My Husband Had A Massive Heart Attack

[WinniWoman]

Two weeks ago. He is 71. To say it was a shock is an understatement! And it occurred over several days so it isn't like it was one big attack, but smaller chest pains over the several days. I've got stories, but the bottom line is he had emergency stents (4) put into one artery, but needs more work. According to the doctors, there is a genetic factor with the arteries that makes that complicated.

Was going to have to have open heart surgery in about a month, but once he was home this past week with his numerous medications to keep him stable until then- well he wasn't stable and kept having episodes so I had to call paramedics this past Friday night for like the third time and he is back in the hospital. The docs are scratching the open heart surgery and opting for another stent in another artery since they feel he can't wait another month, but yesterday he started literally peeing blood- they think a blood vessel popped down there and he is on anti platelet meds which act like blood thinners- and now he has a catheter and still some blood clots but they are hoping it clears up and he can have the stent put in tomorrow.

On top of this- He just got through recovering from simple robotic prostate surgery for an enlarged prostate in November (no cancer, thank goodness)

AND he had THIS heart attack the DAY AFTER his first eye surgery for cataracts! So now he has one good eye and one bad eye and he can't have the other eye done until 6 months from now! Of course, he has to recover from the heart surgery, but he won't be able to drive- his vision right now is 20/50, but they will try to come up with something like different glasses or contact lenses (doc recommends these- but hubby doesn't like contact lenses) in the meantime.

Anyway- stress level has been through the roof for us. Been living in our capital city which is an hour each way from our home between daily hospital visits and doctor appointments. Plus several calls to have paramedics to our home and to on call doctors at night. Nightmare!

As we are all reminded- life can change on a dime.

 

[Tia]

Prayers for you both during this very difficult time!

 

[clifffaith]

Oh no! So sorry you are dealing with this! Hopefully your husband is better at dealing with the discomfort of a catheter than mine is! Hugs.

 

[rickandcindy23]

Two weeks ago. He is 71. To say it was a shock is an understatement! And it occurred over several days so it isn't like it was one big attack, but smaller chest pains over the several days. I've got stories, but the bottom line is he had emergency stents (4) put into one artery, but needs more work. According to the doctors, there is a genetic factor with the arteries that makes that complicated.

Was going to have to have open heart surgery in about a month, but once he was home this past week with his numerous medications to keep him stable until then- well he wasn't stable and kept having episodes so I had to call paramedics this past Friday night for like the third time and he is back in the hospital. The docs are scratching the open heart surgery and opting for another stent in another artery since they feel he can't wait another month, but yesterday he started literally peeing blood- they think a blood vessel popped down there and he is on anti platelet meds which act like blood thinners- and now he has a catheter and still some blood clots but they are hoping it clears up and he can have the stent put in tomorrow.

On top of this- He just got through recovering from simple robotic prostate surgery for an enlarged prostate in November (no cancer, thank goodness)

AND he had THIS heart attack the DAY AFTER his first eye surgery for cataracts! So now he has one good eye and one bad eye and he can't have the other eye done until 6 months from now! Of course, he has to recover from the heart surgery, but he won't be able to drive- his vision right now is 20/50, but they will try to come up with something like different glasses or contact lenses (doc recommends these- but hubby doesn't like contact lenses) in the meantime.

Anyway- stress level has been through the roof for us. Been living in our capital city which is an hour each way from our home between daily hospital visits and doctor appointments. Plus several calls to have paramedics to our home and to on call doctors at night. Nightmare!

As we are all reminded- life can change on a dime.

So sorry you are both going through this. That's a lot of stress for you, and I will be praying for you both.

 

[WinniWoman]

The funny- not so funny- thing is the doctors said he was “ healthy”. He says to them- “How can I be healthy when I’ve had 3 surgeries in the past 2 months?! “ Lol!

Not to mention he had all those pre op tests so he could have his prostate and cataract surgeries. So much for those.

But what they mean is he has no co morbidities like diabetes. He doesn’t drink or smoke or take street drugs. He’s not frail. . . He is overweight, though and has been on high blood pressure meds forever. That was his only med before this. His cholesterol has been borderline, but triglycerides high.

