A False Alarm

I experienced a chest pain when I woke up one one Sunday morning. I sat on the bed, feeling anxious for a while, waiting for it to subside. It lasted just a few minutes. The next Monday, when I was sitting at my desk in the staffroom, I felt numbness in my right foot and hand. Having read several health experiences of stroke and heart patients, I decided to see the doctor at PMC, Sg. Buloh immediately after school. I did ECG on that day and Dr. F asked me a lot of questions. He asked me to do full blood test the next Friday but I won't skip classes. We agreed to Saturday morning.

By Monday, the lab analysis was ready and I saw Dr. F that night, the same time my pregnant daughter-in-law was admitted into the ward for the supposed induced labor. The ECG and blood test are normal, negative which mean there was nothing wrong with me. Dr. F then suggested I go for a stress test where they will test the effects of physical exercise on my heart. Afer I agreed, he made an appointment with his colleague at Tawakal, by SMS, and wrote a referral letter.
I registered at the Cardiology Department at number 17 of KPJ Tawakal Hospital on the 15th February at around 10 a.m. and met Dr. Z. He asked more questions and then told me to wait. The assistant then brought us to another level to do the stress test at about 11 something. There, I changed into the hospital blue gown and then, they put wires on my chest, which were connected to the heart machine.

Courtesy: US National Health Institute

It started with a slow walking speed and in the 6th minute, I was running on the treadmill. I asked to stop when my legs couldnt carry on in the 9th minute. However, my heart was still beating fine and I didn't feel any pain in my chest. It was when I sat down on the bed that I felt some dizziness maybe because I had not eaten properly that morning. I always feel dizzy when I am hungry. Dr. Z seemed to see something irregular on the chart that he thought might be a narrow artery. He asked me if I felt any pain and I answered that I felt a bit uncomfortable on the left chest, but not pain. He gave me a pink pill which he told me to put under my tongue. My dizziness went away. The attendant offered me some dates which I ate two and drank a glass of plain water. 

After changing back into my baju sukan, we went back to Dr. Z's room. He told me that the stress test was positive and if we wanted to know where the narrowed artery is, I had to proceed to Angiogram. Angiogram is another procedure to write out any false alarm related to the heart. He explained to me the procedure and told me the cost when I asked about it. It's around 5K and Angiaplasty is from 12K for each blockage. Aiyyoyo. For a peace of mind, I agreed to go ahead with Angiogram which was slotted a week later, on the 23rd February. However, in order to benefit the in-patient insurance provision, I needed to be admitted the day before the date. Ok, fine.

Invisibly, I was admitted at 11.45 p.m but physically reached the emergency room just before midnight and that after beating the terrible traffic jam at Jalan Pahang for half an hour. I, along with my two daughters checked into the single room at the wee hour and after the nurses took my blood (which left a ballooned skin after the needle made a detour to the cells! ssh!ssh!), we lied down and immediately felt into deep slumber.

The next morning when the doctor came in, I told him of my second thought of not doing angio and he looked speechless. It is a 5K procedure and my symptoms were not that strong to convince me to do it. Looking at his face, and finding I wasn't  able to give solid reason or not convincing enough to pull out, I gave in. To give me a peace of mind

They pushed me (in a wheelchair) to the cathlab at around 10 am??. The preparation took some time and it made me feel drowsy in the cold room. I asked a lot of questions before and after. No wonder, they anesthetized me..joking :D!! 

 I was so disappointed for not watching it took place. I wondered if they would ever let me videotape it. The attendant said out loud that I was the bravest patient she had ever met. Thank you, thank you!

  

That's where the doctor inserted the tube through a small incision. The blood oozed out when the doctor wanted to change the gauze.

            

Got a problem with the billing department therefore I couldnt check out early. I dozed off while waiting.

Thank you for reading and visit me again.