Sunday Stroke Survival: Gone Under the Knife Again

On Friday, I was scheduled for my TCAR procedure. SIGH! So much for staying out of the hospital in 2020. It just couldn't be scheduled any sooner. At least it was only an overnight hospital stay. Seeing how they catheterized two major (carotid and femoral) arteries, they wanted to be sure the bleeding was stopped before releasing me. I really couldn't begrudge them for being cautious. I would be dead in under an hour if one of the internal closing sutures gave way.

With as much heparin (heavy duty blood thinner) that was given during the procedure, my clotting factor was similar to a hemophiliac, or nonexistent. I tolerated the weight on my right thigh/groin well. It was no different than one of my numerous heart caths in the past. What bothered me was the weight they placed on my left clavicle. Having torn that ligament and had torn my rotator cuff in the past... 2012 and 2013 respectively. Both tears had been immobilized and allowed to heal naturally so no surgically intervention took place to repair these tendons. Just how poorly they healed, was directly proportional to the added weight and pain level increases I felt.

Silk Road Medical

Never heard of a TCAR? Neither had I. It was first performed in 2018 so it's relatively new. But it reduces the risk of stroke and other complications to almost nil versus the old cut down, open endarterectomy and the healing time is much quicker.  Currently, TCAR is only offered to patients who have increased risk factors against an endarterectomy, such as me whose heart stops under general anesthetic, history of strokes, and other heart issues. In this case, being the queen of Abby Normal worked for me rather than against me.

In my pre-op discussion with my vascular surgeon, I asked if I could be shown

Filter contents blood clots and plaque

what the filter caught. I was shocked when I saw the strokes that had been circumvented by doing the TCAR. Each one of red dots showing in the left picture was a possible stroke stopped by the filter attachment. Talk about relief! Since I could not move to see it, my surgeon took a picture of it with his phone or actually a tech did it for him to show me. My surgeon had seemed shocked that I'd asked him, but complied. I was only given relaxation drugs for the procedure so I was awake during it. It's not a choice normal people would ask to see, but as I've already said, "I ain't normal!" I have an innate curiosity about the human body especially when my body is trying to kill me.

I'm still moving a bit stiffly. I'm bruised from my belly button to my knee on the right side. Which is my normal reaction to heart characterizations and from left ear to mid chest line on the left side. Which I'm assuming is normal for this type of procedure or so I've read. No fever and no other side effects that they told me to expect. So I guess I came through with flying colors. I do know that some of my brain's fogginess has cleared. I actually have more energy than before the procedure. The vertigo and headaches I had have lessened. I'm gathering that they mostly been caused by the blockages. Now, I just have to heal my bruises and the stitches to achieve a new normalcy. It couldn't come at a more opportune time. Spring planting is just around the corner.

Nothing is impossible.