This past Tuesday I had my six month follow up angiogram to check my Pipeline Stent. The good news is my aneurysm has shrunk and I am off of Plavix. For some reason I was very anxious about the angiogram. I think it was a combination of knowing that I would be awake during the angiogram, wanting this whole aneurysm nightmare to be a thing of the past, and all of life's stresses catching up with me.
A week before the angiogram I talked to the nurse at my neurosurgeon's office about a Rx. to help me stay calm. She told me that if I needed it, they would give me something at the hospital the day of the procedure. I was scheduled for an 8 am angiogram, but did not go in until 1pm. In that time I spoke to the nurse on duty and one of the surgeons who spoke to me before the procedure about feeling anxious. They both told me the same answer, that I would be given something in the O.R., if I needed it.
They began without ever offering anything. I was clearly a little upset, and once they started I got very upset. On top of that, the other surgeon who came to speak to me before the procedure was the one doing the angiogram, not my surgeon! I asked if my surgeon was there, and he said yes, but I could not see him. I felt helpless, vulnerable, and freaked out by the whole experience.
I had suspicion after my surgery that this other surgeon may have done the surgery. I have not asked yet, but I will. I chose my surgeon based on my research and his track record. I don't even know the name of this other man. Shouldn't they have talked to me and asked my permission to have someone other than my surgeon do anything to me?