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Staring down the barrel of Open Heart Surgery [1]
['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.']
Date: 2023-08-20
So our story so far gentle readers is that last Tuesday I suffered a massive chest pain that had me flat on my back for at least 30 mins before it subsided. I had similar events over the previous two days, and far lessers ones over the previous month but this was the last straw.
This was not something that was getting better and it wasn’t something I could ignore of blow off. That afternoon I went to the Emergency Room, they gave me an EKG and almost immediately put me in a room with a half-dozen docs and nurses for an exam.
Let’s say I didn’t take it as a good sign.
Over the next day, they performed a catheter procedure through my arm to examine my heart and it turns out I have a 50% blockage in my left large artery. They told me that I needed either open heart surgery or else a stent to open the blockage. The difference between the two procedures is massive. With the stent I’d be able to go have that afternoon after two hours of recovery, with open heart surgery it would be a week's recovery in the hospital and another 3-6 months of convalescence at home.
Then my insurance got involved.
They yanked me out of Harbor UCLA and transferred me to St. Francis Medical Center in Lynwood, where I’d never been before. If I stayed at Habor, my care wouldn’t have been covered.
I’ve since been informed that St. Francis isn’t a high-enough level hospital to do the stent procedure as in my case the blockage is at a junction between several arteries, and even though Harbor is capable of doing it — I can’t go there because I won’t be covered.
So I’m trapped here.
The surgery will be scheduled for Tuesday or Wednesday depending on availability. The surgeon, Dr. Omari, will bring the consent form for me to sign tomorrow.
I’ll post further updates here as they occur. Feel free to discuss in the comments.
[2:41 pm]
My nurse took a SARS test, which I guess is in preparation for the surgery, and we just had an earthquake. It felt from here like at least a 4 on the Ritchor scale, probably higher if the epicenter was far away. It lasted about 15-20 seconds.
I've tried contacting my insurance provider once again, but the first and second calls both went to voicemail. I left a call-back message on one of them, but it seemed like someone’s personal line.
[3:45 pm]
I just got a couple of meds for the gaut, which is nice. One of them is Allopurinal, the other is Colchicine. My BP is down slightly to 145/79.
I tried to call my wife to see if she could try to contact the insurance company with a last-ditch appeal, but that call went to voicemail also.
Some people have been asking how they can help, well, I do have this Paypal donation link that I haven’t used for a while. It still works.
DKmail me if you want the phone number to my room.
[END]
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[1] Url:
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/8/20/2188503/-Staring-down-the-barrel-of-Open-Heart-Surgery
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