A cardiologist who has been in practice for at least 30 years performed this procedure. He said that he cleared an 80% blockage in a stent that had been placed in her heart in 2016. The stent had been clogged with plague and naturally occurring tissue.
He also found another blockage, and used a catheter with a balloon to enlarge and remove that blockage.
SHE WAS AWAKE DURING THE ENTIRE PROCEDURE, DESPITE BEGGING TO BE ANESTHETIZED!
In removing the catheter, the guide wire the physician was using punctured her femoral artery, and this puncture caused bleeding into her the rear of her abdominal perineum to occur.
The doctor was not aware he had punctured her artery, and sent her to Cardiac Care for observation before releasing her to go home. Which is the routine procedure.
While in that unit, she fainted and passed out. An emergency Code Blue was called.
At least 20 doctors, nurses, and lab technicians came running down the hall and into her room. They lifted her off the floor, revived her, and to make a long story short, much lab work was ordered, and so was an emergency CT scan. That was when the bleeding was discovered.
She was then immediately moved to cardiac ICU. And a vascular specialist was called in for possible emergency surgery, but instead he ordered an unusual tourniquet called a ‘Femostop’. This device was placed around her lower abdomen. It has a large plastic ball on it, and that ball was squeezed into the site in her groin where the cardiologist had made the large incision to insert the heart catheter into the femoral artery.
She had to wear this for over 3 hours, and was screaming in absolute agony the entire time. But it appears the hole in her femoral artery developed the desired blood clot.
All night Friday and most of the day and night on Saturday she was in and out of consciousness. Around 4 am on Sunday morning she was given 2 units of blood, and then she began to perk up.
I’ve gone on too long, but I’ll let you know she was released from ICU late on this Sunday afternoon, and moved to a step-down cardiac care unit where she is right now on Sunday evening October 13th.
A doctor has ordered another CT scan for tomorrow, to double check that all bleeding has stopped. Her blood pressure is back to normal now, and her blood work shows that she is no longer low on blood, so it is assumed that the bleeding has stopped.
We have heard from another doctor in the cardiologist practice. Instead of apologizing, he explained that ‘it was a known complication that occasionally occurs’.
He did not explain anything about us incurring additional medical bills for her extended stay in the intensive care unit caused by the cardiologist error, or why little or no anesthesia was used during the procedure. Why did the physician say, "You don't need it!"?
I was too much in shock when I spoke with this man to ask him the questions that I later should of asked him. You better believe on any follow up visit, I am going to get some answers!
I am grateful that my wife is now on the mend. For anyone reading this, please keep her in your prayers.
