We Unclogged His Artery: Day in the Life of a Doctor Treating A Heart Attack

i’ve been watching you for years and you have inspired me as a 15 year old to become a nurse/doctor when older

My mum had a massive heart attack last month. She had the “widowmaker”. 90% LAD blockage. She was so sick. Happened so fast too. She’s an ex nurse/Paramedic so she knew what was happening. She was in the Cath Lab within the 90 minute window. I’m so grateful to her cardiologist. He was amazing!

I survived a 100% blockage. It was an emotional experience when I saw my own heart got unblocked on the screen. I didn't know I was so close to death. Thanks to the medical professionals my life was spared and live to tell the story. It will be just a week away for my 1 year "widows maker" anniversary.

You’ve inspired me to become a doctor since I was doing my GCSEs in high school. Now I’m a 4th year medical student. I started a YouTube channel myself to document my life as a medical student with the hopes to be able to inspire the new generation…just like you did for me! Thank you!

I wish more YouTube doctors would mention Takatsubo’s Cardiomyopathy (also known as Broken Heart Syndrome). I had it ten years ago. No plaque or blockages. I have had to explain this myself to many health professionals who have not heard of it. I feel it needs more attention. Thanks!

I am a medical student and your videos really motivates me to study. Studying about coronary arteries during anatomy class is so much more interestng after this video. Also the editing of your videos is amazing!

I’m an ED nurse so I’ve had the patient that gets rushed to cath lab and I’ve see the procedure but it is still so cool to watch and learn all these steps again and especially the part I don’t see, which is what happens when they are admitted. I wasn’t aware of the driving restrictions and the why for them. That’s tough but it all makes sense. So grateful that this hospital allows you to film so much! They truly are helping us all learn more about our health and bodies. ❤

I felt like I had a heart attack a few years back, but it turned out to be heart palpitations brought on by panic disorder. Thankfully it has now been resolved. So amazing to see how a Dr. can insert a catheter in the arm to reach the heart and that the patient is still awake. Thank you for your continued view into the medical world we usually never see.

Very interesting video. My husband had cardiac arrest (was in Vfib) in February. He didn't have a single blockage but had a defibrillator placed. He's a commercial driver as well and it ended his career. Just so happy he is still with us! Was a very scary few days in the ICU waiting for him to wake up!

