although under stress (like when I'm at the hospital), it went up to 130.

So far, I've refused to take all medication. I gave up alcohol for a few weeks and all sources of caffeine forever. Part of this is self-defense - my stomach can no longer tolerate aspirin.

If Adcadet et al are around, the radiology conclusion was "mild perfusion abnormality with 2mm ECG depression" or something like that.

Australian residents have universal health care, with the option of taking out private health insurance for faster access to more services. I don't have that because the excesses are ongoing, eg. I would be out of pocket every day I was at hospital. I've always reasoned that I'd be better off paying my own way for elective surgery, and for anything life-threatening I'd rather be in a big public hospital anyway. A reflection of my life experiences. It's also fair to say that I don't have reason to have much confidence in the medical profession as a whole.

 

[mubs]

Time,

Sorry to hear about your health. But at least it was caught and diagnosed. Many apparently healthy people die from their first, silent heart attack; they just keel over.

Don't be so anti-medication. I have no known heart problem (but have not had a deeper investigation than regular ECGs and a treadmill test in 2006), but have been on a baby aspirin since 1999 at the suggestion of my doctor brother since there's a strong family history of diabetes, cardiac disease, cholesterol and hypertension. The aspirin's buffered, so it passes through the stomach and is absorbed in the intestines where it can't do any mischief.

I've also been on anti-hypertensives and cholesterol medication since 1999. I guess it's the aggressive medication regimen that's kept me in reasonable health till now. I don't like having a pharmacy at home, but it sure beats being disabled or an invalid.

My dad had his bypass in 1983; it was still not as common then as it is now. The bigger scare at that time was AIDS; they still weren't sure the tests of donated blood were effective in catching early stage HIV. But my father lived for 16 years after his bypass and died of congestive heart failure in 1999. He was also a lifelong diabetic and hypertensive.

As someone suggested, a second opinion would be useful. If the consensus is treatment, go for it; it would be better than delaying it and developing more serious issues.

I can imagine how you're feeling. My feelings of invulnerability went poof when I found out in August 2010 that I had diabetes. Somehow I had always though that would happen much later in my life. Such is the human mind - always thinks "it can't happen to me".

What's amazing is how much abuse the body can withstand before it finally starts to complain. Only then do we realize our folly.

Merc, will the healthcare reform help you situation any?

 

[DrunkenBastard]

Sorry to hear the bad news Time, hope you get a good second opinion and start the pills. Makes me reconsider tucking into the prime rib....

For me the wrist option would be preferable (if available), unless you have some hottie nurses to shave you down below...

 

[Chewy509]

Also sorry to hear the news, time.

Also hasn't been a good time for my wife recently, having been formally diagnosed with Chron's Disease (and now is on 5** different medications for it), and also breast cancer (which for the time being has been classified as dormant as it hasn't grown in the last three scans she's had, but now has to have a scan every 3 months from now on for the rest of her life to monitor it***).

One of the medications she was put on for Chron's Disease had her completely bed-bound for 4 days before she stopped taking it a week ago, and switched to an alternate medication. She's no only just starting to recover from the effects of that medication.

** We did a quick calculation on our cost for medication, if we had to pay full price for all her medication, it would be in the order of $350 per fortnight! However since she is now on a permanent disability pension, and me being a full time student, we only end up paying about $40 per month for her medication...

*** The doctors don't want to operate just yet, as it's attached to a lymph node and being dormant don't want to disturb it, in case they cause a change in it's state, and cause it to grow. (As she has family history of breast cancer, they recommend a double mastectomy plus removal of surround lymph nodes, if there is any change in it).

 

[Mercutio]

Merc, will the healthcare reform help you situation any?

The short answer is "I doubt it." Basically what we got was a mandate that every adult in the US purchase private insurance. Theoretically, means that I'll be lumped in some big group plan with a bunch of other currently uninsured people, but there's absolutely nothing stopping an insurance provider from raising premiums to the point where it would be cheaper to pay the tax penalties (IIRC, that's how they're doing this) and deal with urgent care issues only rather than pay what insurance will cost.

I very strongly suspect that is what will happen.

The only really good things that came out of the reforms were the ideas that adult progeny of parents covered under a group plan can be kept on that plan until they are 26 if they are still in school, and the fact that insurance companies can no longer immediately deny coverage to someone because of existing health issues. Those are good ideas, but a lot of the rest of it amounts to a huge sloppy loving blowjob for US Insurance companies.

So anyway, I don't really even have a physician. If I need something and my ex isn't around to do it (which she's not; she moved away), I'm stuck going to an urgent care clinic and paying $180 for even a 15 second conversation with a physician. When I was dealing with MRSA infections, my follow ups (and understand, I'm talking about several of them per week for a few months) were $125.

If I were to be diagnosed with a chronic condition that required regular treatment, like diabetes or hypertension, I'd probably just be completely fucked.

 

[Howell]

Sorry to hear about your health time. Exercise really does make a difference. IIRC, you are under 50?

 

[time]

Alas, I'm afraid I have now reached that milestone. I guess that means the warranty's up?

 

[time]

Chewy, I don't know what to say - that's a terrible setback for your wife and you. Do you have relatives in SEQ?

I take it hormonal therapy isn't applicable for the type of tumor she has? My sister-in-law is on that, although that's post-surgery for her.

