Stent gone Bad!

[crulla]

Hello,
I am new to this health board but thought I would give it a try. I have had a stent placement in my right subclavian vein for maybe 2 years now, It seems to start to restenose every 6 months just like clockwork, then I set up a venogram with my dr. and he goes in, balloons it, and within a couple days I am good to go. i had this done a little over a week ago, but this time didn't recover, pain became worse chest pain, trouble breathing, arm pain, went to ER they checked for a PE but none was found. I called the DR. who did the angio back and he said he'd schedule another and go back in.
I had it done again 3 days ago, he found that the stent had a few bits that had broken off and one side was narrowing, he ballooned it once again and then placed another stent a little larger than the first into the original one. His hope is this larger stent will last maybe a year before it needs to be opened again.
I still after 3 days continue to have pain which scares me once again, I'm so tired and have shortness of breath chest pain, arm pain, all the same like before. I didn't think to even ask him what happened to the little pieces that broke off the stent, I wonder if maybe are they floating around causing problems elsewhere?? Does anyone have any advice for me or have you heard of this happening to a stent before and know where the pieces go??

[feelbad]

quite frankly,i was wondering the very same thing.they had to go somewhere.i am assuming you are on some sort of actual blood thinner?plavix or coumadin would be the most likely ones?my mom has a stent in the exact same place you do and she really hasn't had too many issues with it.hers is being monitored by the wonderful interventional rads up at the u of Mn here in MN.who are you seeing for this?how much real experience does this doc have with stents?i don't blame you for being a bit concerned about the fragments that "broke off'.they really need to be located before they block some very important areas within your arterial system.seriously,i would place a call this morning to that doc and ask him that very question,where did they go and what are my risks?i see you live in WI,depending on just where,it may be worth your while to travel to the U of MN and see the docs in the interventional rad dept.these docs have been so amazing for my mom,and my son,who went thru liver failure and ended up neeeding tons of IR procedures that were done by this amazing team of rads.she has had very good follow up and care there.just some thoughts for you.you really DO need to speak with that doc asap and ask him just exactly what you asked here.he is the only one right now who can really help you with this.the fact that you are still symptomatic needs looking into.my mom never went thru what you are experiencing.while this could be considered somewhat 'normal' for your particular condition,it really does need more deeper looking into.you shouldn't still be feeling this way at this point ya know?i wish you luck.please keep me posted on how things are going,K?just in case you want the name of the head of the interventional rad dept at the U of Mn,it was the last i heard,still Dr Hunter.really great doc who did lots of procedures on my son and helped my mom.take care. FB

[crulla]

Hi,
Thanks for replying to my post. Actually when all of these problems started with my blood clot I did end up at the Uof M, and did have Dr. Hunter also, small world huh? Well both sides right and left of my subclavian veins have been replaced with vein grafts from my legs. The left side has held out great for ,maybe 3 yrs or so, the right side hasn't. The new grafted vein collapsed after a couple yrs. Went back to the Uof M they had to get a stent into the vein, but after 4 tries, said they couldn't do it and sent me home!! I refused to live that way, my right arm useless and so very painful all the time, blood would get into the arm, but couldn't get out, so swollen and terribly achy. I had to get a 2nd opinion so who better to go to but the Mayo Clinic. It took a little while had to go through a battery of tests to rule out anything else but the Dr's there that I had are my angels!! Dr. McBane( coronary heart dr.) and Dr. McBride( Interventional radiologist) have been so great!! McBride after speaking to me and telling him I couldn't even brush my teeth because of my arm said, "Well we can't have that, I will go in and no matter what will place that stent" Well he did, in August of 05. It took him hours to do it but eventually did get the stent placed!! Hooray to him. Everything returned to normal once again, back to work, doing everything normally. Well since then, just like clockwork, every 6 months I have restenosis of the stent and have to go back and have it ballooned once again, I have had it done about 3 times bringing me to the present with the last time on the 25th of July and then having to return a week later because of the pieces breaking off from the stent. When he went in and found the stent had partially collapsed and broke off he ballooned it and inserted a new larger stent inside the one that was already there. He feels I may be able to go a year between procedures now, that is my goal but as of today still have symptoms!! I spoke to him yesterday, 3 days post procedure, told him of my symptoms, he said how sorry he was I wasn't feeling well, ( he has such a great caring way about him) but he feels that maybe because we have gone into that area 2 times and did extensive stretching of the vein, that it may be inflammation causing so many of the symptoms. He would like to refrain from going in again if at all possible because it is adding insult to injury. He wants me to try Ibuprofen, 600mg 3x daily for a couple days to see if I get relief. I am on Warfarin and will need to monitor my INR but I need to give it a shot. Stupid as I was I failed to ask him where those little pieces ended up going but will ask him when we speak on Thursday. I feel I am getting the best care I can at Mayo and need to put my trust in the Dr's there, I just hope and pray this will finally work and I can get back to normal, (whatever that may be )
Thanks again for your reply, hope to hear from you again!!

