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Diabetic and heart artery blockage HELP

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Posted 2/16/2017 4:26 PM (GMT 0)
Hi everyone
My mom is 62, has been diabetic for almost 20 years and recently got diagnosed with her main heart artery 65% blocked. Her doctor has suggested her to have angioplasty and get the stent in there to open up the artery.,
My main concern and question to you all is, are stents safe and good for diabetics in the longterm? Has any of you got stents in your hearts and did you suffer from any further heart problems?
Im really worried because somewhere i read that bypass surgery is better for diabetes in the long term and having a stent in there can later become blocked again/cause blood clots etc.
I really want my mom to be better because i cant live without her.shes my whole world. Pls someone tell me will she be ok with the stents?
One more question,sometimes her blood sugar suddenly drops very low,like lower than 4 and she starts to feel dizzy,shaky etc. So what if shes getting angioplasty and her blood sugar suddenly drops in the process then what will happen?? Im soooo worried pls someone guide me.
Posted 2/16/2017 5:17 PM (GMT 0)
Hello, sweet poison, and welcome back. You had posted here a few years ago. I'm sorry this new situation came up. I have not experienced but I have read that stents are very effective and now there are even better, state-of-the-art stents which are more effective. By-pass surgery is also an option but this is the decision of the surgeon.

If you are going with your mother to her appointments, make sure that she names you as a person whom the doctor/doctor's office can contact and leave messages with. Nowadays, the medical community needs to have permission to discuss detailed patient information with family members.

Anyway - if I were you, I would make sure your mom (and you) have discussed all the possibilities with the cardiologist. You both need to ask him or her these questions.

As far as her diabetes and blood sugar, once a patient is in the hospital, the medical personnel take over the medication control and monitor it and this is apart from the stent or surgical procedure.

I'm guessing you are in Canada or the UK because you're using the mmol/L system. A reading of 4 would be equal to about 72 mg/dLin the US, which is a little low but not critical. What medication is she on? Is she type 2? What is she eating for meals? Her blood sugar control is directly related to the food she's eating and this is why I'm asking.

For further information about blood sugar and diabetes, please read the link in my signature. That website will give you a lot of information to you and your mom!
Posted 2/20/2017 4:02 PM (GMT 0)
Hello sweet poison, I am brand new to this forum but wanted to let you know I am diabetic 63 years old, mom of three kids,all grown and had Stent put in 2009...it really helped my artery the left desending artery was 85 % blocked, the artery has done great... my blood sugars when out of control are way to high like in the 600's. I have worked really hard to keep my sugars in control as I have many cronic health issues... my kidneys failed even before I ever got diabetes...so I have to do my best to keep my sugars in control. I also have congestive heart failure,which is no surprise as it runs in my family both maternal and faternal. But I'm doing good well with my Stent. My brother has 3 scents and doing great, his were put in a few years ago. He is 6 years younger than me.
Posted 2/20/2017 4:23 PM (GMT 0)
Hi and welcome to HealingWell, BigSisof 9! I'm glad you've been doing well after having the stent put in. You can start a new thread to introduce yourself. As far as your blood sugar control, I don't know if there are other factors involved but please read the link in my signature to a website that has a lot of information about diabetes and blood sugar. In your introductory thread, if you write what kind of meals/food you're eating I'd be happy to help you talk about that and blood sugar! I'm glad you joined HealingWell!
yeah
Posted 2/21/2017 11:50 PM (GMT 0)
i think i seen ya in the heart forum and answered ya there. aussies use mml as well.
Posted 2/22/2017 12:47 AM (GMT 0)
Yes, I wish that Sweet Poison would return and continue her discussion!
Posted 2/26/2017 6:12 PM (GMT 0)
Hi thanks so much for replying and helping me out. Actually im living in Hong Kong and my mother is getting treated here. The doctors/nurses here are all chinese and sometimes they dnt spend much time in explaining all the details/risks/complications thats why im really worried and I read abt the drug eluting stents for diabetic patients but am not sure if they have them here.
My mom is type 2 diabetic. She never had any other health issue before and she had been doing great until she kind of had a panic/anxiety attack after hearing abt her brother's sudden death in a car accident. She had been having this chest heaviness,breathing difficulty problem for a few weeks then when she heard abt his death in August 2016, her problem just pushed her over the edge and had to be taken to the ER at once. She got diagnosed wth congestive heart failure there and was put on some sort of drugs to relieve her swollen legs and was put on diet.
She was discharged without any other scans and was given appointment for echocardiogram in Feb 2017. So instead of waiting for so many months for that scan, we took her to a private hospital because she still had symptoms of chest heaviness and breathing difficulty and the public hospital drs werent doing anything except making us wait.so we got her heart CT scan in the private hospital and the doctor found her LAD heart artery 65%blocked and another small vessel blovked at 55%. The private doctor suggested angioplasty which would cost us over Hk $100,000 and the stent there was $20,000. And if there comes a complication then extra money would be charged.
Sadly, we cant afford to have her angioplasty done in a private hospital. We took her scan reports back to her public doctor and now they have given us a few months time to think. The fee is not as much as the private hospital though.
We actually want her to get the best treatment because shes all we have and want her to live forever healthy.
I have an elder brother who acconpanies her as well if i cant because i have a 5 yo boy and a 9 mnths old girl to look after but for her next coming appnt in april i will be there with her.
Can you guys pls tell me what questions are important to ask her doctor so i can be prepared?
A little more about mom;
Type 2 diabetic for 20 years
Takes metformin, glucophage, lipitor,aspirin,simvastatin,plavix and some other drugs for her hypertension and a lipid lowering drug too.