I hadn't realized the full extent of debilitation from Crohn's disease. I assume helminthic therapy is still too experimental?

 

[Pradeep]

Thanks everyone.

Lunar, I forgot to mention that I've managed to lower my BP to 120/80, although under stress (like when I'm at the hospital), it went up to 130.

So far, I've refused to take all medication. I gave up alcohol for a few weeks and all sources of caffeine forever. Part of this is self-defense - my stomach can no longer tolerate aspirin.

If Adcadet et al are around, the radiology conclusion was "mild perfusion abnormality with 2mm ECG depression" or something like that.

Australian residents have universal health care, with the option of taking out private health insurance for faster access to more services. I don't have that because the excesses are ongoing, eg. I would be out of pocket every day I was at hospital. I've always reasoned that I'd be better off paying my own way for elective surgery, and for anything life-threatening I'd rather be in a big public hospital anyway. A reflection of my life experiences. It's also fair to say that I don't have reason to have much confidence in the medical profession as a whole.

My wife a nurse says its hard to diagnose from just one data point of 2mm depression (without knowing family history etc:

"As an icu nurse I wouldn't be holding the paddles close by...
But if you want a good quality of life in the long term you may have to deal with meds.
Get the angioplasty done, find out the true extent of the situation.
The exercise regime is good and helpful but may not be enough, the damage already being done etc.."

 

[Mercutio]

Alas, I'm afraid I have now reached that milestone. I guess that means the warranty's up?

They'll get you squared away. Just do what the doctors tell you, correct a few bad habits and completely totally change your lifestyle forever. Nothing to it.

 

[Chewy509]

Chewy, I don't know what to say - that's a terrible setback for your wife and you. Do you have relatives in SEQ?

We're both still in a little bit of shock at it all. If it was just one thing, it woldn't be so bad, but having multiple things happening at once, has left us a little shell-shocked.

We only have her mum (who has been helping out by looking after the kids whilst we go to medical appointments), and her sister. But we rarely hear from her sister even in the good times. My family is all spread across Victoria.

It's been a few very hard weeks for us. (And her birthday being her 34th birthday, it wasn't the best day - we wanted to go to Dreamworld for the day, but she wsn't up to it).

For the moment we're sticking with convential medicines, and they all seem to be working (with the exception of the one).

 

[mubs]

Chewy, sorry to hear about your wife's health. These can be managed if detected early enough. I wish you both all the very best to see this through.

 

[LiamC]

Guys and dolls. Sometimes I think life is getting a little tough, but compared to what you are dealing with, it pales. My sympathies and I hope life treats you a little better.

 

[Chewy509]

Thanks.

One of the upsides to my wife's condition, is that we eat very little processed food now. (Anything processed tends to give her severe reflux pretty much immediately). Since doing that, we're all sleeping better at night, the kids temperaments are greatly improved, and I've lost a few pounds. (It's amazing how many food additives are included in basic foods, let along heavily processed foods - some of these food additives are actually banned in other countries, but here in Oz, the large companies are free to use them).

I've even become quite good at making bread! (And it costs about $1.40 a loaf, which is cheaper than any decent bread from the shops).

I've joked that now we've become modern hippie's, only eating fresh and organic foods that we make ourselves!

We also eventually made it to Dreamworld for her birthday, about 2 weeks after it. She was tired by the end of the day, but the kids and she enjoyed the day.

 

[LiamC]

I used to live in Kingscliff and thought nothing of buying all fruit & veg fresh from local growers. Years later I bored my wife and kids to tears with rubbishing how tasteless Supermarket vegies were. A few years back, I took the fam to Kingscliff/Gold Coast/Byron and bought them real fresh fruit, vine/sun/plant ripened, not picked green and chemically ripened. The proof was in the eating. Now they want to move North...

For the last few years, I've grown my own tomatoes, basil and various herbs (culinary!), rocket, lettuce, capsicum, chilli--all organically and the flavour difference is enormous. Plus I can grow varieties that don't travel well. I'm not really enamoured of gardening, but it's not a painful or time consuming process.

Glad to know the trip went well. I love the tower of terror

 

[Chewy509]

I used to live in Kingscliff and thought nothing of buying all fruit & veg fresh from local growers.

We've been buying local as well for quite a few years, however much of the direct buying from road-side stalls has dried up due to high levels of theft, which in some ways forced us back to supermarket supplied goods. Now we travel down to the Nerang Farmer's Markets (about 30km from were we are) once a week or fortnight to purchase our items.

I certainly agree Supermarket stuff is crap, and expensive. Case in point, we purchased a bunch of tree ripened bananas from a grower (whose farm in the the Tweed area, but sells at the Nerang markets) for $2.99kg, however the supermarket was still charging $7.99kg for green unripened bananas!

Glad to know the trip went well. I love the tower of terror

As do I, but with the kids in tow, it was more a case of the Merry-Go-Round, Dorothy's Tea-Cup ride and the large ball pit. But alas, since we have annual passes, we can go anytime! :bglaugh:

 

[Stereodude]

FWIW, Bananas are $0.54 a lb in the US where we shop for groceries.

 

[Chewy509]

FWIW, Bananas are $0.54 a lb in the US where we shop for groceries.

Due to local storm damage in the growing areas in far north Queensland a few months ago, prices peaked at $12.99kg shortly after.