Posted on 09/12/2021 12:19:10 PM PDT by rktman
Carotid artery disease occurs when fatty deposits (plaques) clog the blood vessels that deliver blood to your brain and head (carotid arteries). The blockage increases your risk of stroke, a medical emergency that occurs when the blood supply to the brain is interrupted or seriously reduced.
Stroke deprives your brain of oxygen. Within minutes, brain cells begin to die. Stroke is the most common cause of death and the leading cause of permanent disability in the U.S.
(Excerpt) Read more at mayoclinic.org ...
Mrs rktman and I are feeling blessed and thankful to share this and hope it helps someone.
In June of 2018 my primary care at the VA performed his usual exam and during the stethoscope check of my neck heard some restrictions on the left carotid. He ordered an ultrasound and the results indicated about a 40% obstruction of the left internal artery and no action was recommend at that time. Blood work indicated decent cholesterol numbers. I had no symptoms that anything was amiss. No issues appeared in subsequent visits. Then the COVID shutdown, forced us to doing “tele-health”, which kept us from doing any “hands on” checks for 2020. Finally, able to get an in person visit in mid July of this year, my primary again listened to my carotids and said another ultrasound was in order. This time the results were dramatically changed and indicated a 70% blockage at the left internal artery. A consult with a vascular surgeon at the Reno VA in the middle of August was conducted and the surgeon recommend performing an endarterectomy and NOT doing a stent since, in his opinion, during that procedure some plaque could be dislodged leading to a stroke. Seemed reasonable to me and we scheduled the surgery for Sept 8. Well, that is now done. The surgeon indicated that the actual blockage was closer to 90%. They kept me in ICU post op overnight due to the nature of the surgery. Overnight recovery went well and I was discharged by noon on Sept 9th. I was, and still am, swollen and discolored and some nerve trauma to the left side nerve that controls facial movement. They indicated that it may take a month or so to resolve. Not much pain at all. The thing is, I had no clue. I never felt bad or fatigued or confused and my lab work for the most recent tests (and previous tests)showed total cholesterol was 164 with the HDL being 46 and LDL being 98. So a word of caution in case your medical folks don’t regularly check you for this, even if your cholesterol numbers look good, HAVE THEM DO IT. Mrs rktman and I are extremely thankful to my primary care folks, the surgeon and support folks at the Reno VA hospital that are trained and blessed to be able to do these things. Besides, I still got a lot of music to play.
Get it checked. It can be one of those : "He was perfectly fine and then dropped like a stone!" moments.
Happy you are doing well. My mom had severe blockage in neck several years ago, and I don’t think she had known symptoms before hand either. I think they found it accidentally.
Cholesterol numbers are not always indicative. It depends on the type. Carotid scans are the best way to find out. I didn’t have plaque but I had “old arteries”. Zocor fixed that.
Glad to hear it all worked out well for you. Modern medicine is amazing and we are all so thankful for these great procedures that fix us up, gets us well, and grant us more years on earth.
My FIL had the roto-rooter operation on his carotid maybe 20 years ago and it went very well for him. Like you, he had no signs beforehand. He lasted quite a few years, maybe a decade, after that operation.
Back in 2015, when I was admitted with symptoms that later turned out to be gall bladder attacks, the first thing they did was check my heart. A Cardiologist came, and had some tests done on me, and I’ve continued to see him once a year since then. And once a year I have an Echocardiogram, and an ultrasound of my carotid arteries. I have a thickening of the wall of one of my heart chambers, and he keeps track of that with the yearly Echo. My carotid ultrasounds have shown only mild plaque, and although I’ve had a heart murmur my whole like, on my last Echo this past March, they could find no sign of it. I’m 74.
Happened to me... Except I was 99 percent.. they found out mine was deformed, and made me a new one...
Been 15 years and all is well... I still have no feeling in my neck around the scar...
Shaving will take some getting used to...
I told everyone I know, have your primary doctor listen to your coratids every visit
LOL! Most FReepers have “old” arteries. We need to recruit some youngsters to get on board. They gave me some astorvastatin so we’ll follow up on that. Just glad I have a VA primary that actually does his job. Actually, I’ve had good luck at our VA. But, our only dermo is useless. Comes over once a month from Cali and rarely sees anyone. We had a Nurse Practioner that I used to see on the outside at the VA for a while but since wasn’t an MD they wouldn’t let her do any more than freeze stuff off so she left.
I’ll certainly be doing that henceforth too. It really is the silent killer. Better chance of that doing me in than CONvid.
I had my right carotid artery about 80% blocked earlier this year, so had surgery to clear it very quickly. No symptoms, and left carotid was/is fine. Post surgery went fine; no pain. Was told on follow-up that it was “wide open.” Just came out of nowhere, and is a good example of why regular medical exams are so important.
Thanks for posting. I got checked about two years ago by scan (on my own volition) and they said I was looking good. Good reminder for the doctor to check it too.
All good outcome. And just in time.
Atherosclerosis that has radiated up in the arteries to the brain (the carotids) are vulnerable to “peeling” off and then pushed up into the brain for a vascular stroke. Hope they have checked your coronary arteries that supply the heart, first, with oxygenated blood. The “crown” of the corona arteries are supplied first out of the heart from the aorta. The atorvastatin should really help reduce the amount of LDL that can get into an artery lesion and make it susceptible to breaking off. Glad they caught all this.
You are Blessed!
Saw a guy at work have a stroke in front of me. We got the ambulance there in time before serious damage was done
I went to a cardiologist who had a billion bucks worth of equipment he put me through. He found a 60% blockage in one carotid artery and 50% in the other. He did a full scan of all my arteries but the carotids was all he found. A few days later, my right leg went totally numb and the same cardiologist insisted it was diabetic neuropathy. It wasn’t. He didn’t even want to look. In the meantime I was in severe pain so my primary sent me to a vascular surgeon. He found a blockage in my superior femoral artery, corrected it with a stent.
I had him recheck the carotids and they were clear. No blockages. Since then I’ve had a number of surgeries to roto-root and place more stents.
Sometimes you DO have to get a second opinion and keep sensitive to what your body is telling you.
Very blessed. And like I said, have a primary, a nurse practitioner, that actually cares. I left a message for him yesterday giving him an atta boy.
I have a friend of 60 years that had a stroke alone and wasn’t found for 12 hours. He has some things that are okay but for the most part, no. Well known guitar player that will never play again. Sad stuff. I suspect he may have had a similar condition as what I did.
Yes, I wouldn’t trade my nurse practitioner for all the doctors I’ve ever seen in my life.
The labs they run can differentiate the LDL, and the VLDL (which is one of the components of triglycerides, and can be more atherogenic than LDL). It is a spectrum of the HDL (the good, scavenging particle that picks up VLDL/LDL and takes it back to the liver to process out. Sure your NP has analyzed the numbers. Breaking out the subdivisions of TotalC= Trigs + HDL+ LDL...VLDL is part of the Trigs total.
I have a partial clog in my right carotid artery. I have it checked every year and so far I am fine I do what I am told and get plenty of exercise.
I suppose at some point I may have to have something done.
The trigs were right in the middle of the +/- ranges. Stunning how everything interacts.
Good on ya!
I have had some blockage on right side inner for several years. Cardiologist does ultrasound every six months to monitor. Stable at <50%. Never had any symptoms or even ideas there was an issue. Hopefully will stay this way.
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