Yeah, I've been through both scenarios, which I've mentioned here before. I had unstable angina caused by two plaques in the LAD, at 90 and 99%. It built up over time and over several months I started to feel tired and when I sneezed I felt like my chest got struck by lightning. I finally called my PCP and they told me to go to the ER because they would just send me there anyway. The ER kept me for observation based on family history, but everyone thought it was probably nothing because I was young. After a stress echo I had really bad angina and the cardiologist himself came in and gave me nitroglycerin. Later that afternoon they did angioplasty and put in one long stent to cover both blockages. I don't think they used IVUS. Afterwards I felt great and had no problems for 6 1/2 years. Except that they went in through the femoral artery and the seal broke a few hours later, but the nurses came in quick and put pressure on it - after each of the students had had a chance to palpate and learn what a broken seal and internal arterial bleeding felt like - the hematoma stayed with me for months and delayed my rehab. On Halloween 2019 I woke up in the hospital with no idea how I got there. Someone asked me if I could remember my name and I thought "of course I can"... but it felt like it took a while for it to come to me, maybe a minute or so. Long story short, for reasons that are still unclear, a couple days earlier I had developed an in-stent thrombosis (a rare complication not to be confused for a re-stenosis), a fresh clot had suddenly formed on the stent placed 6 1/2 years earlier. Family told me that I had taken my nitroglycerin pills and asked them to call an ambulance, but as soon as I sat on the gurney, I had a seizure and coded. The EMTs rushed me out to the ambulance and strapped a LUCAS device to me. Paramedics drove up from home to assist. The Fire chief drove up to assist. They shocked me and would get a heartbeat briefly, only to lose it again. After about 20-25 minutes and three failed shocks, the Fire Chief told them to take me to the nearest ER and told family I had maybe a 50% chance. The ER got my heart beating again after a total of about 40 minutes of CPR. They put me in a hypothermic coma and I was airlifted to a regional trauma center. They aspirated the clot using catheters and IVUS. On the report, they wrote that the previous stent was "remarkably under-expanded." So, they tried to expand it themselves, but they couldn't get the 2.5 mm stent open far enough. So, they put a 4 mm stent inside it. I asked how they could do that and a later cardiologist said the older stent would have broke. So, now I have broken metal in my heart, kinda like Tony Stark. I spent the next month in a couple hospitals for recovery, rehab, back to hospital for complications, then back to rehab. I had lots of medical and nursing students and a researcher come by to interview me. I told them what I was told, but I have retrograde amnesia and never remembered what happened that night or for a few days before. I'm not sure if I was told I couldn't drive or if I read it somewhere or just worried about it myself. It was a couple months before I felt confident enough to get back behind the wheel and my cardiologist said I was OK to drive. However,I still worry about driving, which is making it difficult to get back to work in a job that might require a lot of time on the road. What's surprising is that I'm even thinking about getting back to work. Most people who experience out of hospital cardiac arrest don't make it. Of those who do, most don't make it very far and die shortly thereafter. And of those who do, many have new disabilities. While my chart said I had hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy, in practice I only have some very mild problems with aphasia, brain fog and memory, although I since have been diagnosed with PTSD. My EF only dropped to 45, and afterwords rose to 50. I'm well enough that it's almost as if it didn't happen. I never would have thought of dying being an "invisible illness," but here we are.

I loved learning more in depth about one case and seeing the diagnosis and treatment process in the cathlab was super interesting! I like knowing what happens to the patients you see and the outcome of your day and learning more in depth about conditions and medical processes

I love how you went deeper with this case! It definitely gives more nuance and it's easier to digest. Hopefully the patient will be able to drive soon! ❤

my dad has had 4 heart attacks and a quintuple bypass and is still living his best life. i know how lucky i am to have him. as a recent MD and a future interventional cardiologist i love that you explained this to others :)

I could never be a doctor or nurse (not for me lol) but I absolutely love watching these videos. Super interesting.

My mom had a heart attack last october that sadly took her life. It was unexpected and sudden, and by the time she got to the hospital she was too far gone. I'm really grateful the cardiology team had tried their best efforts though. It's nice to see the behind the scenes of how doctors approach situations like these. Thank you!

Im a Social Worker on a Cardiology ward and found this very interesting and insightful! Im hoping to get the opportunity to see an angiogram down in our Cath lab one day! Also loved that you spoke on the issue of transport as that's something I often will get referred for, particularly if the patient is elderly and does not have any social supports.

I've been saving all your videos the entire academic year so I can binge watch them during the summer break. You're a real inspiration, thank you so much for everything you do <3

My last nursing placement is on a cardiac ward and I'm schedlued to spend a day in the Cath labs soon. I feel I'll have more idea now, so thanks for sharing. I've actually been watching your videos since I applied for my nursing course during the peak of the pandemic!

As you can see from the comments you are a huge inspiration to many people. Please continue with these videos as you are encouraging many others to go into the medical field. Best of luck to you and your husband.

This is so helpful, Siobhan! I'm an occupational therapist in an acute care setting and I hear all these terms/procedures, especially for angiograms and going to the cath labs, or waiting for a pt to have stress test or cardioversion but I don't know what it acutally entails! I loved getting an insight into our pts who are on the "step-down" unit from ICU or even in the ICU! Thank you! Please keep teaching medicine, and would love to hear from your perspective what are mobility restrictions after many of these procedures? I am told we are to wait 4 hours after a cardiac cath, an hour after chest tubes are pulled, etc.