Stents

hi teri (and btaylor - are you are a barb too?) and lisarose and all others!

yes, teri, i guess my specific question about the forum(s) is this:  if i have joined this one ""Heart & Cardiovascular Disease" am i automatically a member of all the other forums under the "HealingWell.com" community?  i think this one is specifically geared toward stents, since that's what i see on the top of my screen.  is there a forum specifically for, say, "coronary heart disease"?  do you, personally, tend to just wander the forums, or do you have a few that you just like to focus on and check them all regularly?  aren't you the moderator of this one (the stent focus?).  thank you for your patience in helping me understand how this is organized!  sounds like some others would like the same info too? 

well, listen mz lisarose, aren't you so right?  sometimes i think the PhD is really looked down upon by the MD's.  either they think it's worthless, or they think that because i'm a researcher that i look into things TOO much and then overreact.  it's frustrating.  the occasional doc, to be fair, thinks that they can share a lot with me because they know i have indeed researched my condition - i feel i could write a book already, and it's only been since February!

listen, about being aggressive:  unfortunately, all my medical probs started so long ago, 25+ years ago when i went to the ER with what they diagnosed as appendicitis.  gave me antiobiotics and sent me home!  i went back the next day (this is a very abbreviated version of this story!) - turned out i was having an ectopic pregnancy, nearly died...the rest is history, i've not been well since, multiple surgeries and massive scar tissue-ing all over my poor little ole torso. 

but i'm one of "those":  i feel i've been given this enormous GIFT in life - i truly, really, appreciate very minute of every day.  when i'm hurting and feeling really bad, that can be a challenge.  but in general, i am thrilled to be here, right this minute, writing you!

sorry to be so long-winded tonight.    i look forward to hearing more about all of you that are active on this site!

libby

hi barb,

thanks for all your thoughts.  it sounds like you've had a really rough time of it, and i sure understand.  i feel the past 28 years of my life has been about little but trying to manage my poor health.  i have done lots of things i enjoyed anyway and have loved life, but boy it is sometimes a challenge, no?  i had read about your mom and am so sorry and i agree with you completely about just lying about that to the docs.  i hate the preconceived notions that some docs (and others) get with news like that.  i have had to become SO aggressive with my health care, and i know that many/most times that really annoys my docs.  they seem to not also like that i do mega-reading on my various conditions.  i try HARD not to jump to conclusions, or draw my own conclusions, i just want to go into our conversations armed, and also to cover the little things on my own that they just don't mention, for whatever reason.  but they do seem to resent that and feel i'm overreacting.  you know, just stop it libby and we'll take care of you.  harumph!  i'm SO with you on that heartburn and  heart probs.  i have both - and i think it sounds like you do too.  it is SO hard to distinguish between the 2 pains and i've had my gastro and cardio guys both agree with that.  they tell me just to look for problems upon exertion, so that's what i try to stay calm and do.  i take 1/2 xanax a lot more than i used to.  i used to hate to rely on something like that, wished i could manage without drugs, but now i'm not ashamed, i just take 1/2 xanax on occasion and it really helps.  i wish i could take an antidepressant on a regular basis and avoid that, but i haven't found one that didn't make me feel worse than i did originally!

but i have a wonderful gastro guy, i dug around and finally found him and he's a gem.  i trust him completely.  i wish you well in finding one you like too.  i really rather like my cardio guy a lot too.  these are big statements from me!  so i know these guys are out there, it's a matter of maybe going to a few and being willing to go through that paperwork and time and sort of an "interviewing" process 'til you find someone you like, respect, and are compatible with.  i recommend it strongly, especially for those of us with serious health concerns.

thanks too for your explanation of how this forum works.  i guess my only other question would be:  i have now wandered around in this website and understand it a lot better.  what is confusing to me is how each "subtopic" is laid out.  for example, under stents, there are about 15 topics or so.  who came up with them?  why do new ones get started?  do they eventually just "peter out"?  for example, couldn't i go in there right now and start one with my own topic and see who joins in?  the topic list is sort of frustrating to me, random thoughts as the title, so i can't really tell what they're going to be about...

