Heart Cath

[RightPedal]

Well, I got out of the Hospital a week ago today from having my first heart cath to put in a stent.
What a bummer, too. I had just gotten my second class medical back just two months ago and did a flight review.
No warning at all either. Monday the 4th I felt strange. Late Monday night I was awoken about midnight with pressure in my chest. I told the wife I was having a problem and may need to go to ER. It all went away in a half hour so I charged it off to gas.
Well, about noon Tuesday, It came on hard. Chest pain, pressure, and my arms were heavy. Noon thirty I was in the ER having what I thought to be a full blown heart attack. By 3 o'clock I was in recovery.
It went well, I felt good and went home Wednesday night.
Now the rest of the story. The vain where they put the cath now has this sudo aneurysm thing. My right leg is swelled 2 times the size of the left leg. It's black, blue and yellow from my hip to my toe and it hurts like hell.
Now, flying and everything else I like and "did" is out the window. It's to be replaced with exercise and chick food :crying:.
I would like to know if any of you have ever had anything like this happen? How long will it take to get back on my feet and be somewhat normal again?
Thanks

 

[Say Again Over]

Good luck, a bit of a lifestyle change, good time to stop smoking.

 

[clr4theapch]

Its not over, just different

Yeap... except I went the whole way and bypass before 40!... was already upgraded to captain..then fourloughed.. then boom... all over... next day I was grounded but alive... blessed with great doctors and a second chance.. after steaming a few years, I went back and got my Dispatch license and have been doing that ever since...

It tough to face these kind of medical challenges... tought to loose a part of your life you loved... what is worse is to see so many pilots get so wrapped up in the small stuff that they cant see the forest for the trees.... They somehow forget that all the work and money they put into their careers could be gone in an instant....

I wish you well in your recovery, dont get stressed out about flying.. get well and look at your options once your stable.... there are many aviation options for you... flying professionally may not be one of them. I for one still fly a little bit under the new Sport Pilot rules as I never did loose my medical, it just expired before all the bad stuff happened while I was on furlough... so it turned out good in the end, at least I can do Sport Aviation now, that would not have been possible had my medical been revoked ...

Dispatching has been hoot, I enjoy going to work everyday... beats pushing up flowers!

 

[SDF2BUF2MCO]

AOPA is a good resource for GA folks (probably could google it too and find info). I think (not 100% sure) you have to wait six months from the time your stent was put in. Then you have to do the stress test and your numbers have to be acceptable. I think this includes your heart rate (before, during, and after treadmill test), blood pressure, and cholestral (sp?). Your AME can help you determine if your numbers are acceptable. He then will do the bureaucratic thing and organize your paperwork. I have heard the wait can be two or three months after that. Again, AOPA may be able to offer some counsel (I am assuming you're GA).

It may take at least 4 weeks for your black, blue, and yellow bruises to fade away. The swelling should go down sooner. Pester your doctor if you're unsure.

 

[RightPedal]

AOPA is a good resource for GA folks (probably could google it too and find info). I think (not 100% sure) you have to wait six months from the time your stent was put in. Then you have to do the stress test and your numbers have to be acceptable. I think this includes your heart rate (before, during, and after treadmill test), blood pressure, and cholestral (sp?). Your AME can help you determine if your numbers are acceptable. He then will do the bureaucratic thing and organize your paperwork. I have heard the wait can be two or three months after that. Again, AOPA may be able to offer some counsel (I am assuming you're GA).

It may take at least 4 weeks for your black, blue, and yellow bruises to fade away. The swelling should go down sooner. Pester your doctor if you're unsure.

Doing much better today. Swelling is going down a little more each day. My foot looks like it is going to spit my toes out on the floor it's so swelled. I have these red rash like patches that hurt like all get out. They caused me another night in the hospital this week. I'm up to four trips to the ER now at $200 a pop doing ultrasound's.

I think I have the best AME in the country. I walked out of his office with my second class and I haven't gotten any dear john letters from OK city like the previous three exams. This man runs a full time general medical practice, but aviation medicine is his main business. His waiting room is always full when I go there and most of the people are airline and military pilots. A lot of old pilots use him and I enjoy going there just for the hangar talk.

It blows my mind how fast this thing came on. I've had every kind of heart test there is over the past four years trying to determine why my blood pressure is so out of control. Every test result indicated I have the heart of an 18 year old. But that's all out the window now, cats out of the bag.

It's up to me to do a complete change of life if I want to get back in the seat now. My cardiologist is a pilot. He knows and has high regards for the AME I use. He tells me I must stop smoking, loose weight with diet and exercise. If I achieve this goal, pass a stress test prior to my next scheduled medical exam. I will at least achieve third class privileges. And thats good enough for me.

The hard part is to stop smoking (which I have cut by 1/3) and control the stress in my life. Managing stress while managing people to maintain construction schedules and dealing with my children is something that will be hard to change.

Flying is important to me. If for nothing else but a "legal" Sunday afternoon ride around the property in the cub makes life worth living.

 

[pilotyip]

We have had a couple of our pilots get stints, they were back on line in about 7 months.

 

[AV80R]

We have had a couple of our pilots get stints, they were back on line in about 7 months.

I remember flying with a captain at AirTran just a few months after he had a couple of stents put in. I think the key is which artery they are fixing; if it's one going straight to the heart the wait might be longer.

 

[AV80R]

We have had a couple of our pilots get stints, they were back on line in about 7 months.

Left seat or right seat only?

 

[AV80R]

Well, I got out of the Hospital a week ago today from having my first heart cath to put in a stent.
What a bummer, too. I had just gotten my second class medical back just two months ago and did a flight review.

Why did you "got it back?" Does it mean you lost it for some other health related reason?

Now, flying and everything else I like and "did" is out the window. It's to be replaced with exercise and chick food :crying:.

What did your AME tell you? Will you be able to get a 1st class medical - if you wanted one?
I know you already got your 2nd class but could you get 1st class? Wish you a speedy recovery.

 

[pilotyip]

1st Class

Left seat or right seat only?

PIC in a DC-9 and Lear