Angiogram at Umhlanga Hospital

I was admitted at 9 (last Monday )

In the ward they immediately did an ECG ; Blood glucose, High Blood Pressure and completed the pages and pages of personal health questions…

When it comes to my Porphyria, it always causes a stir, because belief it or not it is not as common as I thought.
My cardiologist got sick and his excellent partner took over. My baby sister who has been the private PA of a well-known Oncologist in Durban for nearly 25 years put in a good word with the kind and professional cardiologist.

My baby sister and I could have been twins, so close is the resemblance; and he jokingly remarked on the fact. He was great and did a complete check-up. The ECG did show a TL wave V1 and V3 irregularity and therefore the angiogram. I have been cancelling my appointments with the Cardiologist for the last 4 months; I just didn’t have the courage to go…

It was a very long morning and I only went into the Cath Lab at 15:45

I have been through some big operations before but this one really scared me…

It is very intimidating in the Catheterization Laboratory with all the big computers, scanners and radiation equipment/shields all over and around the special examination table. The cardiologist and sisters wore full protective clothing and worked behind a protective shield/screen during the full procedure. I had to be injected with a hydrocortisone due to my sensitivity to Iodine, etc (porphyria and allergic reaction to the x-ray dye); which regulates carbohydrate metabolism and maintains my blood pressure. After local anesthesia was given, a catheter was inserted into a main blood vessel in my groin by means of a needle-stick. The catheter was advanced through the blood vessel to my heart. It hurt in the beginning and caused a sort of ‘hot flush’ up in my head and down to my toes, a very weird and odd sensation.

By injecting the dye through the catheter a series of rapid x-ray images were recorded, some kind of x-ray movie was made of the blood flowing through the cardiac chambers; and/or through the blood vessels surrounding my heart – this is what is known as angiography/angiogram/arteriography.

The procedure took about 30 minutes. The catheter was removed and bleeding was controlled by placing pressure (a 2kg sandbag) on the catheterization site for 6 hours +. I was restricted from bending/moving my leg or getting up …

Cardiac catheterization and angiography are relatively safe, but because they are invasive procedures involving the heart, several complications are possible…

I had minor bleeding at the site of the catheter insertion and temporary heart rhythm disturbances caused by the catheter irritating my heart muscle as well as temporary changes in my blood pressure. I was put on blood thinners to keep a blood clot forming (just a precautionary measure; thrombosis etc.) . I battled with a terrible migraine, nausea and my eyes were sore, and my vision was blurring for more than an hour after the procedure. I will not mention the more significant complications, because they are life threatening…

They then moved me directly into ICU 1 for the night. I shared the ward with three triple bypass patients (males) as well as one serious case, a man who had a ‘5 bypass – a quintuplet?’
Yes, ladies in ICU; I shared the room with males. Very uncomfortable!
I had an Indian male at my feet (no pun intended); who was better off than the rest of the patients in ICU. We could 'face' each others every move; not the ideal position when I was restricted to my bed and had to make use of a bedpan and he a bottle... (He could move into a sitting position the next day and was having meals after his triple bypass. I couldn't believe my eyes when he opened a packet of Simba chips...)

That same evening at 20h00, we had a code blue; which caused some serious activity happening in the ward! He didn’t make it and it was very upsetting, because although they closed the curtains, the sounds caused some vivid images… It happened during visiting hours and the visitors had to leave in a hurry. The family was so upset and the removal of the body was so ‘everyday’; when the staff arrived with the trolley to remove him to the morgue; the guy asked loudly for everyone to hear where the body is?? They enclosed ‘him’ in the body bag and I still cannot get the awful zipping of the bag out of my head as well as the sound of the trolley wheels as they moved out of ICU. With the sound disappearing in the passage, another precious life has departed from this sad world!

The next morning the Indian man with ‘quintuplet’ bypass had a code blue as well, and they nearly lost him… They did revive him, but his whole life was by then controlled by machines…

I take my hat off to the staff in ICU1; they do brilliant work! I don't know how they cope with the 'stress factor' however... Or is it just a normal everyday at work for them? Do they get immune to these situations?

What cheered me up was a surprise visit by Anil… It wasn’t visiting hours; so don’t ask me how she got into ICU! I don’t care, I was so thankful for her visit; it made my day!

I was so relieved when I was eventually discharged just before 14h00 …


I am still suffering from alexithymia …