At that first appointment at Mayo, I had all of these events clear in my mind in order to be able to relay them to the doctors. As my daughter and I pulled into the lot, we found a handicapped space close to the area of the elevators. We got out of our car and followed the signs. It was only a very short distance to get us to the underground walkway, which would get me to my first appointment. The walkway was huge and very long, at least for me. When we got almost halfway to my destination, I had to stop, sit on a bench, because my left calf was hurting me more than ever. I couldn’t take another step. The expression on my daughter’s face and in her eyes was sad. I believe this was the first time she had seen her mom experience such pain. When I had been with her at other times I would stop before it hurt this much. I was really pushing myself today, just wanting to get to that appointment. My daughter said, “Mom I’m going back to where we came in and get a wheelchair.” It wasn’t far and I knew she would be back before my leg recovered. I was giving into the wheelchair because I didn’t want to be in such pain when I got to the receptionist’s desk, even if it was humbling. I was so healthy in many respects and my pain didn't show in my appearance - I still looked good for my age despite the many years of pain that I had already been through.
That afternoon, I had an angiogram of my heart, blood test, and a meeting with a cardiac doctor to report my history, turn in all my records, and medical reports. I had a nice letter written by the Patient Partnership Program at the UW explaining the difficulties I’d had with confusing diagnoses and medical treatment. I wasn’t sure that the letter, along with the outline I made of my records, would be read by any of the doctors. After a long appointment, being interviewed by a cardiologist and reviewing my entire medical history, I was sent for the test I had so often asked for in the other systems, ‘the tell-all tread mill test.’ There were two nurses getting it started. They took all of my vitals with blood pressure cuffs on my arms and legs. At rest the Doppler test looked pretty good. “Of course it is,” I replied. I always said, “I don’t have trouble in my recliner or in my bed. I have trouble walking to here and the parking lot.” These nurses were listening and professional, and they never made me feel that what I was telling them about my past was unimportant. When it was time for the treadmill another nurse came in. I was joking with them asking, “What do you think all three of you are going to do with me?” One smiled and said, “I’m just going to watch so you don’t fall on your face, get flushed, or show extreme pain.” This was all so different from the other two systems, where there was only one nurse doing the test who did not show much regard for my opinions.
The protocol for the time on the treadmill was only 5 minutes. At a fast walking pace I knew wasn’t going to make five minutes. I was right: I only went three minutes before I just couldn’t stand the pain any longer. The nurses had me off the treadmill, on to the table with blood pressure cuffs on in record time. This too was different than any other test I’d ever had. These nurses were now aware of my problem. They didn’t offer a reading, but did let me know that I had a very serious problem. Each one of these nurses either held my hand, or patted my leg, and they were wishing me good luck on whatever came next. They were so sincere that I wanted to cry with tears of relief for having someone show empathy. I already knew I had a serious problem, but the care and concern they showed was new to me.
By 2:00 p.m. that afternoon I saw Dr. Peter Gloviczki for surgical consultation. He had all the test results of that day. Again, this experience at Mayo was very different in that I didn’t have to wait weeks to get the results. The treadmill test was very bad in both legs. It revealed I had serious blockage in both legs, no doubt on the right side from all the other procedures, especially the recent blood clot surgery. Dr. Gloviczki and his colleagues talked to both my daughter and me. He reviewed each test that had been done and the results with us. In Dr. Gloviczki’s opinion, the only solution that I had was to have a very serious surgery - an aorta-femoral bypass. This would include attaching at the aorta just between the rib cage and putting in artificial arteries down both sides, attaching to the crossover bypass that was across my abdomen. The artificial artery in my abdomen that had been inserted only last year during my fem-fem bypass performed by Dr. Cowgill might need to be replaced. It was explained that if there was a blockage, the blood just lies there and begins to coagulate and re-block.
No comments:
Post a Comment