Her blood sugar is ok now as she watches what she eats.i just hope this angioplasty will work for her too. Thank you so much BigSisOf9 for sharing your experience. I hope you will continue doing better each day. Which stent do u have? Is it the drug eluting stent or just bare metal?
And how was your experience i mean was it painful? How long it took to recover? Which drugs are you on now?
Sorry for such a long post bt it feels good to just pour everything out to you guys..thanks alot.
Posted 2/26/2017 7:15 PM (GMT 0)
Hi again. Sorry for the complicated hospital situation for your mom. I hope others here with experience with stents and all can comment because I don't have any experience with them.

One thing caught my eye about your mom's medication list though. Metformin is the same as Glucophage. Metformin is the generic name of Glucophage. It appears she is on two statins for cholesterol? Lipitor and Simvastatin are both statins used for lowering cholesterol.

I hope all goes well. I wish I could help you better.
Posted 3/1/2017 4:48 PM (GMT 0)
Hi LanieG
Thanks for spending your precious time in reading my post. I really hope some others with stents could come out and share their experience. Its really worrying not knowing the exact risks associated with stents.
These are the exact medicines shes taking. Glucophage and metformin are same then why has she been prescribed both of these for her diabetes? And also 2 drugs for her cholestrol?? Omg im so shocked!! Her doctor will need some great answering and explaining at her next appointment then!!
Thanks so much Lanie for telling me this. I'll make sure I go with her at her next appointment.
Posted 3/1/2017 4:55 PM (GMT 0)
Hi sweet poison, I responded to your thread in the heart forum. You have offered more info here about your mom than you did in the heart forum. I too am wondering why she is on the multiple medications for the same problem.

Having angioplasty with a stent is a very common procedure for this type of problem. A very dear friend of mine had an open heart surgery at a very young age (34). After that surgery over the years she had several angioplasty surgeries & some stents put in. She said the angioplasty & stents were a breeze compared to the open heart surgery. Her heart situation was extremely bad for someone so young. The point of telling you about her is these procedures made her life so much better & much less invasive than open surgery.

