Thanks for the prayers and good wishes guys. They must have worked.

Had the angiogram last Wednesday. Besides the 95% blockage in the right carotid, I also had a 99% blockage in the right iliac artery above the groin. Since he has to stent this to get to the carotid, he did that last Weds. Because I had such high levels of dye in my system, he decided NOT to try to stent the carotid last Thursday but to do it this Wednesday.

So I get to do this all over again in two days. Can't say I'm looking forward to it. This is about the most BORING recovery procedure I've ever been through. After they spend an hour or more trying to get your blood to clot again, they remove the catheters and then send you to a room or this time ICU where you must lie on your back with leg straight out and not move for 6 hours making it impossible to read and almost impossible to see a TV. And since I have a trach which puts pressure on the wound if I talk, I'm also not allowed to talk. Sleeping it not an option as I might roll, plus it is too noisy. I think I got a total of 1 hours slepp that night.

The stent in the iliac did solve the problem of my cramps in my right thigh. The other doctor never even suggested this. He was going to stent below the groin. This doctor says that usually doesn't work for long and he is going to try to avoid having to do it. We will address other leg problems 4 months after carotid. Tey may need to stent left iliac.

So off I go again on Wednesday. Will then be off the board until at least Monday. Will let you know what happens, I hope.

Take care,
Eileen