He walks 10,000- 16,000 steps per day. Was always wearing a fit bit watch - even when he sleeps- which interestingly broke the week of his heart attack. A sign….. ?

 

[heathpack]

Oh boy. So sorry to hear this.

 

[WinniWoman]

Oh no! So sorry you are dealing with this! Hopefully your husband is better at dealing with the discomfort of a catheter than mine is! Hugs.

Thanks. He was so relieved to get rid of it after having it for two weeks at home after the prostate surgery,

Then can you believe- when he had the cataract surgery they put him on a diuretic iv to get rid of fluid/ pressure in eye just in case and asked him if he wanted a catheter or a diaper! You should have seen his face! Lol!

You know which one he chose! But turns out in the end he didn’t need either one of them.

 

[jp10558]

Wow sorry to hear this. Best wishes. My dad had a major Heart attack at 60. Spent a lot of time on that up in Rochester at Strong Memorial. He had various things I think perhaps related for the rest of his life - had to get a pacemaker eventually. He did live 23 more years though - so these are very survivable - probably better in 2026 than in 1999.

 

[missyrcrews]

MY GOODNESS. I'll be saying loads of prayers for the both of you. Yes, life can absolutely turn on a dime. A good reminder to soak up every last joy. Hang in there, my friend. Love to you both. <3

 

[b2bailey]

I'm so sorry to hear your news. Hoping and praying things will go smoothly for him.

 

[JanT]

Two weeks ago. He is 71. To say it was a shock is an understatement! And it occurred over several days so it isn't like it was one big attack, but smaller chest pains over the several days. I've got stories, but the bottom line is he had emergency stents (4) put into one artery, but needs more work. According to the doctors, there is a genetic factor with the arteries that makes that complicated.

Was going to have to have open heart surgery in about a month, but once he was home this past week with his numerous medications to keep him stable until then- well he wasn't stable and kept having episodes so I had to call paramedics this past Friday night for like the third time and he is back in the hospital. The docs are scratching the open heart surgery and opting for another stent in another artery since they feel he can't wait another month, but yesterday he started literally peeing blood- they think a blood vessel popped down there and he is on anti platelet meds which act like blood thinners- and now he has a catheter and still some blood clots but they are hoping it clears up and he can have the stent put in tomorrow.

On top of this- He just got through recovering from simple robotic prostate surgery for an enlarged prostate in November (no cancer, thank goodness)

AND he had THIS heart attack the DAY AFTER his first eye surgery for cataracts! So now he has one good eye and one bad eye and he can't have the other eye done until 6 months from now! Of course, he has to recover from the heart surgery, but he won't be able to drive- his vision right now is 20/50, but they will try to come up with something like different glasses or contact lenses (doc recommends these- but hubby doesn't like contact lenses) in the meantime.

Anyway- stress level has been through the roof for us. Been living in our capital city which is an hour each way from our home between daily hospital visits and doctor appointments. Plus several calls to have paramedics to our home and to on call doctors at night. Nightmare!

As we are all reminded- life can change on a dime.

I am so sorry to hear this. Please know I am praying for both of you.

 

[Luanne]

Best wishes to both of you.

 

[CanuckTravlr]

I am so sorry to hear this! It is so tough when your spouse suddenly and unexpectedly has a medical emergency and requires significant ongoing treatment. The disruption to the regular routine, the numerous appointments, and the travel time are all just so stressful, quite apart from the stresses from the health scare itself.

So please be sure to take good care of yourself, too, right now. I will keep you both in my thoughts and prayers and hope for a good and speedy recovery for your husband.

 

[rapmarks]

So sorry about this. Sending prayers and virtual hugs.

