“What did you find Dr. K? Am I going to be okay?” My patient must have asked because usually I’m not so silent. I stared hard at the monitors as the catheter engaged his left coronary artery. Seven years had passed since I performed his last angiogram. At that time, he had terrible chest pains, and a complete work up elsewhere showed he was “normal.” I then saw him, and emergently performed an angiogram where we opened up a 99 percent blockage. He was overjoyed and said, “You’ve done good work with what you got!”
My patient was lost to follow up because he “felt fine.” Seven years later, he was waking up in the middle of the night gasping for air. He tried to find his medications, but couldn’t since he had run out years ago. I then saw him in the hospital for the first time in seven years.
We found that one crucial coronary artery was 100 percent blocked and his heart muscle strength was reduced by 50 percent. I contemplated restoring flow to this artery, but suspected that the muscle segment it supplies was dead. It’s like irrigating Hiroshima just after it was bombed – the land could not revive. Further studies confirmed that portion of the heart was scarred.
As I gave my patient the news, he raised his left hand, covered his eyes, and hid his tears from me. I felt so broken for him and his family as he was so young. As I explained to his wife and parents in the hospital’s waiting room, they broke down, asking, “Where do we go from here?” We stood there, not saying a word for some time, interlocking hands in a huddle.
“He’s been lost for seven years, and he found himself back home. The important thing is that he’s alive, he’s with us and we still have hope. We’ll mend him one day at a time.”
“But how…how can you do it Dr. K?” His wife asked.
“We’ll first forgive the past, and work with what we’ve got. We’ll tune up his heart, hit him hard with medications, tell him nothing but the truth, and top it all off with compassion and love.”
For further information on your cardiovascular health, contact Dr. Kojoglanian, the Mender of Hearts, at 661-259-1711. The office is located at 24868 Apple Street, Suite 103 in Santa Clarita. You can also find out more at www.drrap.com . Don’t let seven years pass you by.