thanks barb!  by the way, i don't know, it seems to be offlimits to these forums for some reason, but i don't mind saying that i'm in fort worth texas!  and it's about 70 and sunny today!

thanks!  i understand a lot better now about how this thing works.

i appreciate your attempts as moderator to keep "topics" under

control!  sometimes i don't completely understand what the thread

is going to be like under a topic, but i keep peeking -

so far i like this stent thread just fine, but i imagine i'll find others too.

naw, don't worry 'bout me - i won't put my personal email/address/

phone on here.  but i know that info can actually be easily found

online in a variety of ways.  that sure is a scary thing these days!

in the interest of getting back to the stents topic - i had mine on

2/25/05, just 8 weeks ago yesterday.  and my doc said that if

you make it past the 2 week mark you are much less likely to have

an MI.  he also said, as i've read lots of places, that 6 months is

sort of the marker of "general success" with stents.  so i feel i'm

hopefully past that first hump.  and sounds like most people in this

forum are past that too.  i know that restenosis can seem to happen

any time, but it does seem that the longer time that goes by, the

less likely you are to experience problems.  well, that's my "glass is

half full" theory!

thanks, teri -

libby

sounds like we unfortunately have a lot of the same probs:  i too have acid

refulx and fibromyalgia, also had a bilateral mastectomy 12 years ago, which

i feel lucky about.  by the way, i don't mind at all saying how old i am:  i

turned 50 in february!  in fact, i waited to go to the docs about all this 'til

my big bash was over.  i had felt lousy for 2 years though, with all docs

saying i was fine and just a bit "mental" about my poor health feelings.  so

much for that theory!  sometimes, honestly, i feel the digestive probs are

harder than the cardio probs, at least as far as feeling good day to day -

not being able to eat a lot has been a prob, i know i need to be eating

certain things to help my heart get/stay healthier!  the fibromylagia is

the BIGGEST drag on things, too - never know what "poke" and "stab"

is going to get me, or when, or why.  can't seem to relate it to food at

all, although i've read some literature on that which disagrees.  have you

tried any specific food solutions for any of our related probs?

lisarose, i think barb will answer best, but she probably had some kind of

thallium or nuclear stress test to show whether her stents/arteries are

doing OK.  i'm due to have the same thing in about a month. 

i was SO encouraged when i got my 2 months blood work, showed my total

cholesterol WAY down, ditto to my LDL.  didn't get my HDL up yet, but i'm

working on it - with niacin and oat bran in just about everything i eat!

more on that, if you're interested.  anyway, my blood work showed, though,

that my VLDL was really, really bad and so is my "particle size."  so i don't

know why all the other numbers came down and those didn't.  are you into

all those counts?  anyone?

thanks for the links, i read clear through. 

what is your take on niacin?  i am a pretty firm believer in it's

ability to help.  i can't take the statins, drat the luck, and i

take SR niacin, which seems to generally help with the flushing

problem.  how about fish oil (tablets)?  have you done any

searching on that?  it seems to be a true help to some.

i still believe that what might help you might not help me and

vice-versa.  but i do also believe that much of this stuff simply

doesn't hurt to use or take wisely and carefully, and if it

helps so much the better!  at least you feel as if you have

SOME control over what's going on -

it seems there's not quite enough research or literature yet on

VLDL, but it seems like a pretty bad boy to me! 

libby

Hi Teri, great to see you posting again.  Missed you.  I didn't read your email from 4/24 until yesterday, I never really use my work email.  Great to hear that your feeling a bit better since your terrible loss.  God Bless you.  I'm having an upcoming stress test for chest pain again.  Went away for awhile and then it's back.  Yuck.   I also have very low wbc (white blood cell count) going to a hematologist next week for some answers.  I will be posting here regularly.

    Take care, be will and take care.

     xoxoMary mm1207