Heart-Stent Medicine
Now that I have a heart stent, I will have to take medicine for the rest of my life and will also have to visit a cardiologist for the rest of my life, almost like a car needing a tune-up, the doctor will have to see how your hardware is holding up.
https://www.cardiovascular.abbott/us/en/hcp/products/percutaneous-coronary-intervention/xience-sierra-coronary-stent-system.html
In the week following a percutaneous coronary intervention, having a stent placed into the Left Descending Coronary artery of my heart, I visited the doctor for a follow-up appointment. The visit included a blood and urine analysis, so I didn't take the medicine for that morning, since I am used to fasting, consuming only water before any kind of blood or urine test. When I told my doctor that I did that, he bounced out of his chair, "You have to take your medicine!" He thought that I was under the impression that medicine was too much hassle and decided not to take it. I kind of reassured him that it was a misunderstanding about the blood and urine test. He conceded but said, "It's important that you take your medicine...", a bit pouty, but OK.
The reason it is so important that you take your medicine is that your body is designed to close up damage to any part of your body with platelets, little cells in your body that clot your blood. Normally, this is a fantastic aspect of your body, so when you are internally ruptured or have a cut on your skin, it stops bleeding and begins to repair itself, pretty incredible when you think about it. Your body doesn't know from a stent and wants to build clots there, but that will block the artery again, and that would be bad. In response to that, the doctor will prescribe you a bunch of medicine. Asprin was originally created for this purpose. That is taken in conjunction with another blood thinner, in my case, brilinta. There is a lot of information on the internet about all of the medicines, but I recommend a second-party site for most drugs you are taking since the pages that the companies provide are more from a marketing standpoint. You will probably also be prescribed a cholesterol drug, and perhaps a blood-pressure drug as well.
With the importance of taking the meds, I was having problems, since I have never taken any medicine on a regular basis, so I kept forgetting. There are pillboxes that are labeled so you can easily keep track of what you have taken. I also set an alarm on my phone to remind me. Since medicine in Korea is sorted for you, I ended up with a kind of calendar that was originally intended for budgeting cash.
This system seems to be working. I also carry a pillbox that has a few days of medicine in case I end up out longer than intended, or if I am out and realize that I have forgotten a dose.
This three-tier system of pill-calendar, pillbox, and alarm works well. If you do miss a dose unless it is time for your next dose, always take the medicine, later is better than never. Also, do not double the dose hoping to eliminate the missed dose, it doesn't work that way.
https://www.cardiovascular.abbott/us/en/hcp/products/percutaneous-coronary-intervention/xience-sierra-coronary-stent-system.html
In the week following a percutaneous coronary intervention, having a stent placed into the Left Descending Coronary artery of my heart, I visited the doctor for a follow-up appointment. The visit included a blood and urine analysis, so I didn't take the medicine for that morning, since I am used to fasting, consuming only water before any kind of blood or urine test. When I told my doctor that I did that, he bounced out of his chair, "You have to take your medicine!" He thought that I was under the impression that medicine was too much hassle and decided not to take it. I kind of reassured him that it was a misunderstanding about the blood and urine test. He conceded but said, "It's important that you take your medicine...", a bit pouty, but OK.
The reason it is so important that you take your medicine is that your body is designed to close up damage to any part of your body with platelets, little cells in your body that clot your blood. Normally, this is a fantastic aspect of your body, so when you are internally ruptured or have a cut on your skin, it stops bleeding and begins to repair itself, pretty incredible when you think about it. Your body doesn't know from a stent and wants to build clots there, but that will block the artery again, and that would be bad. In response to that, the doctor will prescribe you a bunch of medicine. Asprin was originally created for this purpose. That is taken in conjunction with another blood thinner, in my case, brilinta. There is a lot of information on the internet about all of the medicines, but I recommend a second-party site for most drugs you are taking since the pages that the companies provide are more from a marketing standpoint. You will probably also be prescribed a cholesterol drug, and perhaps a blood-pressure drug as well.
With the importance of taking the meds, I was having problems, since I have never taken any medicine on a regular basis, so I kept forgetting. There are pillboxes that are labeled so you can easily keep track of what you have taken. I also set an alarm on my phone to remind me. Since medicine in Korea is sorted for you, I ended up with a kind of calendar that was originally intended for budgeting cash.
This system seems to be working. I also carry a pillbox that has a few days of medicine in case I end up out longer than intended, or if I am out and realize that I have forgotten a dose.
This three-tier system of pill-calendar, pillbox, and alarm works well. If you do miss a dose unless it is time for your next dose, always take the medicine, later is better than never. Also, do not double the dose hoping to eliminate the missed dose, it doesn't work that way.
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