I’m home after another heart cath lab visit. This was my 12th time in a cath lab. We had a somewhat successful visit. I had a known blockage from my last visit in November 2024 when I went in that was unable to be corrected previously via catheterization, and that still remains after this procedure.
I arrived at Clearwater Cardiovascular Consultants at 7:45 AM and was taken back to prep shortly thereafter. They have been my go to heart folks since we began spending time in Florida. My cardiologist, Dr. Paul Phillips, and cath surgeon, Dr. Bernardo Stein, have guided my treatment and care since 2018. I have been very pleased with their attention over the past 8 years.
But once again, even though my blood test numbers and EKG readings are very good, I began experiencing some angina, shortness of breath and fatigue earlier this year. These have been the symptoms of my prior visits, but we were trying a long lasting nitro medication to see if they subsided or could be controlled, which they were not. So in April I made the call and went in to speak with the doc.
Dr. Phillips was not available that week so I met with his PA and shared my symptoms and concerns. After a conversation and check up, she talked with a couple other senior cardiologists and yesterday was the outcome – another visit to the cath lab to deal with suspected blockages. This was my 12th heart procedure, with five being at CCC with Dr. Stein.
The procedure lasted 64 minutes and Dr. Stein checked all areas of my heart. The good news was that the major bypass arteries were clear with one exception. He was very happy with that status and said it is unusual for a bypass patient to have this outcome now 21 years post bypass surgery. To God be the glory!
But there was one bypass that has been problematic and continues to be. He placed another stent in that already crowded vessel between two stents that had been placed during prior procedures. It is the circled area on the picture and now fills that stretch with 3 stents basically connected end to end through that area. It was 75% blocked so provided immediate relief.
The major issue for me is right in the middle of the picture. That vessel has multiple stents, in some places stents inside of stents, and there was a new 70% blockage between stents toward the top. He wasn’t able to do anything with that area except balloon it which he is confident will not remain open. It’s what happened when he did that last November. He showed us a before and after video of the impact of that action which certainly increased the blood flow. It will likely become a problem again in the future, but we’re hopeful it will be tolerable for some period of time.
In other good news, he did have a new option to address that entire length of challenging vessel. There is a brand new balloon technology that would run through the entire length of the blockage, be inflated to open the area, and then deploy some medication designed to keep it open. It has been pretty successful with this kind of difficult area but requires a hospital stay and is far more complex. It’s definitely not an outpatient procedure.
But we have that in our back pocket if things continue to become blocked in that area. The good news again was that while the symptoms are a pain in the rear and limit some of what I can do, they are unlikely to kill me. So we’ll see how things change with the work he did this week and hope it buys me another 16 months before we are forced to address it again. It’s been that long since my last visit in November 2024, which is the longest period since 2020.
God is faithful and I felt your prayers as I went into surgery. I am taking it easy for a few days with lifting and motion limitations to allow healing. But I am able to keep on keeping on and will continue to follow Christ until He calls me home.