Going in to hospital for cardiac catheterization

[AndrewB]

In a couple of weeks I'm going in to the hospital so that they can finally get some sort of idea as to what's wrong with me. It's "supposed" to be an in and out thing, with me arriving first thing in the morning and getting released late in the afternoon - IF - nothing goes wrong and if they don't actually see anything that needs fixing right away.

I'm planning on the chance of an overnight stay though just on the off-chance. My question is - should I pack my CPAP along with my jammies and toothbrush? I've been pretty much 100% compliant with it since I got it about 5 months ago and don't know if I could even sleep without it now. But - will the hospital have an issue with it?

[Hawthorne]

I think you should take it with you. I doubt the hospital will have any problem with you having it but you can check with them.

Make sure you have your name, address and phone number on the bag and EVERY other part, especially the machine, humidifier, main hose and mask. I use those address labels.

[hose-head2010]

AndrewB,

You should definitely take your cpap with you. The ONLY hitch could be your having a prescription for it. You may want to either check with your hosp or get a copy [of Rx] from your sleep doc.
Good Luck.

Todd

[AndrewB]

Good thought - I keep the prescription in the CPAP travel bag so there's no problem with that.

My wife is staying with me for the day so she can drive me home so I'll just toss it into the trunk and if I need it it's there.

Thanks for the input.

[Hawthorne]

If your wife is with you, then for sure just out it on the trunk and she can get it if you need to stay overnight.

Good luck!

[elena88]

Just wishing you good luck with your upcoming procedure..

hope all goes well, and you actually get some sleep if they keep you overnight..

take care, and after its all done, please let us know how it went..

elena

[ozij]

Good luck, Andrew.

[AndrewB]

Thank you for the good wishes.

There's a certain amount of being bloody terrified that's involved but hopefully it will all work out OK.

[Hospiceangel]

I would check with the hospital. Ours will not allow any electronic/medical equipment brought in. They would set you up with a unit from the hospital. I would take your mask tho. I used to work on a Cardiac floor and have worked in ICU, if you have any questions about the cath PM me. I will be happy to help as much as I can.
Shar:)

[Do nurses have OSA?]

My advice is you should ALWAYS take your CPAP machine with you to the hospital. During most Cardiac Cath procedures you are given some sedation which includes a minor tranquilizer and some narcotic. Both of these change your ventilation and can worsen your sleep apnea. Show the nurses how it works before you are sedated.

Best of luck,
Connee

[djr1215]

Does your cardiologist (or whomever will be doing the heart cath) know you have sleep apnea? You'll be on your back, so that could be an issue he needs to be aware of.

[allen476]

You can take it, but unless they find something that has to be done right then, you probably won't need it. I had a cath back in January and it was over quickly. The laying still for an hour afterwards (if they use a collagen block on the incision) was harder. I was already in the hospital at that time and had my CPAP with me in the room. Didn't even take it to the lab in case. If something went wrong, they would have to intubate anyways.

Good luck, And for the first 2 days afterwards, make sure that you do what they tell you. You will be sore.

Allen

[AndrewB]

Does your cardiologist (or whomever will be doing the heart cath) know you have sleep apnea? You'll be on your back, so that could be an issue he needs to be aware of.

Yep - I made sure to tell her. She seemed quite curious about if it helped with some of my symptoms.

[emilee2]

first good wishes for you and know everything will be ok. I had two of those catheterization. Fisrt one I had to stay over night. They kept the needle inside me for 6 hours and I wasn't aloud to lift my head the whole time. Then another 6 hours I had to still lay down without getting up. I don't know why? I did have a stint put in my LAD of my heart and they did find 3 blockages.

The second catheterization was because I didn't pass my stress tests and they wanted to go back in to fix what she thought was my stint might of became block too?
Well they didn't find anything, that time I didn't have to stay laying down as long as the first time. But you do have to lay down for several hours without raising your head up.

I caught something while in the hospital an ended up longer time in the hospital.....I was spitting up blood etc.

I don't know how I caught anything...but I did...had trouble breathing....and they put me on oxygen. Later I found our I had COPD.

Later that year I was tested for sleep apnea. Whcih I have also.
The hospital never had a problem for me to bring in the sleep apnea machine. My Cardo doctor thinks it is great that I went and got help. So maybe tell your doctor and see if he says it is ok with him/her? That way the hospital would have to go along with yoru doctor don't you think?

[AndrewB]

Everything went smoothly and the people at St. Mary's in Kitchener, Ontario were quite professional, pleasant and very competent.

I had 3 minor blockages - 2 @30% and 1 @50% which they didn't feel needed anything done with. I was actually surprised chatting with others in the recovery room to find that most of them didn't have issues that required intervention either.

My Cholesteral meds are being bumped up - presumably to either deal with the blockages or keep them from getting worse - and as usual I was requested to lose some weight and get more active. I've been working at it, but will probably need to work at it more effectively now since there isn't a "magic pill" available to me to get rid of my chest pain and shortness of breath.

I was in and out the same day and will go back to work on Tuesday (long weekend!) My 16 year-old son is under instructions to make sure I don't lift anything.

Thank you everyone for your support. I took my CPAP with me in the car but never got it out since there was no question of me needing to stay overnight.