I am stunned..and absolutly terrified-Cardiac Cath??

I am a 48 yr old female..high BP..mod high cholesterol..and very overweight. Otherwise healthy. No family history. Sendentary.  Have been having chesting "burning" in the cold when I walk a distance since i had swine flu in Nov..and my primary Dr and then the local ER dept both diagnosed me in end of Dec with pleurisy when cardiac tests all came back normal. Chest burning continues. Local hosp offered heart scan..the new 64 slice extra efficient test-had that today. I just got a call frm the cardiologist that read the test. Because im overweight, he said the test came back "inconclusive"-that there are areas that appear to have calcium deposits.."areas quite suspicious for narrowing". He said the image just wasnt sufficient enough to be able to say for sure. I asked..could I have a heart attack tonight!?!?! He said well, likely not-ive been living with the symptoms for 2 months... I actually have a Nuclear stress test scheduled for tomorrow morning--by my reg Dr. This Dr that I was talking to said if I was his patiient..he would skip that and get me in the catheterization lab-that the nuclear stress test could either show false positive..and I would be in the cath lab anyways...or...show negative...but if the symptoms continue..I will be in the cath lab. I DONT KNOW WHAT TO DO!!
Theres always been ONE test that I feared more than any other...and thats cardiac cath. Can ANYONE please please tell me what they know about it? Anyone overweight that has been through it?
Iam literally afraid to MOVE since talking to that doctor. Im afraid I am going to have a heart attack any moment.
Please please someone answer me........

[RadioAstronomyObserver]

A Cardiac Cath, if I'm not mistaken is angiograpy and is nothing to be afraid of, been there - done that  As far as the imaging not having picked up anything, Sometimes tissue gets in the way and the image doesn't come out well.  I'd relax on both of those accounts, nothing to worry about.    "I" would go through the test scheduled in the morning and then if you are not convinced you could always ask for the cath then.

[Flycaster305]

I've lost count of how many I've had, they are quite safe and just might be a life-saving event.  Procede with confidence, you will be just fine.  

[Southern_woman]

Hi,  I have had several  caths, done and they numb you and you do not feel a thing
there is no feeling in your vein,s,,don;t worry it will be fine, God Bless

[ed34]

I look at it this way. Go back 60 years and you would have likely ended up with a heart attack and died. Now they can make the tiniest of incisions at the top of your leg under local anaesthetic and do everything through there. Make the most of it, it's not a bad experience and you will see your own arteries on a large monitor beside you. It's incredible to think they are in your body and its your heart pumping on the screen. If they decide you need a stent, they have to inflate a tiny balloon to open the stent in the artery and this does cause a bit of chest pain for about 5 seconds. This is because while the balloon is inflated, the blood is cut off to that section of the heart. But what's 5 seconds discomfort to get your artery open again. If you tell the cardiologist you are really nervous, he will give you extra meds which makes you nice and sleepy.
Oh, nearly forgot, you may feel some warmth inside as they inject the dye. If nobody warns you beforehand this can make you worried, but it's very normal.

[RadioAstronomyObserver]

I would assume Ihatepalps2 is either already taking the tests or is getting ready so anything said at this point might be worthless.  That is unless they decided to do a cath at a later date.  In that case, as mentioned before to ed34, I wish so much to have seen this done.  It would have been awesome to watch!  All I remember is laying on a table with a hospital gown (naked!) and chatting with two nurses then waking up back in my room.

[Ihatepalps2]

Ed, your very detailed description was very helpful and reassuring..others..thank you as well. My stress test was cancelled...and I see a good cardiologist tomorrow at noon. Of course..Im nervous...having to wait that long--but the scan didnt show any blockages...just narrowings...i dont know anything about all of this..I know narrowings are not good...but I dont know how "bad" they are....I am taking it easy today....I guess thats wise?

[ed34]

You know your limits by your symptoms. Once you start to feel strange discomforts, that's your limit and slowing down a tiny bit will let the symptoms go away. I think it would be a wise decision to go straight for angio and miss out the perfusion scan.
Don't forget to ask for extra meds if you feel very scared :)
Oh and as a last piece of good advice, visit the toilet before going in for the procedure. All that dye in your blood sure makes you want to go badly afterwards. I forgot once out of the 6 angio procedures and my bladder was the size of a horse when I was halfway through the procedure. You can't cross your legs :)

[oldie]

Were all six in the right groin? A needle there is my ony phobia. But you are most reassuring. My echocardiogram with dobutomine 'suggested' CAD 'probably' trifascicular. With my luck, i assume must mean three possible stents. Would they do them all in the same session? he test was done five months ago and I'm still trying to carry on without the catheter - good diet, five miles miles run/walk or bike four times a week. I showed he test to two cardios last week. Tney had both said since October that here was nothing wrong with me but high stress. Now they say get off the bike and go get the catheterI. I would like to stick with the lifestyle/medication route. You must have been through this quandary. Please, what factors made you plump for caths+stents?

