Archive: December 2005

Today is angiogram day...

The angiogram showed 4 areas with blockage. The right coronary artery has a 10% blockage. The left circumflex artery is 70% blocked. The left anterior descending (LAD) has 2 areas that were blocked. One area is 10% and the other was 80% blocked. The LAD 80% was the main cause of my pains. That became the focus of the procedure. Angioplasty (balloon) was done, and then a stent was put in. The stent will keep that part of the artery open. Overall the procedure took about an hour.
While there are 2 ways of doing the angiogram (via the groin or via the wrist), mine was done via the wrist. Dr. Chan figures it's a shorter route to the heart and it's easier to clamp a wrist than a groin area. Because they use an artery, and not a vein, special precautions must be taken not to "spring a leak." So I can't drive for a week, or lift anything more than 10 pounds, or do anything stressfull with that wrist. Left-handed typing is not great for me, so I will watch movies and catch up on sleep for the past 2 months.
If all goes well, I could be back to work in the new year.

Slept a lot yesterday afternoon, went to bed early slept almost 8 hours, and going back to bed. I think I caught a cold in the hospital and was getting a bit feverish last night. Come to think of it, the fever may have been a reaction to the procedure and hospital stay...

Took the pressure bandage off the wrist last night. The cut looks like the catheter that was inserted was the size of a knitting needle. This morning the wrist was an ugly yellow colour. Still sore from the clamp that was on it after the procedure. I hope my "mouse hand" will be better tomorrow. Want to do some web stuff...

Andr? Rieu and his Johann Strauss Orchestra are coming to Edmonton, I have 2 tickets (at least $60 each, courtesy of my employer), and my ticker is doing good. I am looking forward to Wednesday's concert.

Went to see my GP today and he agrees with the cardiologist to wait at least a month before going back to work. He also indicated it may have to be half days for a while. I'm seeing him again before the end of the month to assess the situation. Doing a full blood test then, including the CEA test.

Today my daughter-in-law was in a car accident. The front end of the 3-month old vehicle is a mess, but Angela is OK, just shook up a bit. Fortunately, Jayden was not in the car at the time. Not quite the aggavation one needs...

Andr? Rieu and his Johann Strauss Orchestra were fantastic this evening. Good to enjoy a fellow Dutchman do such a world class job of entertaining us with light classical music, Christmas songs, and a touch of humour. I was especially touched that he included some Christian Christmas songs, like Silent Night, O Holy Night and Mary's Boy Child. His closing song "King of Kings, Lord of Lords" was special to me. Andr? said "I don't know what bad things you experienced this past year, but this song will give you hope..."

He'll be back on October 26, 2006 in Edmonton. Highly recommended.

Have had the runs the last few days. I don't think it's diet related, but who knows...

I'm glad to see my haircut looks like David's. :)

I have been sleeping a lot the last week. I am puzzled in a way. I thought I'd recover fairly quickly from the angiogram procedure. I guess sitting on one's backside for two months does not help.
The bandage on my wrist to cover the angiogram hole has caused an allergic reaction. Extremely itchy. After scratching the bejeebers out of it, my skin was just raw. The pharmacy recommended benedryl and a cortizone cream and that seems to be helping.

Tried this bizarre recipe today:

Crack 2 eggs (large or extra-large) into a quart-size ziploc freezer bag (not more than 2) shake to combine them.
Add a variety of ingredients such as: cheeses, ham, onion, green pepper, mushrooms, tomato, hash browns, salsa, etc., to the bag and shake it.
Make sure to get the air out of the bag and zip it up.
Place the bag into rolling, boiling water for exactly 13 minutes. You can usually cook 6-8 omelets in a large pot. For more, make another pot of boiling water.
Open the bag and the omelet will roll out easily.
Nice to serve with fresh fruit and coffee cake.

Turned out quite nice. A bit lumpy, but no oil or butter. Do I dare say a "healthy omelet?"

Picked up my new server from Vincent today. Now off to a time of configuration and testing. :)

Spoke with Chad from Manulife today. He's extending benefits to mid January. He wants to talk to me again after I see Dr. Holmes on the 29th.

Spent a few hours cleaning out a spot for the new server. As the old one is still running, I need them both in place.
Apache, MySQL and PHP seem to be working OK, so now I'm making sure all my sites still run properly. I already found that all pages that use forms and database updates will need checking. Learning lots of new stuff in the process.

After the blood tests at the lab, I went to Northlands for some Christmas cheer. Spent about an hour chatting to various friends. Received a birthday card and a bottle of cabernet sauvignon from Technology Services and Purchasing. Thanks, guys!

We were over at Vincent and Angela's this afternoon and evening to celebrate Christmas and my birthday. Even Alicia could make it, so the whole family was together. We had a nice relaxing visit and a great dinner. To top it off, it was warm enough to go in just a sweater, no coat needed.

Had a doctor's appointment today. CEA (cancer) test was fine. A .6 reading. Cholesterol was good. Then he checked the heart and found a rate of 110-120 too high. So off I went to the lab for an ECG. Back to the doctor, and he goes "hmmm..." I did not like the sound of that. So he sent me back to the lab for a blood test "TROP"? and also for a chest x-ray. He had called the cardiologist and both were puzzled... So tonight and tomorrow morning I am to double up on Coreg, the beta blockers and see him again tomorrow afternoon.

Went to see the doctor again this afternoon. Doubling up on the Coreg beta blockers seems to have brought the heart rate down. I see the GP again in a week, after I go for an ECG first. In the mean time, until he figures out what the problem is, he refuses to let me go back to work. I think that means after next Friday, more tests.