Any surgery or procedure has risks. I don't know what the stats are but losing a leg, etc. is probably equivalent to getting struck by lightning or you have more of a chance getting killed in a car crash on your way to the procedure. If you want to fuel your anxiety start doing google searches on anything medical. I try to listen to my doctor but I take everything with a grain/pound of salt.
Before I got my stent put in, I had read that stents weren't necessarily effective unless the artery was nearly completely blocked and could be worse for you than just treating the condition with medicines. And of course the medicines will kill you... hahaha.... For me getting the stent was more anxiety producing than anything else. I was awake through the entire thing and it wasn't really a big deal... although I was nervous about it.
So with that said, here's my sob story... I had a heart attack and then another the next day... then got a stent... the stent required drugs to keep the stent open for at least 6 months... I had internal bleeding... the mandatory medicine I had to take to keep the stent open was a blood thinner... I couldn't get blood as fast as I lost it.... another heart attack and a trip to the ICU... then a few days later it happened again, somehow worse.... ICU again.... I lost 70 pounds... not that I was overweight... I lost a lot of muscle mass... Fed with a tube in my arm... Awful.
Turns out that I had inflammation that was probably causing my arteries to narrow and I probably didn't need a stent. And if so, I wouldn't have needed the stent drugs and would not have been in the ICU twice or the hospital for months. But the drugs they gave me for inflammation gave me Lupus... and hopefully that is the only side effect I will get from that drug. There are risks. Do they outweigh the problem?
So the getting the stent itself is not a big deal, IMO. My Mom had one for 25 years and had no bearing on her death. I don't think my stent will be cause or prevent my death... I think if its possible, see the best cardiologist you can and for peace of mind just follow their advice. Getting older sucks but at this point its preferable to the alternative.