Originally Posted by feelbad

quite frankly,i was wondering the very same thing.they had to go somewhere.i am assuming you are on some sort of actual blood thinner?plavix or coumadin would be the most likely ones?my mom has a stent in the exact same place you do and she really hasn't had too many issues with it.hers is being monitored by the wonderful interventional rads up at the u of Mn here in MN.who are you seeing for this?how much real experience does this doc have with stents?i don't blame you for being a bit concerned about the fragments that "broke off'.they really need to be located before they block some very important areas within your arterial system.seriously,i would place a call this morning to that doc and ask him that very question,where did they go and what are my risks?i see you live in WI,depending on just where,it may be worth your while to travel to the U of MN and see the docs in the interventional rad dept.these docs have been so amazing for my mom,and my son,who went thru liver failure and ended up neeeding tons of IR procedures that were done by this amazing team of rads.she has had very good follow up and care there.just some thoughts for you.you really DO need to speak with that doc asap and ask him just exactly what you asked here.he is the only one right now who can really help you with this.the fact that you are still symptomatic needs looking into.my mom never went thru what you are experiencing.while this could be considered somewhat 'normal' for your particular condition,it really does need more deeper looking into.you shouldn't still be feeling this way at this point ya know?i wish you luck.please keep me posted on how things are going,K?just in case you want the name of the head of the interventional rad dept at the U of Mn,it was the last i heard,still Dr Hunter.really great doc who did lots of procedures on my son and helped my mom.take care. FB

[feelbad]

wow it certainly IS a very small world.you did have one of the tops in the field tho working on you,just so you know.but it sounds like you have a great team at the mayo.isn't it great that just because of where we happen to live we have two really great health care places to choose from when things really hit the fan?unfortunetly not everyone is that lucky.i too was starting to wonder about all the many many times that stented area has been balloned and pushed around in there that inflammation/destruction of the interior tissue as well may just be the biggest problem for you right now.it can create alot of problems just in and of itself.have they ever mentioned to you about possibly doing some sort of grafting there?i don't remeber the actual name of the procedure but when there is an area like you have going on that just keeps needing more and more attention,they can actually take out that area and graft in a brand new piece of vessel to replace it.i am sure this would be done only as a last resort type thing but it is an option.i know they do do this type of procedure for certain patients.just a thought for you.i just think that eventually,all that constant wear and tear might start taking its toll ya know?i am sure you have already been thinking about that.you DO definitely need to call that doc up and just ask him where the heck those little pieces went to that broke off.its just not a good thing at all to have broken off anything roaming around thru out your body.hopefully they have been dissolved with the blood thinners.i wish you lots of luck with this and hope they can come up with a plan that will keep you from having to repeatedly have this cleared out.it does sound like you are in some really great hands tho,and that in itself is huge.please keep me posted on how you are doing,K? FB