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Post by bracabric on Mar 23, 2009 9:42:36 GMT -5
Hello everyone, As some of you may know, I had a mild heart attack a week last Saturday, I had the good sense to have it on the doorstep of "El Salvador" Hospital in Santiago and was quickly taken into the Hospital and stabilised. It seems that my heart was not badly effected and the only thing to show for it is a slightly lazy valve closing. I had been having chest pains for a few weeks and knew something was up and I was at the Hospital to get an electrocardiogram just to see how bad things were getting and "Wham" this B+"'#@y Elephant sat on my chest and would not move !! The Hospital is an old public one and is due to be replaced with a new one in the next few years and could have done with a coat of paint BUT, the service was incredible, Doctors and nurses everywhere and extremely competent with it . A lot of the Doctors work also in the private health sector which is very big in Chile and very good (and very expensive) and surprisingly (pleasantly so) some of the Doctors and Nurses would not work in the private sector believing that illness should not be a cause for profit, a view with which I have some sympathy. I was taken to the operating Theater on Saturday morning (21st.) and was operated on in a facility straight out of Star Trek, it was a Siemens system with (moving) flat screens and sensors everywhere. The Doctor introduced a catheter into my wrist and pushed it up and across to my heart (I'm watching this on one of the many flat screens) and having released some dye, showed me where the blockages (two) were, he then inflated two balloons in the choked channels and crushed the cholesterol into the walls of the arteries. He introduced a STENT (see link below) into a damaged part of an artery to keep it open and "Bob's your uncle" it was all over. I was handed a CD of the proceedings and taken back to my bed. So noninvasive was it all that I was allowed to go home Sunday night and am writing this Monday mourning. I have to take a few tablets for a month or so and aspirin for the rest of my life and that's it !! It's a wonderful world folks ! Lucky (again) Dick www.medmovie.com/mmdatabase/MediaPlayer.aspx?ClientID=65&TopicID=747www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=4721 |
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quikduk
CTW Life Member
Dog House
Posts: 552
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Post by quikduk on Mar 23, 2009 11:11:25 GMT -5
Dick, I had NO IDEA!!!  Glad you are "up and about". It is amazing how medicine and life follows art at times. Sometimes I think that "we" advance technologically because someone else watched the Sci-Fi as a kid and said..."when I grow up, I am going to invent "that thing" on TV" and then our technological "progress?" allows for the creation of it. Congrats to a smooth surgery and a speedy recovery and God bless. Ken ;D |
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3RRL
Administrator 
Huge Kama
Posts: 2,027 
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Post by 3RRL on Mar 23, 2009 12:13:40 GMT -5
Holy shit Dick, I didn't know either!
Man, am I glad to hear you got it taken care of right away.
I'm also glad to hear your facility down there, and the staff are first rate space age technology. I take aspiring everyday and have since I was about 25. Nevertheless, that's not saying I'm not at risk. My diet is bad (as Larry and Ken can tell you), but I do exercise and keep very busy.
I'm so glad to hear you are alright Dick. You are one of my favorite guys.
Rob-
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Post by bracabric on Mar 23, 2009 13:20:02 GMT -5
Thanks y'all, my best pal here is from San Jose in California and like me tied tight to a Chilean girl and (being a few years older than me) has used the medical services both in California and here in Santiago and he says " the facilities and treatment here are as good as anything back in California". Medicine is a business here and most of the people (those with some money) insure and go to the private clinics which are state of the art. Most of the Doctors have worked for some time in either the USA,Canada or the UK and are very "on the ball", my problem was that when I arrived from the UK I was 58 going on 59 and no one wanted to take on someone of that age as a new customer, the one quote I got that was for quite limited cover was the equivalent of US$400 a month and I didn't want to do that (needed to buy food too) and as luck would have it I managed to get onto the state run system that all the private clinics disparage and it's been wonderful, they get about US$10 a month off me and I get all my blood pressure pills back from them (which cost more than US$10 a month anyway) and now this major operation (the Stents here cost US$1500 each plus 19% tax let alone the Doctor and the flight deck of the "Enterprise"), I have really been very fortunate, several friends urged me to move to a private clinic where I could have a private room and TV and better food Oh, and a bill for US$8,000 to go with it, if the treatment had been lacking in the public sector I would have, but the treatment was spot on with state of the art equipment and I quite liked being in a ward with other people ( it was a mixed ward), I flatter myself that I've made some new friends whilst there, and a couple of the senior Nurses..............wow!!................. (so I must be recovering !! ) and being the only "Gringo" and a tiny bit different they made a huge fuss over me which of course I loved !!
