I just haven't felt good this month. It seems like my asthma has been getting tighter and tighter ever since I was switched from the Armstrong brand of Albuterol to the ProAir brand of Albuterol. It just does not seem to be working.
The final straw was landing in the hospital for chest pains on the 22nd. I didn't get home until Tuesday the 27th. The hospital drew blood like a vampire. They stuck in an IV, did a chest x-ray and an EKG, put a nitro patch on my chest and admitted me. Then they plugged me into a heart monitor which I wore in a pocket. I was thinking they need to make them smaller and less heavy. Anyway, I did NOT have a heart attack, but they suspected angina. The doctor recommended a stress test, which I agreed to, since the problem seemed to show up with exertion.
The stress test was supposed to happen Friday, but a delay in a delivery of radioactive material for the imaging machines caused the test to be rescheduled for Saturday. The stress test takes quite some time to complete. First they check your legs for blockages or blood clots with ultrasound. Then you lie down in an imaging machine while it takes pictures of your heart at rest for 20 minutes. When that's done they hook you up to an EKG machine and put you on the treadmill. They got me to the "tromping up a steep incline as fast as I could walk" speed which translated into significant pain across my entire upper chest. It was a bit uncomfortable until my heart slowed down and I stopped feeling like I was going to pass out. Then you have to lie in the imaging machine for another 20 minutes while it takes pictures of your heart after the stress.
Because I "flunked" the stress test the doctor recommended an angiogram which showed 30% blockage in two arteries. That's not really enough blockage to cause angina, but that's what I'm getting if I over-exert myself (like shoveling all of that snow we have been getting). I really don't know what's up until I follow up with the doctors.
One thing of note is that respiratory brought the "old" Albuterol for my asthma therapy. One of the nurses asked what asthma spray I was using at home, so I took out my ProAir and showed it to her. I told her it didn't seem to be working. She said everyone has been saying the same thing. She said if it was just me she would question it. If you are wondering about the controversy between the old inhalers and the new, CFC free ones, just google "proair complaints". I filled out a couple petitions while I was there.
Anyway, I am feeling better. I am healing up just fine from the angiogram. I thought it is interesting that the hospital uses Dell OptiPlex computers to run their imaging equipment with APC battery backup. They also have free wireless Internet in all rooms and allow cell phones. I didn't know that so the first time I used my phone I hid under the covers. Ha ha! I learned that is pretty standard now. Dad brought the laptop so I was able to stay in touch and do a little work here and there. The food was decent but it's sure nice to be home!! The cats gave dad a hard time but they elected me "kitty queen" when I came home. I am very sure they will not let me out the door any time soon.
2 comments:
Hope everything will be OK - it's no fun having breathing problems, or heart stuff :-(
I just got a new inhaler - it's Ventilin, and it's better than ProAir. At least I feel it's better. Albuterol worked better, but so it goes.
I had asthma issues last week, too. :-(
Hang in there!
The hospital gave me a spacer that fits on the front of the inhaler. The medicine puffs into the spacer and stays suspended while you slowly inhale it. They said it might make the ProAir work better but I am reluctant to go back to using the ProAir. I am still using the Armstrong one they gave me. We need our medicine back!! I hope your new meds help.
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