Monday, February 27, 2006

Dad had 90% blockage in the left LAD

I just talked to My Mom. My Dad had 90% blockage in the left LAD "Left Anterior Descending coronary artery". They did angioplasty and a stent. He has to stay overnight in the hospital and should be home tomorrow afternoon. That was really a close one. A heart attack caused by this is called The Widowmaker. Widowmaker is the nickname given to a heart attack caused by a blood clot in the left anterior descending artery. It is caused by plaque build up in the artery, and may have virtually no symptoms until the victim falls dead suddenly and unexpectedly. Thank God he found out soon enough. Wish I could see him.

UPDATE: Jan, 30, 2008
It's been two years since my Dad had angioplasty and a stent for his blockage and he is doing fine. He plays golf every day and works part time.

11 comments:

John Elfrank-Dana said...

I was in the same situation as you dad. Tell me, did he have a stress test? If so, did it show anything? How old did you say he was?

My stress test was negative, but a coronary calcium scan showed a lot of calcium buildup on that artery. I faked chest pains to get the angiogram. Good thing I did.

John said...

My father found out he had problems during a colonoscopy, he was 63 years old then. During the procedure he had an abnormal EKG. He went to the Dr after that and had a normal EKG but my mother ( a Cardiac nurse ) insisted that he have a Cardiac catheterization after she looked at his EKG. That's when they found the blockage, he had no other symptoms except that one abnormal EKG so he is very lucky that it was caught in time. He is doing great now and has had two normal Stress test since I did this post and has no problems. He does take plavix and cholesterol meds but aside from that all is well.

Glad you had the coronary calcium scan and found out about yourself.

Anonymous said...

I just went through dodging the widow maker. I go to the GYM every other day. For the past six weeks or so I would severely bloat shortly one I started my cardio work out. I also had a pain across my upper stomach. The pain would go away once I stopped. It got to the point that just pulling the starter cord on my lawn mover would cause me to bloat along with the upper stomach pain. Even a a walk would bring on the symptoms. My Primary Care Doctor had an ultra sound done on my entire stomach area. All negative. He set up a referral with a Cardiologist. I failed the stress test miserably. That same day I had an angiogram and my LAD was over 95% blocked. A stent was installed and I'm doing great. I'm told once the LAD is blocked and one has a heart attack the survival rate is next to nil. There's a window of 5 minutes for medical intervention. My cardiologist said my symptoms were unusual.

Anonymous said...

Am 51 y/o male semi active. Had upper abdominal pain thought was GERD/reflux. Went to see a GI doctor and he refer me to the cardiologist. 24 hrs later and new stent in my LAD symptoms better dealing with the new life style. Bottom line if in question or not sure talk to the cardiologist.

Unknown said...

I'm recovering from a massive heart attack brought on by a 100% blockage of the LAD just past the first major branch. I was told that a matter of just one inch saved my life. After two stents, my recovery is coming along just great. I've even begun my third year of college at 52 years old.

Anonymous said...

i am a 42 year old female. Had a 99% blockage of my LAD. had stent placed last week.

Anonymous said...

I am a 57 year old male. I was confronted with 95% blockage in proximal part of LAD. A stent was placed and problem seemed solved. One week later I had a full in stent blockage due to ineffective anti-coagulation medication. After emergency admission in hospital they managed to reopen the stent and changed my medication. I ended up with mild heart damage, so I guess I was very lucky.

Granny said...

High cholesterol, high blood pressure, but nothing else until the night I had severe upper chest pain, left arm pain, clammy, nauseated. Called 911 and was still alert when they arrived then I went out. After 30 minutes of CPR and 17 hits with the electric paddles I woke up the next day with a stent in my LAD after a 95% blockage.

My sister informs me I did not have a major heart attack. Any one have an opinion on this? She says I should be able to continue doing every thing she tells me she needs done.

Anonymous said...

Granny listen yo your Dr. Not your sister she sounds selfish to mr!

Anonymous said...

I am a 68 year old female-no blood pressure issues or cholesterol issues, however family history in females. Last year in June I was running on the treadmill and using eliptical and had been for some time. I had started a weight program with a trainer. I was actually in much better shape than I had been in a long time. One Monday during weight training I had cramps in my armpits. Stopped and they went away. Next day on treadmill I had the same armpit cramps. Stopped they went away, some nausea. Next day went to local care -- they found nothing. Prescribed antibiotic for upper respiratory. Later ran to car in the rain and had the same cramps and nausea. Got in to see my doc and had EKG -- not good, sent to emergency room chewing aspirin. Ended up with a 99% blockage in my LAD that they fixed with stent while the incident was actually happening. All is well now.

Unknown said...

My mother 53 y/o, felt sudden and severe chest pain one night. Thinking that it was her "usual acidity pain" she calles for a warm glass of water. We gave it to her ansld it somewhat eased her. However, her discomfort was very unsual one and we measured her BP. It was 255/115 mmHg.
We gave her BP medication (my dad uses one) and brought it down.
Took her to hospital next day (it was a national holiday, could not find doc). Did EKG and Lipid profile. EKG was boderline abnormal and figures in Lipid profile shot way beyond sky.
Diabetes, Stress echo, Trop I, everything came positive.
Finally we went for coronary angiography and found 90% blockage in her LAD. Stent is installed. She is resting in CCU right now.
Lesson learnt: Never neglect the symptoms body tries to tell you, her "usual acidity pain" was actually the Angina pectoris which she suffered many a times before.
Thank god, me and my wife have recently transferred back to my hometown permanently. I am glad.