Can you tell me if my husband is being treated properly thus far?

[sherm69]

My husband had what we thought was a heart attack last wednesday after getting to the ER & being transferred to another hospitail in another city, they did a Nuclear Scan, Stress test & concluded he had blocked arteries so they scheduled to go up his groin & probably put Stints in. When they did the procedure they found that they could not do the stints or anything for that fact. They said he had Aneurysm's in all his Arteries & severe placque build up. So we went home the next day (he was in the hospital for 4 days), And he was put on Baby Aspirin, Lipitor 40 mg once a day, his Diabetes medicine & continue to not smoke which he quit on that Wednesday. We are too see his new Cardologist on 8/30/12, but people seem to be thinking they know so much & that he should be in the hospital, he should feel 100% better in 3 short days, along with a mulitude of other things, we need a second opinion when we haven't even been able to talk to his Cardiologist yet, can you tell me if all of this sounds correct that he should be doing so far?

[sherm69]

So to update on my husbands condition. We have found that he has dilated Arteries not narrowing Arteries, as well as so much Placque they are not able to do Stints. They had him on the Maximum dose of Lipitor but just had to change it on Wednesday due to being unable to constant nausea & vomiting. He is a Type 2 Diabetic, but the Lipitor made his Blood Sugars go out of control. so he now has been changed on his Cholestrol medicine to Crestor 5 mg & they just added another Diabetes medicine to the 2000 mg of Metformin he takes a day. He has Coronary Artery Diease, with Dilation of his Arteries not narrowing. So they tell us that our plan of action is Medication treatment, A lot of Luck & Change of life style. My question to all of you who can help is will he ever be normal again? His job is physical & we are concerned if he will be able to return to it as normal? We are also having an issue with Worker's comp, approving his Worker's Comp claim, as his Heart Attack happen @ 3:30am while rolling up the landing gear on the trailer of his Semi while getting ready for his day. I also would like to know if anyone can tell me if he had NO idea he had any heart conditions, until he had his Heart Attack, can the Stress of rolling up his landing gear have caused this Heart Attack? We know it did not cause the Coronary Artery Diease but did the stress of using all his might strength cause his Heart Attack? I have a feeling we may have a fight on our hands with Worker's Comp. So if anyone can please help me, advise me I would truly appreciate it. I would also like to know if there is anything specifically we should be doing other than, HEALTHY HEALTH diet, getting his Diabetes under control, rest & listening to his body, seeing the doctor all the time at this point, and getting his Cholestrol under control, it was 400 when he was in the hospital for the 4 days following the Heart Attack as well as getting his Blood sugars down that are running between 300-400... Thank you for any help anyone can give me..... from one VERY scared & concerned wife.

[ed34]

I had my first attack at 47, it took two years to get my arteries sorted to a normal quality of life again. It took me so long because I was getting contradictions from different experts. Some said nothing could be done, some said it was too dangerous, ONE said he could do it with very low risk. Took 2 years to find him.

[sherm69]

That is correct, it was from the blood restriction in the Arteries. His breathing is better from NOT smoking for a whole week now, but never close to good or even somewhat good....

[sherm69]

Thank you so much, it is a huge relief for now to know that we & his doctor are doing everything we should be. Part of his problem is genetic's. He has a 42 year old brother who has already had 3 Heart Attacks. All of his uncles on his dad's side have died of Heart Attacks & had heart problems for years. He has one uncle that died at 52, so it is VERY scary for us. But we are doing every single thing all of you suggested, so thank you & I will keep the updates posted. And if anyone thinks of anything else PLEASE let me know.

[sherm69]

he will be 47 on the 30th. But his work is very strenous & we are concerned if he will be able to return to his normal job?

[Flycaster305]

I'd suggest that your husband should work very hard to control his diet, certainly smoking even one more cigarette could be fatal.  Diabetes results in inflame arteries, nicotine  tends to contract them, and this can result in the plaque from breaking off, forming a blood clot.  The Cardiologist will assess his condition and determine if bypass surgery is an option, I'm betting.  If you can see the Cardiologist earlier, so much the better, but when I was confronted in symptoms like your husband, I was told to rest, try and stall in as calm as state as possible, follow a diabetic diet, certainly not smoke under any circumstances.
The heart is an organ that can be repaired, but it requires good medications, following directions, and eliminating risks.  If he stays off cigarettes, that is eliminating a huge risk.  
Keep us informed.

[ed34]

I assume that the discomfort wasn't heart attack? they could of seen this from a simple blood test. I would think the new cardiologist will recommend bypass surgery if he feels it necessary. Severe plaque does limit the use of stents because the catheter wire must penetrate the blockage and come out the other side. If the plaque is too hard, this is not possible. A large part of the cardiologists decision will be based on your husbands symptoms. How old is your husband?

[caregiver222]

It sounds like everything done is in apple-pie order. The current trend is not to keep people in hospitals longer than absolutely necessary, for a number of reasons, including the chances of infection from other patients. With most 911 systems you are only 10 minutes away from an ER in any event. Most hospitals have the same protocols in the United States and follow the Merck manual. You would have gotten the same treatment elsewhere.