You won't believe me, but at the age of 42 (3 years ago) I went throgh this very procedure. I have a wonky ticker, it's a genetic thing.
It's really not nearly as bad as it sounds. The worst part for me was the shaving bit at the beginning. And when the nice nurse comes in to run through the legal disclaimer review, which I found to be unnecessarily terrifying.
Here's the good part: the best drugs you've ever had. They want you awake, but not completely. They put you in what they call "twilight" so they can ask you questions and so forth. You hardly feel the thing going in, and once it's in you can't feel it at all. Then the fun begins. You get to watch live video (black and white, unfortunately) of the inside of your heart, while they shoot a type of dye in there to see if there's any blockage (this is quite trippy and weirdly unthreatening due to the drugs). If there is sign of blockage, they can shunt it all at the same time (so you won't have to do this twice), but hopefully that won't be necessary. It wasn't for me. In my case, they couldn't really pinpoint the problem, but since I've been taking blood pressure medicine the symptoms have pretty much disappeared.
Out of all of the "invasive" procedures I've been subjected to, this one was probably the least unpleasant. You'll be sore "down there" for a while after, but not for long.
However, if anyone says the word "endoscopy" in your general direction I suggest you run for the hills.
I was nervous about this too, so I understand that you are, but believe me, the catheterization procedure itself is not nearly as bad as it sounds. (whereas the endoscopy is much worse than it sounds! I won't lie about these things.)
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timeasmymeasure
no subject
Date: 2008-05-05 05:44 am (UTC)It's really not nearly as bad as it sounds. The worst part for me was the shaving bit at the beginning. And when the nice nurse comes in to run through the legal disclaimer review, which I found to be unnecessarily terrifying.
Here's the good part: the best drugs you've ever had. They want you awake, but not completely. They put you in what they call "twilight" so they can ask you questions and so forth. You hardly feel the thing going in, and once it's in you can't feel it at all. Then the fun begins. You get to watch live video (black and white, unfortunately) of the inside of your heart, while they shoot a type of dye in there to see if there's any blockage (this is quite trippy and weirdly unthreatening due to the drugs). If there is sign of blockage, they can shunt it all at the same time (so you won't have to do this twice), but hopefully that won't be necessary. It wasn't for me. In my case, they couldn't really pinpoint the problem, but since I've been taking blood pressure medicine the symptoms have pretty much disappeared.
Out of all of the "invasive" procedures I've been subjected to, this one was probably the least unpleasant. You'll be sore "down there" for a while after, but not for long.
However, if anyone says the word "endoscopy" in your general direction I suggest you run for the hills.
I was nervous about this too, so I understand that you are, but believe me, the catheterization procedure itself is not nearly as bad as it sounds. (whereas the endoscopy is much worse than it sounds! I won't lie about these things.)
Good luck, my friend.