 

[emeryjre]

Prayers and best wishes
For all of our medical advancements, they can still not determine how restricted the veins and arteries have become in a non invasive manner
They can look at all the lifestyle behaviors which increase the probalities of clogged arteries, but can not definitively know the arteries are clogged until symptoms occur
Had an uncle who was in his late 60’s
Exercised, low BMI, ate well
One day he collapsed
Rushed to hospital
96% closure of blood flow
Operations and hospital stay
The good news is he lived another 15 years before sucombing to bone cancer

 

[VacationForever]

Prayers and best wishes
For all of our medical advancements, they can still not determine how restricted the veins and arteries have become in a non invasive manner
They can look at all the lifestyle behaviors which increase the probalities of clogged arteries, but can not definitively know the arteries are clogged until symptoms occur
Had an uncle who was in his late 60’s
Exercised, low BMI, ate well
One day he collapsed
Rushed to hospital
96% closure of blood flow
Operations and hospital stay
The good news is he lived another 15 years before sucombing to bone cancer

Having CAC scan scores is predictive and can be preventative.

 

[slip]

Prayers and well wishes to you both.

 

[Passepartout]

Winne, you guys are both in my prayers for good wishes. It will work out the way it's pre-ordained to, but that doesn't make it any easier. All the best!

 

[Glynda]

How frightening for you both. I'm so sorry. My husband went in to have a stent put in his heart but they could not get it in. They planned to do a rotablation the following morning to open the vessel more to put in a stent. But that night in the hospital he began having lots of blood in his urine. The RN called his urologist at 3 in the morning who was at the hospital not long after that to perform a procedure to cauterize the vessels in the prostate. Hubby had had a TURP procedure on his prostate two years earlier. A TURP removes tissue and would be vulnerable to blood thinners and could open up bleeders. The head cardiologist at the practice then determined that because of the prostate bleeding and the difficulty they had putting a stent in, that his colleague should do nothing more. A good TUG friend (jme) knew a surgical nurse who worked with the top cardiac surgeon at the Medical University of SC (which is next door to the hospital where they attempted to put in the stent) and contacted her. She spoke to the surgeon (who did the first heart transplant is SC) who actually called my husband! He had looked at the images and report and said that he did not believe that he needed surgery at that time, and referred him to his colleague, a cardiologist at MUSC who took a look, got on a Zoom conference (this was during COVID) with us and told us that he never would have even attempted to put a stent in that area. That had he done so, he very well may have been trying to crack my husband's chest open to try save him during the procedure, much less what might have happened during a rotablation to open the vessel up for a stent! It's been five years; my husband has had no further procedures and is on new medications. He can sense when he had done too much and just sit and let it pass. It doesn't seem as if your husband's doctors were aware or concerned about a recent prostate procedure! If your husband had the TURP procedure that could have been the cause of the bleeding and a warning for future planned stent procedures. Please bring it up and get another opinion!

 

[emeryjre]

Having CAC scan scores is predictive and can be preventative.

You are correct
But it is still considered elective and is apparently not covered by insurance
Unfortunately
I was unaware of this test
I am discussing this with my doctor ASAP
Thanks for mentioning it

 

[VacationForever]

Please take care of yourself through this very stressful times. All the best to your husband.

 

[LannyPC]

This sounds very harrowing and heart-wrenching. I hope you and the family have the strength and whatever else you need to get through this.

 

[Pennytx]

I will pray
May God bless you now And forever

 

[klpca]

I am so sorry for all that your husband (and you) have had to go through. It is so scary but I am thankful that he has been treated and is on the mend, although I recognize that there is a long road ahead of him. Having everything happen at once seems so very unfair.

We went through a similar sh!tshow in 2016. Cancer diagnosis (stage 3), unexpected heart attack+stent, plus a job layoff due to closure of a local office of a Fortune 100 company, all within 12 months. I am not saying this to be a one-upper, but to say that I understand where you are right now (completely overwhelmed) and to take an opportunity to repeat something that a friend told me that really helped me immensely: This is the hardest thing that you will have to go through, but you *will* get through it. It is truly a one day at a time thing. The early weeks are the worst though.

I agree with Glynda - be proactive and find the best options for your husband. A second opinion changed my husband's cancer treatment and most certainly changed his outcome. Don't worry about hurting the doctor's feelings. They will get over it.

 

[Lakeshore]

I am so sorry. You both are in my prayers.