Well, today I thought I'd try and catch up on a few things... so switched on the main machine to check emails,saw 500+ headers getting downloaded and walked back downstairs. I'm going to be limiting my online time (either work-or-recreational) until get used to the beta-blockers headache so time on here will be sporadic, but I thought i'd let you know WFT happened.

12:30am Wednesday - woke, to serious palpitations - ie heart alternating between 30bpm and 180+ in 10 second bursts. Managed to climb out of bed and put some clothing on, slid downstairs on my bum, and phoned 999, paramedics appeared in under 3 minutes (I was timing, to check on the heart arythimia)

12:45 in the resus room at Pinderfields Hospital. Heart stabilised, various injections seemed to do trick. Moved to Coronary care 8 hours later (when a bed freed up)

rest of day under obs, lots more meds, lots of ECG machines and adhesive dots to remove chest-hair.

15:00 Thursday, Sent for Angiogram. Took 4 attempts to find the correct artery in my groin hit the vein 3x which REALLY hurt when they tried to introduce the catheter guide sheath). Top of my leg looks like a shoulder of liver. Angiogram shows 2 arteries were perfect, third generaly good but with ONE constriction, right where it "turns a corner" and right under where the worst of my Pericarditis in January was confined. Seems that theres been a little bit of damage done to the artery, causing it to leak slightly, and hence build up a "calcium Deposit" that needed "drilling" out (okay they call it Rotablation, but basically it's a fecking diamond drill that is used inside your arteries!). Sadly, the second consultant needed to perform that operation had "done his time" with the X-Ray exposure for the day, so the had to repeat things the following tuesday.

18:30 thursday, back in CCU, removed the "guide" for the angiogram and had a bleed into the surrounding leg tissue. Spent the next 5 hours, lying on my back, naked from the waist down, flat on my back, with a relay of any 3 from 5 nurses each of which having a very, very, VERY firm grip of my thigh muscles, or pressing down with the heel of their hand upon the gap between the pubic bone and the point of the hip socket. this was if anything, even less pleasant than it sounds. Oh - yes, did I mention the loss of around 2 pints of blood.

Friday - Monday. Bed rest, de-coagulants, platelet blockers - pills, drips, injections, fecking misery. p***ing in bottles and s***ting in a cat-litter-tray. I have now Officially NO self respect remaining.

9:30am tuesday. Happy Days, another Angoiplasty attempt. This time on the other side of my groin. whoop-de-f*****g-doo.
Another 4 hours on the workbench in the Cat lab. The blood thinners and clot-busters had improved things enough that getting a guide wire in was easier. Only took a hour. Then another hour of repeatedly passing larger and larger diamond burrs through the blockage until it was clear. Followed by another 40 minutes of fitting a stent to help reinforce the cleared artery. Operation was a success, even to my own eyes - basically the artery went from looking like the Calder and Debble canal, with a couple of the lock gates shut, and ended up looking more like the Danube.

As soon as they pulled the balloon out of the stent I actually got a "head rush" as the flow improved massively. Which only left the tough bit... closing off the artery down by my knackers. After the debacle of the previous "fastening off" they decided to get in a "vascular Specialist" to tie thing away at the end. He tried, bless him, he really tried. Three times. And failed. So, I was packed off to the ward again, for 4 hours of total imobility to let my clotting return to normal after the heparin infused in the operation expired. They then broke out what looked like a massive G clamp, fitted it under the bed, and onto the pulse point in my groin and cranked up the pressure until my toes were starting to go numb. backed off 1/8 of a turn and removed the catheter in the artery. 10 minutes later, backed off anoher 1/4 turn, waited 2 minutes with no bleeding and repeat. BUT if it did bleed, it went back up 1/2 turn and restarted. Just over 80 minutes of this and I was de-clamped. Another 2 hours later I could sit up (no more than 20 degrees, and after another 4 hours I could actully climb out of bed, and go shower the sheets off my legs and *kitten* - held on with another couple of pints of coagulated blood. Back in bed sometime past midnight, only to be woken at 6:30 this morning by the nurse "Wake up Mark, try and be clean, tidy, dressed and out of bed for 9:00 m today when the Consultant does his rounds if you want to get out today."

I Did, I convinced him, I actually feel pretty s***-hot apart from one knackered black and blue leg, and both sides of my groin looking like I stopped a cannonball in them.

End of the story roundup....

It was very close but not quite a heart attack (not enough protiens in the blood to be conclusive) - so - it's unlikely theres any lasting heart muscle damage.

I'm on statins for a year at least (even though my total natural cholesterol was under 2 at my last test)
I'm on platelet reduction products again for at least a year, as protection with the stent
beta blockers - BP reduction (likely to be temporary, until I get back to regular activity)
nitro-glycerine spray, in case of any transient angina attacks post operation.
and a shed load of other crap.

BUT - I walked the half a mile or so from the ward to my uncle's car (its a BIIIIIIG hospital and carpark) without any issues - and considering one week earlier I couldn't walk down a flight of stairs.

and, now, I'm afraid I've had my time on here for a while today at least folks. Loss of sleep last night and the beta blockers are giving me a stinking headache...