Another Day, Another Hospital Visit – Angiogram

Well, here I am again. After the past year and a half I’ve become pretty familiar with hospitals and doctors offices. Perhaps it’s been a good journey for working on anxieties related to medical stuff. At least I’m not hyperventilating before even stepping inside, though I have to admit it’s not a fun and exciting experience. I’m nervous for the unexpected, but ready to get this over with.

If you read this post on my medical mishaps after having and emergency c-section during my daughter’s birth that didn’t go quite as planned, you might think it’s time for surgery. After all, it has been over two months since my consult with the OBGYN who did my cesarean. But no, as seems to be the case with my issues, it’s still a painfully slow process, and I’m just finally settling in for my first test to figure out further exactly what needs to be done with me.

Today’s fun adventure is called an angiogram. It seems like the majority of these procedures are to check on the heart, but mine is more concerned with what’s going on with my bladder (and possibly kidneys?). This is my understanding of what I’m looking forward to during this 4-6 hour hospital spa day.

I’ve already checked in to admitting, gone up to my floor and been shown to my fancy 4-bed room, complete with a luxury window view of a beautiful concrete roof and an already grating continual beeping of medical equipment. Now I wait.

This is the majority of the time spent at appointments and ER visits – waiting, waiting, waiting. Knowing that this would take 4-6 hours before I can get the heck out of dodge, I brought a fabulous book I’ve been enjoying for months but haven’t had much time to finish reading (gee, thanks universe, but this isn’t exactly the chance I was hoping for), a notepad and pen, and my cell phone charger. Hopefully I can keep myself busy, or enjoy the peace and time to lay back and relax without chasing a toddler around. When I think of it that way, this could actually be a pretty nice day, aside from the actual “fun stuff”.

So, the angiogram. I guess I’ll know better after all is said and done, but from what I’ve gathered from the doctors and the internet (I know, I know, never look up medical information on the web), I’ll get a catheter inserted into a blood vessel on my leg and have a dye join ranks in my circulatory system. The dye will help light up all my veins and tissues so we can get a good view of my insides from the x-rays that will be taken.

The “nice thing” is that everyone is well aware that I’m still breastfeeding and it’s been affirmed several times now that everything I’ll receive today will not interfere with nursing and my babe’s health. I’m still somewhat skeptical, but even the Naturopathic Doctor I saw for a second opinion on this angiogram basically told me I’d be making a mistake not to do this and try to get me properly taken care of after all I’ve gone through and continue to experience.

So, despite my initial fears and my anxiousness over this procedure almost causing me to call it off and say “I feel fine, leave me alone,” here I am, being a big girl and waiting for the fun to start. I’ve brought some Wild Orange essential oil to sniff at with the hope that will help keep me calm.

Bring on the poking, prodding and glamour shots! Wish me luck!