July 23, 2014 at 2:10 p.m.
Mom getting ready for surgery (9/13/04)
As I See It
Friday the thirteenth comes on a Monday this month. I hope that isn’t unlucky as my mother is scheduled to have a stent put in on that day.
According to the American Heart Association “A stent is a wire mesh tube used to prop open an artery that's recently been cleared using angioplasty”. The stent her doctor showed me looked like the inside of a Bic pen without the ink. It was about an inch long and appeared to be made of clear plastic with teensy wires entwined in the material to give it strength.
If I understand the procedure correctly, they will insert a balloon into the damaged artery and inflate it to squish the blockage against the artery walls. Then they take that balloon out. This is called angioplasty. If needed they will insert another balloon and do it again. Then they put the stent in. It has a balloon in it that will be inflated to expand the stent and lock it in place to hold the artery open, hopefully forever.
No balloons will remain inside the arteries to block the now-improved blood flow. This is supposed to aid circulation to the heart and also relieve chest pain. These are special balloons made specifically for this procedure. They are not the kind used to make balloon animals nor will they be filled with helium so she will float away. Their sole purpose is to open a path for blood to flow more easily.
The problem with her heart was found in a series of tests that were run to find out if she can withstand surgery to replace one of her excruciatingly painful knees. We still don’t know if she can have her arthritic knee replaced or not but by doing the angioplasty we have sidestepped a potential heart attack … or at least that is the plan.
She came through last week’s angiogram (the diagnostic part of the procedure) like a trooper. Her ordeal was made easier by a doctor who explained things in plain English instead of doctor-speak. But the real stars of the show were the nurses in the cath lab where Mom was taken to recuperate from having wires and dye run through her arteries.
Nurse Angie made a special effort to find a cup of tea that was greatly appreciated. Mike was her other nurse and if we could have taken him home with us we would have. He was a big, teddy bear of a man.
I have never seen anyone who was so gentle and considerate with my mother. He actually looked straight at her each and every time he spoke to her so she could see what he was saying. He spoke loudly and clearly and never once turned away in the middle of a sentence.
It sounds like such a small thing, but every other time I have accompanied my mother to a medical procedure the hospital personnel will say one or two words while facing her, then turn to talk to the rest of us in the room. It doesn’t matter that “extremely hard of hearing, patient reads lips” is written clearly on her chart.
When Mom had her mastectomy I sounded like a broken record. “Look at her. We can hear you. She can’t. Look at her.” No matter how many times I repeated the refrain, it was futile. The doctors were the worst at ignoring her.
This time was different. Her doctor treats her like a real person and she likes him. Maybe this is one of the ways he has earned his place on billboards across the town. The nurses were all kind, efficient and oozed professionalism. Mike treated my mother with courtesy and respect and gave her an extra big hug as he was helping her to stand.
They have assured Mom that Mike will be waiting for her Monday after the stent has been inserted into its new home. We are expecting Monday the thirteenth to be a very lucky day as we know Mom will be given the excellent care that all mothers deserve.
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According to the American Heart Association “A stent is a wire mesh tube used to prop open an artery that's recently been cleared using angioplasty”. The stent her doctor showed me looked like the inside of a Bic pen without the ink. It was about an inch long and appeared to be made of clear plastic with teensy wires entwined in the material to give it strength.
If I understand the procedure correctly, they will insert a balloon into the damaged artery and inflate it to squish the blockage against the artery walls. Then they take that balloon out. This is called angioplasty. If needed they will insert another balloon and do it again. Then they put the stent in. It has a balloon in it that will be inflated to expand the stent and lock it in place to hold the artery open, hopefully forever.
No balloons will remain inside the arteries to block the now-improved blood flow. This is supposed to aid circulation to the heart and also relieve chest pain. These are special balloons made specifically for this procedure. They are not the kind used to make balloon animals nor will they be filled with helium so she will float away. Their sole purpose is to open a path for blood to flow more easily.
The problem with her heart was found in a series of tests that were run to find out if she can withstand surgery to replace one of her excruciatingly painful knees. We still don’t know if she can have her arthritic knee replaced or not but by doing the angioplasty we have sidestepped a potential heart attack … or at least that is the plan.
She came through last week’s angiogram (the diagnostic part of the procedure) like a trooper. Her ordeal was made easier by a doctor who explained things in plain English instead of doctor-speak. But the real stars of the show were the nurses in the cath lab where Mom was taken to recuperate from having wires and dye run through her arteries.
Nurse Angie made a special effort to find a cup of tea that was greatly appreciated. Mike was her other nurse and if we could have taken him home with us we would have. He was a big, teddy bear of a man.
I have never seen anyone who was so gentle and considerate with my mother. He actually looked straight at her each and every time he spoke to her so she could see what he was saying. He spoke loudly and clearly and never once turned away in the middle of a sentence.
It sounds like such a small thing, but every other time I have accompanied my mother to a medical procedure the hospital personnel will say one or two words while facing her, then turn to talk to the rest of us in the room. It doesn’t matter that “extremely hard of hearing, patient reads lips” is written clearly on her chart.
When Mom had her mastectomy I sounded like a broken record. “Look at her. We can hear you. She can’t. Look at her.” No matter how many times I repeated the refrain, it was futile. The doctors were the worst at ignoring her.
This time was different. Her doctor treats her like a real person and she likes him. Maybe this is one of the ways he has earned his place on billboards across the town. The nurses were all kind, efficient and oozed professionalism. Mike treated my mother with courtesy and respect and gave her an extra big hug as he was helping her to stand.
They have assured Mom that Mike will be waiting for her Monday after the stent has been inserted into its new home. We are expecting Monday the thirteenth to be a very lucky day as we know Mom will be given the excellent care that all mothers deserve.
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