Heart catherization -- an experience. The nurse at the doctor's office told me several things that were wrong. Fortunately, they were minor. First, you don't need to go to the hospital to preregister, you can do that online or over the phone. I did it Saturday morning, which was just fine. She said it had to be done by Friday, but that's only if you do it in person. She said I had t be there by 6 AM, which was WAY too early. The procedure was at 9:15. Arriving at 8 or even 8:30 would have been fine.

They gave me some drugs -- valium and ?benedril? which left me zonked out and played havoc with my time sense, but I was still conscious. The catheter is inserted in the groin area -- in front, but let's not dwell on that. The most serious part of the procedure is the arterial puncture in the femoral artery, and that's what you have to be careful of.

The procedure itself is a piece of cake. When they actually get up into your heart, you sometimes get palpitations, but I didn't experience much. I had a little chest pain once but it went away quickly. I couldn't see the whole thing because they have a giant X-ray machine mounted over your chest. It goes back and forth and blocks your view about half the time. When you can see it, it looks pretty cool. The screen looks grey, except for the catheter which curls up through your aorta into your heart. Then they inject a burst of dye which makes the heart chamber and the coronary arteries turn dark for a few seconds. Then the dye dissapates and everything goes grey again. I also got to see the femoral artery when they were stiching it up.

Once they were done the nurse said "OK, don't try to sit up or that suture will pop out like a champaign cork and you'll start squirting blood like a fountain." I sure could have lived my whole life without hearing that and been just as happy.

I have no blockages, which is good news, I guess. But I have several anurisms. My coronary arteries look like a string of beads instead of nice smooth tubes. Apparently this is quite an unusual condition. GOOD! I'd hate to be killed by something mundane. They're going to treat the condition with medicine and see what happens. If that doesn't work, it's under the knife. Ouch!

Well, we have to accept what God gives us in life, and we have to remember that His love for us is infinitely more valuable than any earthly gift. And I've had some very good things happen to me. I've made some interesting discoveries, and I've seen things that no one else has been able to see. No matter how trivial these things might seem to others, they're worth more than gold to me. I've had some wonderful friendships and these are worth more than anything. That is to say nothing of family. In that regard I've been the luckiest man on earth. If I were told that today were my last day, I could look back over my life and say "It's enough." And that's all that matters.

 

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