The state system is at 4 levels, the very poor pay nothing for their Hospitalisation, the two intermediate pay a percentage and the 4th. level (me) pay 50%, but guess what? being over 60 (not over 65) I am a senior citizen and it's all free !! its a great world !!
Dick
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Post by linus69 on Mar 23, 2009 14:51:40 GMT -5
Good for you Dick, very glad everything went your way.
Paul
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red
CTW Advanced Member
Posts: 306
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Post by red on Mar 23, 2009 17:13:12 GMT -5
Dickie your timing was impeccable! Being in the right place at the right time! A friend of my had a 2nd heart attack just about a month ago the Doc's had to install new 3 stents where the old ones were. .. Kinda sucks cause he cleaned up his act and still had another, so be careful Good luck -Ed
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Post by bradblazer on Mar 23, 2009 19:53:07 GMT -5
Dick,
You are lucky! If it happened out on the farm...
Sounds like you made the right decision for medical care. What else would a Chinese tractor owner do?
When the beds are boy-girl-boy-girl you can't go wrong.
Brad
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Post by bracabric on Mar 24, 2009 8:53:16 GMT -5
Thanks everyone !!!!!!!
Dick
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Post by baknblack on Mar 24, 2009 9:19:46 GMT -5
Thanks everyone !!!!!!! Dick I'm 4.5 years into a 7 vessel bypass at 45 years old. I too consider myself very fortunate. I knew something wasn't right and kept pressing the doctors for more tests. I passed a stress test with flying colors and was told to go home and stop worrying. Yeah right!!! I finally convinced a cardiologist to do a cath and there it was blockages everywhere. I was lucky. I got the bypass surgery before I had the big one!!!! They couldn't stent my blockages because each one was right in a major branch. Stents are great but, you need to stay on top of it. For some people they last a lifetime others not so long. If you feel the chest pain again don't wait. Good luck to you. Dwayne |
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Post by studor on Mar 24, 2009 10:17:34 GMT -5
Sorry to hear about your troubles but glad to hear the story from you in person ;D I just recently started back into doing some work in healthcare here in Canada and can tell you that I share the opinion that sickness should be a non profit business -- unless you are providing healthcare to AIG executives and then the bill for services should be roughly equal to the national debt Unfortunately heart problems seem to be much more based on genetics than environment so while you can help with lifestyle you probably cannot fix anything --- so thank God for modern medicine eh! Regards and heal fast Steve |
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3RRL
Administrator
Huge Kama
Posts: 2,027
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Post by 3RRL on Mar 24, 2009 12:37:31 GMT -5
-- unless you are providing healthcare to AIG executives and then the bill for services should be roughly equal to the national debt I agree with you Steve. Unfortunately, you could charge them anything you want and never get paid!!!
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quikduk
CTW Life Member
Dog House
Posts: 552
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Post by quikduk on Mar 24, 2009 15:42:42 GMT -5
Not only would you never get paid but WE would pay for their surgery and recuperation and most likely the lawsuits after they realize we didn't put in the stents like we said we did... ;D  Good you are getting back to ship-shape Dick. Listen to Dwayne and don't ignore the pain. (Huh? Who woulda thunk I was poetic?) |
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Post by bracabric on Mar 24, 2009 17:55:45 GMT -5
Ken, Your a poet and didn't know it !
Dick
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GuglioLS
Administrator
Jinma354 LE
Posts: 1,276
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Post by GuglioLS on Mar 24, 2009 20:39:59 GMT -5
Glad your OK, that was a close one for sure. I am so happy it all turned out OK and that your timing was impeccable. I mean what are the chances of that happening on the steps to the hospital? Your truly are a lucky Dick.
What no pictures of those hot looking nurses fighting over you?
Larry
P.S. Don't let that happen again!
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red
CTW Advanced Member
Posts: 306
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Post by red on Mar 25, 2009 8:39:07 GMT -5
What no pictures of those hot looking nurses fighting over you?
Larry
P.S. Don't let that happen again![/quote]
Larry
NO! NO! not with his heart condition the extra blood flow is very dangerous ;D ;D ;D -Ed
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