What you don’t know . . . .

They say “What you don’t know won’t hurt you.” On the other hand it can scare the hell out of you and it can also kill you.

As I shared in my Roto-Rooter article, I had to go to the Philippine Heart Center to confirm suspicions that I may have blocked arteries after I failed my stress test last Friday. Realizing it was a serious problem, I immediately agreed to undergo the angiogram last Monday morning to remove all doubts. Far from being dramatic, I was actually worried due to ignorance as well as concerns on the possible findings.

The tricky thing about heart or arterial blocks is you could have one or you could have six blockages. In severe cases involving blockage with heart attack, they only remove the block that caused the heart attack and deal with the rest later when the patient is stable. In one case, I learned from a friend that in his case they took out 3, then went back for the remaining 3, one month later. The one that I dreaded the most was when the situation requires open-heart surgery to do a by-pass because the recovery period is a 3- to 12-month spread and cost a ton of money.

And so we went ahead and after about 30 to 40 minutes into the process, my doctor Marlou Mendoza confirmed that I indeed had two blocked arteries, one approximately 95% clogged and potentially could have caused a heart attack.

Having discussed our strategy the night before, we agreed that if there were blocks we would immediately do an Angioplasty where they insert stents or tube like device with an inflatable balloon. Once the stent is in place, the doctor inflates the balloon, which pushes and expands the stent that in turn expands and opens the collapsed or clogged artery. The advantage of doing the angioplasty immediately is you only go to the operating room once. You use the same opening in the femoral artery that was used to do the angiogram test, and it’s all over on the same day.

The great thing about doing it at the Philippine Heart Center is that they have a deep bench of experienced professionals and staff all the way down to the nursing team. Following the advise of two former patients, I requested that Dr. James Ho to be part of the team to do the angioplasty.

To be honest, when I made the request, all I had was a name and very strong recommendations from friends. What I did not know was Dr. Ho was the head honcho or chief of department or unit handling cases like mine. Needless to say all went very well and the experience provided me so much information to share.

First lesson is when in pain and when in doubt, get yourself tested. Looking back, I realized that I had at least 3 episodes of chest pains before I finally went for a test. The stress test cost only P6,000+/+, It’s not a 100% screen but if you combine symptoms and a failed test, you already have a strong warning sign.

The angiogram was no more than a pin prick. During the procedure I was humming a praise song to the Lord, talking with the doctors about the movie “Fast and Furious 6” and suggesting that the OR should have music like the Beatles to distract patients from getting too nervous. When we continued on to the Angioplasty, I was expecting to “feel something” but truthfully, I actually fell asleep waiting. Then it was all over. No fuss, no pain, no actual difficulty except having to stay in bed for 12 hours for the puncture site to shut. We did the process Monday morning and I was out by Tuesday lunch.

In hindsight, realizing you have a blockage and undergoing the entire process bothers you more mentally than physically. While it’s good not to experience pain, it also causes people to take for granted the severity of their condition. As Dr. Ho and Dr. Mendoza reminded me, they may have cleared my blocked arteries but the fact remains that the network is compromised like kitchen plumbing lined with “sebo”.

That’s why patients are placed on long-term medication such as blood thinners, blood pressure maintenance and more importantly a new menu of food choices and portions because you can only delay things or slow them down. The only drawback I’ve been told is that a number of patients on blood thinners become irritated and irritating. So if you have a grumpy “patient” in the house, just remind yourself that it’s the medication not the person.

During my stay at the Philippine Heart Center, I was once again proven right that specialized government hospitals are superb and deserve our patronage. Aside from a deep bench of experts, the Heart Center, in spite of inadequate government and public support, has managed to provide an array of much needed services in the field of heart disease, cure and care.

Even though the Heart Center is an “old” facility, there is nothing old about their services and their staff. Except for the absence of “free WIFI”, everything I needed was available, including a well-stocked Deli France, 7-11 and a decent cafeteria. I might add that there was a very strong Globe signal in the hospital particularly when I needed to post on Facebook and send out emails via my Hotspot.

What government hospitals such as the Philippine Heart Center needs is a commitment of support from people in Malacanang and Congress. Perhaps we should push for a law that all high-ranking government officials and legislators should have their executive check ups as well as treatments done in government hospitals. Only through constant exposure can they develop an appreciation of just how good our government hospitals and their staff are.

Lastly, allow me to thank all of you who wished me well, prayed for me and my family during the procedure and my three friends who offered to pay part of the expense, but thank God for insurance! I am truly blessed by all your kindness. God bless all of you, and thank you Lord.

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