"Well you've just dodged a bullet" my GP says to me. " When the LAD blocks, well they are the ones we just prop up in the corner and make them comfortable"
For those who have not been listening, the LAD is the left anterior descending artery in the heart, the M1, the Numero Uno Highway, a major arterial route!
He writes me a script for Plavix or Clospidogrel, the drug I was advised I would have to take for a year or two to help stop a clot forming and blocking the stent. He writes me a referral again to the heart specialist who I see in four weeks time for more testing. This is the first post hospital visit to a doctor since the procedure and we are getting the paperwork in order.
"So what about the lab results from the hospital?" I ask. "They indicate a high total cholesterol, high LDL and a low globulin as being out of the ordinary"
I was very interested in the results as I have been taking medication to lower my cholesterol for twenty years. The lowering has been significant but it has not helped with the ratio of HDL to LDL.
He looks through all the results but says nothing.
"So what do I do about my LDL?" I ask. The low density lipoprotein portion of the total cholesterol reading should be low as a factor for a good cardiovascular risk assessment.
"Exercise and diet" he replies, his years of medical expertise now shining through.
" I do exercise daily. Walking at least forty minutes per day and my job means I walk all day. We eat lots of vegetables and fruit, we minimise our meat consumption, I am doing a lot. We have cut out salt as much as we can."
"Genetics. See you"
I pay my bill and make a mental note to find a new doctor. One thing I have gleaned in life is the more you know the less you know. Therefore when you don't know something, you need to find someone who does. You need to ask questions and be questioning, do not assume those that say they know or imply they have the knowledge, actually do so.
Following my procedure I convalesced in the Coronary Care Unit at the hospital overnight. This was to ensure there were no issues with bleeding and presumably no adverse reaction arising from the stent. I was attended to by a number of different nurses as time passed and new shifts came on.
When morning finally arrived I was brought a container of pills.
" Here take these."
"What are they?" I replied always wondering what I am being given.
" Aspirin, Plavix, Irbesartan and Atorvastatin."
" I have already had my Irbesartan and my Atorvastatin"
The face of the nurse went ashen but quickly recovered. " So you brought your own medicine in with you?"
Not wanting to be a smart arse I tried to reply tamely.
"Yes I always ensure I have my supply with me if I am not going to be at home or might not get home for any reason"
Another bullet dodged. A doubling of the blood pressure lowering drug Irbesartan could have had disastrous consequences. It pays to be alert and ask questions.
In Australia within hospitals, the administration of medications have an error rate of between
5% and 18%.
In another study by Professor Roughead it was reported 12% of all medical admissions and 20% to 30% of all admissions in the population aged 65 years and over are estimated to be medication-related.
In other words know what you are taking and why.
So if a relatively fit, slightly overweight, non smoking healthy person can have heart issues, what are the best methods to reduce the risk of heart disease and heart attack? The journey to sort through fact and fallacy will continue. The information provided by the hospital is directly geared to those that smoke, are obese and who do not exercise. Those that have the genetic curse are overlooked.
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