Newbie question
I joined this list hoping to get some information for my father. If this isn't the right list, could someone suggest the right one? My 72-year-old father has NOT had bypass surgery, but had two angioplasties in February 2004. The first went like a dream, clearing up a 95% blocked artery and placing a stent. The second one, three weeks later, was to open an artery blocked 85%. After placing 3 stents, the doctor punctured the artery while removing the cath wire. Apparently, the seepage into the pericardium was relatively small, and we avoided opening him up to drain the blood. But a small amount still remains. While in the hospital, he also had atrial fibrillations, attributed to the pericarditis caused by the blood in the pericardium. Two weeks after that second procedure, dad is still feeling pretty bad and is tired all the time. He came to visit me, about 2.5 hours out of his home town, and had chest pains. We went to the emergency room, all test results were normal, but they admitted him anyway. He had chest pains again the day he was to be released, and they decided to do an angiogram. This new cardiologist said the stents looked good, but there was still some fluid around the heart, so that was probably what was causing the chest pains (this after telling us initially that my dad's chest pains as he described them were not consistent with the fluid around the heart or pericarditis.). SO the long and short of it, he still feels generally lousy. He's tired most of the time.Everyone I've ever known who's had an angioplasty talks about how wonderful they felt immediately after the blockage was cleared. So I would like to hear from others who have had an artery punctured during angioplasty to get a sense of how long he should feel this miserable! And does he feel lousy because of 3 angiograms/plasties in 6 weeks? Because of the puncture? Thanks! malinda