Please pray for my dad

[Lady Vader]

A few weeks ago, my dad had a fainting spell. It's one of a few he's had sporatically in the last few months.

Today he went in for that heart-tred-mill thing they do, and the doc wasn't too happy about the results, so he recommended an angiogram to find out what the cause might be of the slow blood flow.

Anyways, like all surgical procedures, there is a risk of death, though with an angigram it is slight. And chances are high nothing will happen.

However, the risk is still there, regardless of being a low percentage. And that risk really upset me when my mom told me this afternoon, and you can imagine I am worried about my dad.

I'll be going to see him tonight at the hospital (they're keeping him overnight to prepare him for the procedure tomorrow morning).

The next 24 hours are gonna be hard for me and my family, and probably one of the longest we've ever had to endure.

Please pray for him, or at the most, keep him in your thoughts. I love my dad and, well, like any daughter or son, I'd hate to lose him (though I know the day will come eventually).

Thanks.

[Navaria Tarkin]

:hug

I wish him the best of luck LV

[Dalamar DeSang]

I will. Hope he feels better:hug :hug

[Darth Viscera]

I can't do an intercessory prayer for your father because I have no faith and I'm not a Christian, but he'll be in my thoughts.

I'm sure he'll be fine. There's a less than 2% risk of major complications in coronary angiography, and it's the 2nd most frequent in-hospital operative procedure in the US. No doubt your father will be around for a great many more years to come.

[Sanis Prent]

<3 papa joe

I'm prayin for him, but he should be fine. Angiograms aren't too bad :)

Tell your folks I said hi

[Lady Vader]

Thanks lady and gents. Your words truely comfort me. :hug My stomache has been doing topsy turvey's all afternoon. I can't tell you how anxious I am for tomorrow to come and for the doc to say everthing's fine.


Charley - I'll pass on the hello. My dad still fondly remembers you and asks every now and then how you're doing. :)

[Morgan Evanar]

Oh no :(

[Razielle Alastor]

Angio's. One of the many hospital units I worked on. The good news is, most hospital's are equipped to break up anything they find without a second procedure. :)

:hug You and your family are in my thoughts.

[Droo]

My thoughts and prayers go out to you and your family right now, Rie.

[Daiquiri]

^ what he said :hug

[Serena Laran]

All the best wishes and prayers are going out for your dad, and your family. :hug

[Phantom]

He shall be in all of our thoughts.

I hope everything turns out alright.

[Oriadin]

I hope everything goes well for you and your family.

[Dasquian Belargic]

Best of luck :hug

[Severen Morkonis]

Yeah best of luck to ya' dad. :hug

[Lady Vader]

Thank you all for your thoughts, prayers, and kind words. I think Someone upstairs was definitely listening. :)

Just to give ya an update...

Yesterday afternoon, after work, I went to the hospital where my dad had been checked in to. Only a few minutes had passed after my sis and I had arrived when the doc came in, somewhat aggressively. He was upset my dad hadn't taken the aspirin the doc had ordered. Well, my dad hadn't felt it was a good idea what with them planning on going through a major vein the next day to take an anti-coagulent.

My sis and I remained silent through the conversation the doc, my mom, and my dad had, before the doc left in somewhat of a huff. To tell ya honestly, I didn't like the doctor when he first walked in. Something about him made my 6th sense turn inside out.

Anyways, after the doc had left was when my parents gave me & my sis the whole schpeal. Earlier that day, my dad had met with the doc to have the tred-mill test thingy done. What was happening was that my dad's heart rate wasn't speeding up to what the doc would have liked while my dad was jogging. Hence why he'd ordered the angiogram.

So my dad agreed to the angiogram. Nothing else was said, even though my dad brought up bypass. the doc said it wouldn't be neccessary. If anything was found after the angiogram, they could discuss it.

Then, after my dad had been checked in later that afternoon, the nurse came in with a slew of papers for dad to sign. It was the wavers, etc etc. Except, it wasn't just a waver for the angiogram, but also for an angiplasty, something else, and an emergency bypass. My dad was like, "Uh, I only agreed to an angiogram."

So, basically, it was like the 11th hour and the doc was pushing all these things on my dad and expecting him to make a split-second decision right then and there.

So, yeah, parents not happy with doc. Not to mention that on the paper, there was a back-up doc that my dad hadn't even approved of, and his insurance specifically states that he can choose any doctor and any back-up he wants.

In essence, my dad was feeling very rushed, and my mom was blowing a gasket cause the doc was being a bit rude and pushy (he really was when he was talking to them).

Well, after they were done with the story, I looked at them calmly and told them that they should call my cousin who is a physician. He might be able to help. They'd also called my god-mother earlier who is a pharmesist.

