Topic: Surgery Cancelled!

[wendyjo]

And no it's not cause I chickened out     I found out Monday evening that they have to use little titanium clips on some of the arterial grafts - where they attach the new arteries to the old ones - as some arteries are too small to use regular sutures. Not wanting metal in my heart because of my allergy is the sole reason I was going go have bypass instead of stents. The doc thinks the chances of an allergic reaction to titanium are small, but it can happen. And once they are in there they can't be removed.

I am so bummed. To get all prepared and psyched for this surgery and now to have to cancel. But my gut is telling me not to do it.  I'm pretty upset too cause the surgeon knew my concerns, and we had talked about the wire they use to hold the breastbone together while it healed but he never ever mentioned these clips before.  If I had been in his office on Monday when I found out about this I think that, bad heart or not, DH would've had to hold me back from trying to beat the guy down.

The best I can do is to get one of the clips, which DH is picking up this morning, and have it taped to my body for a few days to see if there's a reaction.  It's not ideal because you can develop a reaction at any time in your life, so I could be fine for 5 years and then suddenly it's a problem - especially if there is nickle in alloy.  But the surgeon, at least this one, made it clear that he won't do the procedure if he can't use the clips.  So my "allergy test" should be over on Monday and I'll know more then.  This sucks because the bottom line for me is that I don't want ANY metal in my body that can't be removed later if needed.

[LittlePuff]

Did they decide you could do something else to fix it?

[wendyjo]

Nope - just tons of meds which is what I've been doing.

[Mollielover]

I have metal allergies too, but I would feel safe going with the titanium.  This is just me and what I would do but if I had to have a triple bi pass, I'd risk the chance.  But like I said thats just me. Do what you think is best.  have you researched the chances of any allergy?

[wendyjo]

The problem is that a person can indeed be allergic to titanium, and also that the titanium is not pure - it's going to have some other metals mixed with it.

Inflamation, irritation, eventual infection are all things that happen to my skin from metal.  I don't want that happening in my coronary arteries.  An inflamed artery isn't much better than a clogged one.  So at the very least I need to be tested for the titanium.

The part that makes me mad is no one telling me these little clips were even used until 3 days before surgery.  I was looking forward to having this over with and if I had known in advance I would have done this testing and research weeks ago instead of sitting around on my butt thinking everything was fine. 

[EowynJane]

That sucks WJ!  How's the allergy test going so far?

[wendyjo]

I don't start till tomorrow - the doc tapes the sample to me then I go back and have it  checked on Monday.

[RinsMom]

Just curious.... does it matter what type of skin he tapes it to?  For example, broken skin might be more susceptible (like you would see in a surgical wound),  or, more sensitive/less calloused skin might be more likely to react.

This is so frustrating for you, I'm sure......  a person doesn't know WHEN they will develop an allergy.... it frequently happens after repeated exposure to the irritant.

[Aiptasia]

You can develop an allergy to anything over time. This is pretty serious stuff Wendyjo. I would definitely consider going ahead with the bypass surgery or at least having angioplasty and stints put in place. Good luck with the skin test with the titanium. It's usually pretty safe and allergen-free.

[wendyjo]

Stents are worse and they all contain nickel - there is actually a warning on the packing of all stents that they contain nickel and should not be used in people with nickel allergies.  The reason I was supposed to have bypass instead of the stents was cause of the metal.

Rinsmom - I do believe that the reaction is worse depending on where the metal is located, but I'm going to talk my to the allergist more about this.  I've was told by a nurse at my pre op testing that the allergy is worse where there is more blood flow.  For example if I put a wire cuff around my wrist I'll react first on the underside where the veins are.  On my neck I break out first by the coratid ateries.  But the allergist should know more.