having heart issues

I had WLS June 30, 2003 and have lost a total of -224 I was 381 NOW I am 157. I am very happy with the results! It seems a few mo. after WLS I had a heart problem. The Baptist Hospital ER said it was a heart arithmea OR anxiety. I have been dealing with this irregular heart beat for over 2 yrs. and now I am finally doing something about it. Yesterday, 10-10-05, I had a stress test, got called today by the Dr. and was told it looks like I have a blockage in the small artery. The blood is not pumping to the muscle. On the 20th I will have outpatient surgery. The Dr. is going to put in a catheter, go up to the heart, put in some dye and take some x-rays to be sure and rule out everything. IF there is a for sure blockage, they will fix it right then. I am very nervous and scared. One reason is I will be awake for this whole thing. I am scared of needles and just plan ol' chicken. I am only 36 but I'd rather be safe than sorry. My family history on both sides doesn't look good. My dad had blocked arteries, had a bi pass, and has pig valves. My dad's father had a heart attack or 2 and had a pace maker. My mom's father had a few heart attacks and blocked artries. Ok... I'd better get to the bottom of this before it's to late. http://groups.msn.com/TheEnglers http://groups.msn.com/SizesUnlimitedGroup http://www.obesityhelp.com/morbidobesity/members/profile.php?N=E1061347467&NoStatic=1

Janine, I hope these things work out very well for you. For whatever it's worth, I walked through this scenario with a friend a while back. The actual catheterization process is not a horrible test procedure at all. You are 'awake' only in the sense that you are not fully anesthetized. But you should not be aware of what's going on while it's going on, and when it's over, it's over. You'll have to follow some rules for a few hours and might have a little discomfort in your groin, but as things go, it should be liveable. As for anxiety, oh please talk to your docs and try to deal with this - whatever your family history is, or whatever is going on inside your body, the anxiety will worsen it. Perhaps your docs can help you. Your post gives me an opportunity to sound an alarm about something WLS related: thinning of the heart muscle. It isn't something that gets enough press. But when we lose protein mass in a big hurry, as those who are post wls do, it's entirely possible to lose part of that protein mass in the heart muscle. The Arkansas docs don't bother with this, but some of the New York and CA docs do metabolic testing, where they know EXACTLY how much muscle vs fat the individual has before the surgery. I don't know much about what goes on at the main list because I am only interested in DS surgery and don't read RNY lists. But what little bit of talk this has gotten on the DS list leads to this conclusion: once again, DO NOT NEGLECT PROTEIN SUPPLEMENTATION POST WLS. Getting that protein count as high as possible as soon post-op as possible is half of the battle to make sure that our hearts don't have side effects from the surgery. The other half is building muscle through exercise. Some of DS folks have had NO loss of muscle post-surg because they followed these rules- even though they lost 100+ lbs in six months. I will admit that DS makes it easier to get in the protein requirement, because the post-surgical stomach anatomy holds more volume and because the stomachs are less picky (intact pyloric valve, no stoma issues, no dumping) and they are just able to consume more protein. However, regardless of the issues, it's essential for every last one of us who has WLS of any sort and goes into a quick weight loss mode to keep protein requirements at the top of our lists. There's no point to trading off one life-threatening condition for another one if avoiding it is possible. I realize that this isn't your particular issue, but thank you for the way your question provided an opening to address something so important and yet neglected. And, if you are only so-so on your supplementation, it's a reminder to you to get that heart in as good a shape as possible before the tests. I hope that you hear, "You have the arteries of a 16 year old!" But even if you got such good news, you wouldn't want to hear, "But the muscle has thinned and the actual heart should be stronger." So get on those protein supplements and drink drink drink! Denise in FS

I have congestive heart failure and cardiomypathy. I have had several heart caths. They are not bad you are just a little sore in the groin area for a day of so .. It doesnt hurt and the last time I could look on the tv and see what he was doing. If you have a bockaage and they get it cleared you will feel better right away. In my case my veins and artieries are clear as a bell. I just have to take my heart medicine. But the weght loss has made it so much easier on my weak heart. My reason for having surgery was to qualify for a heart transplant because that is all they can do for me if I get much worse. I am small enough now I can qualify but I am doing so much better maybe I will never need a transplant. The pain from a cath really isnt bad at all.

Janine, How are you? What happened with your procedure? I'm glad that you did not delay treatment, but I sure want to hear a good report!! Joy