HEART ATTACK WHILE ON A HOLIDAY IN HONGKONG
On Sunday October 24, 2010 4:59 AM
To have a heart attack while in a foreign country can be really tricky.Read the story of my friend , Mr.P.S.Sharma(written as a letter to me) who had a massive heart attack while in Hongkong and how he survived it.The editorial board invites readers to send interesting life experiences related to their health .
written by Mr.P.S. Sharma
Dear Dr. sajy
Your recently launched ‘drheart.in’ website has come out to be an excellent and useful site explaining in layman’s language the nuances of the heart and heart diseases. I am sure, various articles and updates on the site will increase the awareness and eventually will contribute to reducing heart diseases.
As you are aware,in June 2009 ,while I was with my children, Sumi and Anand in Honkong , I was taken for a check up in the Adventis Hospital there after a complaint of a continuous low abdomen discomfort—-no pain, no breathlessness,no sweating–,to my shock I was diagnosed with a massive heart attack! . In no time I was moved to CCU there, within a couple of minutes, in the wee hours of the morning, the chief cardiologist rushed to take charge of me and moved me to Cath Lab. An emergency angiogram on me revealed severe ‘triple-vessel’ disease -MI on LAD, and after discussions, doctors decided on medicated angioplasty on all three vessels including the affected -LAD . Primary angioplasty- medicated stenting with target vessel revascularization , followed by revascularization of the remaining arteries were done successfully within a period of 4 days . Here I would like to add that I am a strict vegetarian and teetotaller , all basic parameters or numbers of mine like BP, cholesterol and sugar levels were normal, and I have been regularly monitoring these thru’ annual executive check-ups!- this aberration has become a topic of debate among my relatives, friends and myself!
Within a week I was discharged from the hospital and later returned to Kochi, my base . Although the PAMI and other procedures were done in Hongkong, I still needed good care , cardio-rehabilitation, consultation and medication in Kochi which were done under your expert supervision that definitely helped me resume my earlier routine and day-to day activities soon, even at my age of 70 plus! .I am grateful to God , Dr.Peter King in HKG and you who helped me come out of this great crisis I faced last year.
As a PAMI done patient ,I therefore completely agree with the article on your website about ‘ Medicated angioplasty -PAMI ,a life saving emergency procedure in a patient with an on- going heart attack .
I wish to add here, although I had taken a medical policy covering for US $ 100,000 before my departure from a famous Mumbai -all india Insurance Co ,they settled and reimbursed only 27% of my claims against my actual medical expenses paid in honkong , leaving a large amount of 73% paid out of our pocket,which was unaffordable!- While taking a travel policy ,watch for the Insurance company’s hidden clauses,unreadable copies attached to the policies which will put you on the road in case of an emergency hospitalisation in a foreign country! Thank God ! my children were there to help me !. My advice will therefore be,always read and understand the policy documents , ask for readable copies of their condition/exceptions /age limits and also obtain in writing , the required clarifications before your departure from India . Don’t hurry up signing the documents .Their main objective here is, not to reimburse if they can or find a loophole for not paying you the actual expenses.!
Once again I heartily congratulate you for the effort and time you have taken to compile this useful Cardio site for the general public and people like me in particular .It will go a long way in the history Cardio chapter.
Dr P S Sarma (PhD)