My husband had a heart cath with the potential of placing a stent. He is type 2 diabetic & his sugar was out of control. They brought in a dr to stabilize his sugar & proceeded to do the test. He did not need a stent , however, he did need & had a pacemaker put in. He was very closely monitored on his sugar levels at all times. He is now under the drs care for his diabetes that he took care of him in the hospital & has much better numbers.

To place a stent they go in an artery through the leg, with a very small incision. Your mom will be given instructions on what to do once she is released from the hospital. I know you are scared over this but believe me, your mom needs to get this done rather than waiting & doing nothing. I know you want your mom around forever, however, doing nothing is taking a huge risk.

Is your mom on a diuretic to keep the fluid from building up, this is what causes congestive heart failure. The heart cannot pump off the excess fluid. Myself & my husband have issues with congestive heart failure & we take a diuretic to get rid of the excess fluid. The symptoms you described when she went to ER are typical of this. Too much fluid in the body is very hard on the heart when it cannot pump it off, it over works the heart.

When you see her dr in April be sure to ask about the congested heart failure situation. Also someone needs to check with her daily to see if she has any swelling going on. The main questions to ask the dr is what she can & should not do after having the procedure. In many cases patients feel better immediately once that artery is opened up & functioning as it normally would. Because this procedure is not as invasive as an open surgery, the recovery is much, much easier & shorter. If this were my mom I would much rather see her have this procedure done rather than an open surgery. Both my brother & father had open heart surgery & it was scary & the recovery was not an easy one. open heart surgeries even with the best surgeons are not without risks, this happened with my brother.

Take care.
Posted 3/1/2017 7:28 PM (GMT 0)
Sweet Poison, Susie has given you a lot of information about procedures so if you have any questions or concerns, then you can bring them up to your mom's doctor. Along with the medication questions! Yes, metformin and glucophage are the same drug, so if I were you, I would also have the complete list of the meds your mom takes and go over them one by one with her doctor. It's possible that different doctors prescribed these and didn't know what else she was taking at the time.

Please keep us updated and best of luck!

yeah
Posted 3/5/2017 5:07 PM (GMT 0)
Hi Straydog and LanieG

Thank you so much for spending your time in reading and responding to my thread. I will make sure i keep you guys updated with my moms situation.

Straydog, im really glad you came out and shared your dear frend's experience. Its so sad to know she had to go through so much at such an early age. I hope shes doing better now.

Yes, you are absolutely right abt this procedure being safer and better than the open heart surgery. Its less invasive and patients recover sooner. I hope she wont ever have to go for an open heart surgery. It sounds too scary. I hope she will do fine after the stent. In fact i hope she wont even need the stent at all.

You know what i wish for her? I wish and pray that when she goes in and the dr checks at her heart arteries through the dye, they would be surprised and tell us that none of her arteries are blocked and her heart is absolutely good.no need for anything!
Ohh how i hope and pray she will get better and nth would be wrong.
I'll make sure to ask abt her heart failure situation too. She was prescribed the diuretics when she stayed in the hospital and after that for a few more months then they stopped giving her.shes off the diuretics now.
I hope all goes well for you all too. Take good care of yourselves and keep updating abt ur health issues.
Posted 3/6/2017 4:16 AM (GMT 0)
i went thru double by-pass as a type 2 insulin dependent diabetic. yes, fluid build up will happen, they use a technique called huffing, to rid the fluid post surgery. but this i think is only for open jobs.
Posted 3/19/2017 2:25 PM (GMT 0)
Sorry haven't been on here in a while since I have gone through all these procedures, I didn't read all of the the posts but I got the drift of the conservation, having 5 stents and open heart surgery and numerous angiograms one thing seems to be missed is that Diabetes may contribute to Heart problems but family history is the main cause. Also with new technology open heart surgery doesn't mean they have to open you up I have a friend in Barbados who had bypass surgery and they went through a small hole in the chest not like me where they opened me right up remember the smaller you are the more painful it will be, as for angioplasty they either go through the wrist or leg I've had both places, at 65% they wouldn't angioplasty here in Ottawa just put you on meds, just my 2 cents worth
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