So, they spoke with my cousin, who in turn called his cousin, who is a pediatric cardiologist and another cardiologist he personally knows, and came back with the same thing he had stated to my parents before: angiogram good... the other stuff not neccessary until results are known. Also, the other alternative is to give my mom power of atorney instead of leaving the decision up to the doctors. Who knows if they're being honest or not. In this day and age, you can't be too careful. My god-mother returned my mom's call and said the same thing as my cousin. And if we want more family doctor opinions, my uncle is a retired brain surgen, so yeah, basically all of em are saying angiogram good... other stuff can definitely wait.

Besides the fact my dad has no pains in his chest, he feels fine, he's had these fainting spells before since he was younger due to the slow circulatory system he has (which can easily be fixed with a pace maker). And these fainting spells are like once in a blue moon. AND there is no history anywhere in his family of heart disease.

So, he checked himself out last night, got a family friend cardiologist from my god-mother, and is going to get a second opinion.

So, we're not entirely out of the water yet, as we do need to see about regulating the electrical/circulatory system thingy, but at least we are in shallow waters.

I was relieved last night and slept quite well. :)

Again, thanks for all your kindness guys and gals. But please keep it coming until this whole situation is fully resolved. The prayers and thoughts are helping. :hug

[Daiquiri]

Thats great news, LV! I think your folks made the right decision in taing it slow and getting and second opinion! So many times, patients do feel rushed and harried and dont always take the time to read 'the small print'. Im so glad that your parents did!! :hug

[Serena Laran]

Sounds good, Rie!

And if you have a family cardiologist, all the better.

[Nayala Palain]

This is good to hear Rei.

[Navaria Tarkin]

:crack

I am very happy that things went well during the procedure and your father is doing all right, and I'm sure he'll still be fine when the next round of annoying doctors have to do their thing - I do know the feeling tho since I went through it myself :x

[Razielle Alastor]

Sounds like the right decision was made. :) Glad your Dad didn't just let himself get bullied into an unnecessary procedure. Good for him! :thumbup

[Lady Vader]

I am very happy that things went well during the procedure and your father is doing all right...

You jumped the gun, Nav, but 'tis still good. :)

Actually, my dad had the procedure done today after getting the second opinion. I spoke with him afterwards, and he sounded in very good spirits as though nothing had ever happened.

The angiogram showed his heart to be in perfect health and his arteries were as clean as a whistle.

So their suspisions of it being an electrical problem were correct. So he had a temporary pacemaker placed in today and tomorrow they will put in a permanent one. He'll have to go in every 5 years to have it replaced, but that's no biggy.

So right now he's still in the hospital as he has to lie still for 6-8 hours to let the artery heal up a bit. I'll go visit him this evening after work.

Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers! I know they have helped immensely to herald my dad to a fast recovery and have certainly helped me to keep sane. You guys are the bestest! :rollin

^_^

[Lilaena De'Ville]

Yay! Told you it was nothing to worry about.

I'd of been more worried about the pacemaker going in .^_^; Now he can't go through airport security like everyone else, has to have a pat down search behind a curtain like my grandma. :uhoh

[Lady Vader]

Oh yay. I hadn't even thought of THAT. >_<

Well, I'll just remind him, but luckily he doesn't do much travel anyways. :)

[Lilaena De'Ville]

Yeah can't go through metal detectors with a pacemaker. ^_^;

[Morgan Evanar]

The metal detector was all beepbebpepebepeeepbpebpep

and I was like what?

[Lady Vader]

Well, went to visit my dad last night and he looked perfectly normal.

He had the permanent pacemaker put in this morning, and my sis spoke with him after he was back in his room. He sounded normal.

So, everything has been successful, dad feels hunky-dory and can't wait to get out of the hospital and doing things again 9my mom had a tough time trying to keep him to lie still yesterday after the angiogram), and he should be back home either tonight or tomorrow.

Thanks again to all of you for sticking through with me. It was most appreciated. :)

(Oh, and I told my dad to stay away from metal detectors. ;) Funy story he told me... when his cousin came to visit him yesterday, he told my dad of a story of a friend of his. Big guy. Well, this guy had a pacemaker. But despite that, he was an active, fun-loving guy. So one time they were at a party at my cousins house 9this was years and years ago when pacemakers were relatively new) and my dad's cousin went to go heat some food up in the microwave. Well, the guy was merrily dancing away in the living room at the party when suddenly he dropped. Apparently, in those olden days, pacemakers were very sensetive to microwaves. Well, everyone went into a panic because they didn't know what happened. And then the microwave stopped doing it's thing and the guy woke up to everyone standing over him. Apparently the microwave had accelerated the pacemaker's functions. Anyhoo, the guy was fine, and thankfully, nowadays, pacemakers are about the size of a squashed quarter, live under the skin near the left clavical, and are not sensetive to microwaves. But dad still has to stay away from large magnetic fields. Anyways, end of story. :) )