[ed34]

I had no choice. If you saw my angiogram you would have seen the state of my Left coronary artery. It had a huge total blockage at the top and the rest of the vessel was like a piece of cotton thread, being fed by a few tiny collaterals. I was in bad shape, I couldn't even walk up stairs without continually stopping. My last procedure involved having 5 stents put into the left artery, long ones. All my angio procedures were through the same leg and I admit it did sting a bit when the anaesthetic went in the last time, but only for about 3 seconds. They can move up and down a bit to access the femoral artery because I was forming a fair bit of scar tissue there. The last procedure I had was my decision because the only alternatives were a) redo-bypass (previous one lasted 3mths) or b) transplant. The rest of my heart is great, EF is 70% and no abnormalities.
If you feel fine with no stents, no symptoms at all, I would ask why they feel you really need stents. Maybe you have grown collaterals and don't really need intervention.
I don't know what medicaiton you are taking, but after my last procedure I was allowed to come off beta blockers which makes you feel less like a vegetable.

[oldie]

thank you. every word you send counts. I DO have symptoms. I sat on the stairs breathless once last year. I had eight events brethlessness in the past five months where th centre of the trouble seemed to be in the heart area. They cleared in 10-15mins rest. But I biked hard for three miles this a.m, as always, with no breathing problem at all..  My recurring nausea, dizzies, anxiety grips, fatigue etc have been with me for 25 years high stress. Meds are: propafenone, lipitor, coreg, vastarel, blopress (although my BP is 120/80). During my echocardio stress test the doc talked for 20mins on his cellphone. I got agitated and shouted at him.I trust he took into account that I'm 81. But it got me upset. I therefore incline to listen to a cynical observer who asks how could he count three 'suggested' obstructions when he can't see them with that test? I do h0pe to hear again from you.

[oldie]

I failed to say that the echocardio stress test was five months ago  i'm still alive and running/biking with no angio or stents

[asgardshill]

I don't know that you have much to be scared about per se when it comes to having a cardiac cath, but my experience with the procedure wasn't very pleasant and might not be typical. The cath lab where I had mine done in San Antonio was extremely cold (to the point where I shivered uncontrollably even with several blankets being placed over me), they failed to place either planned stent at all during the procedure, and the medication I was provided made me hallucinate but didn't provide adequate pain control.  I was painfully aware of the sheath and catheter being pressed in and out of my femoral artery during the procedure - it stung painfully every time the surgeon moved it. Even the local anesthetic didn't help much when they inserted the catheter; again, it stung badly when it was inserted.  

If you have a cardiac cath done at a better hospital than the one where I had mine done, perhaps you'll have much better results.

[RadioAstronomyObserver]

damn it!  everybody else was awake for theirs, why wasn't I awake for mine :-(  I'll be right there where my cardiologist office is tomorrow and will stop in to see if they can grab the information on this.

  I do remember the cold though.  from what I understand, and I think it was ed34 and/or Kenkieth who said so, this is a normal thing, to have the procedure done in a cold room. maybe one of them can retell the reasons for this(?).

[asgardshill]

Your observation that the cold is part of the deal tracks with my limited experience.  I've read that they keep it cold in the cath lab to help with infection control since pathogens don't reproduce as quickly in colder climes. Still, at least in my case, some slightly thicker blankets and even a hot beverage would have been warmly welcomed (no pun intended).

[ed34]

The coldness in the cath lab, according to my cardiologist, is because of the equipment. He said it has to be kept below a certain temperature. Yes I remember the first one I had, I was shivering and didn't know if it was nerves or the cold, or both. I had about three blankets and felt much warmer. However, it did feel nice with the dye going in, warming my body even further. I get annoyed when they stop injecting it because your body soon cools down again.

RadioAstronomyObserver:  They simply gave you a lot of meds to keep you relaxed. In my last procedure they knew they would be ballooning a lot so I was given a lot of meds. I had to really fight hard to try and stay awake. I think I nodded off a couple of times though.

asgardshill:  I think your experience is very out of the ordinary. In all my procedures I have only ever felt the slight sting of the anaesthetic going in. I have never felt anything after that. As for the meds, maybe they over did yours.