It's Procedure Time!

What exactly is an aortogram with bilateral runoff? Glad you asked! Here is what my patient care plan has to say provided by the friendly folks at Fairview (my comments in italics):

What happens the day of treatment?
Before treatment, you will meet with a nurse. He or she will:

• take your blood pressure, heart rate, and temperature
• place an IV tube in your vein (we will give you fluids and medicine through this tube)
• complete your paperwork
• test your blood
• talk about what will happen, answer your questions and show you a video

You will also meet with the doctor who will treat you to discuss what will happen during the treatment. You will sign a consent form.

A family member or friend (i.e., Kristie-sitter or mom) can be with you during this time.

What happens during treatment?
We will put dye into your blood vessels, then take X-ray pictures of the vessels.

• You will lie on an X-ray. A sheet will cover you.
• You will receive two drugs through your IV: one to help you relax and one to prevent pain.
• We will clean the area ar your groin and give you a numbing medicine.
• We will put a thin tube (catheter) into a small cut in your groin. The dye will go through this tube and into your blood vessels. (For my procedure the tube will be threaded through to my abdominal aorta and the dye will "run off" down through the vessels in both legs at rest to check for any areas that may be bloccked off or occluded. Then I will flex both my feet to check for occlusions during flexion. My first aortogram showed 100% occlusion below the knees on both legs. Ouch! Let's hope for a better result this time).
• You may notice a warm feeling or pressure in your legs or back from the dye.
• We will take X-ray pictures.
• If we use a balloon inflation or a stent to fix a blockage, you may feel a dull pressure. It is normal to feel a little pain when the balloon inflates.
• When we are finished, we will remove the tube. Pressure is applied to the place where the tube was.

Your family or friends can wait in the lobby during your treatment.

So that's that. A relatively simple and painless procedure that should give more insight into where the blockage is occurring and what exactly will be done to fix it. If you remember, please send some positive energy my way tomorrow. I probably won't be able to post an update until I'm able to walk around like the rest of my fellow bipeds (Friday or Saturday).

Press on.