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It was all so stupid. It didn't have to happen.
I went in for another simple procedure Monday morning. Those people had asked me for my medical history
plus a list of medication I was taking. I gave it to them, and they told me to stop taking the baby aspirin
ten days prior to the other procedure anyway.
WROOOOOOOOONG.
The cardiologist at Presbyterian Hospital in here Dallas (one of THE best facilities anywhere), where I went
on panic after the chest pains started, said he gets dozens of heart attack patients each year whose arteries
clog up when they stop taking the baby aspirin. He said that the aspirin destroys the platelets that clog up
arteries, and they need about 7 to 210 days to completely regenerate to a level where they can clog an artery again.
HELLOOOOOOOOO???
I have had 2 stents since 2004 and no problems since then. One is in a major artery, one is in a minor artery.
Luckily it was my minor artery that clogged up.
If it had been the major artery, I would not have posting for a long while, maybe never again.
Short take: I lucked out. I have to go on some supplemental meds for a year or so, but the heart damage was
minimal, and I'll be back up to speed in a few weeks. I escaped a MAJOR bullet. The people advising me to
go off the aspirin for ten days should NEVER have done so before consulting with my cardiologist. For anyone
here on blood thinners, if you are told by any doc to go off them for any reason, make sure you and your
physician consult with a cardiologist to consider where the greater risk lies. I could have died because of
this oversight, and it should never have happened in the first place.
I have to say that the care I got at the hospital here in Dallas was absolutely first rate, and I really
was well-treated round the clock. My top brass is absolutely furious with the other physician (well-respected
in his field though he is) for not spotting the danger and wants to sue him for the hospital costs over and
above what Blue Cross will pay. I have not had anything like this in the States before, and from what I've
heard, the bill will probably be $50,000 and Blue Cross will cover $214.75 of that. Whatever. I am still a
little weak from the procedure, and if it costs me (or my outfit) $50,000 for me to live another 25 years,
it's worth it to me.
I am in no state to get riled up over money right now. I escaped with my life. That'll do just fine for starters.
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