Memoirs of Akbar Hashemi - December 10, 2000 - Hashemi's Account of His Angiography at the Hospital in the Presence of His Trusted Physicians

Hashemi's Account of His Angiography at the Hospital in the Presence of His Trusted Physicians

Full Entry of the Day:

We traveled to Karaj for iftar during the journey, returning without stopping and heading straight to Shahid Rajai Heart Hospital. The doctors were present. Blood was drawn, and I was taken on a stretcher to the operating room. During the transfer, a sheet was placed over my face to prevent the onlookers from recognizing me. Everything was ready for the angiography. The main procedure was performed by Dr. Majid Maleki, assisted by Dr. Seyfollah Abdi, Dr. Ahmad Milani-Nia, Dr. Seyyed Mahmoud Tabatabai, Dr. Bagher Larijani, and Dr. Iraj Nazari. My family members, including Iffat, Fati, and Mehdi, as well as some of the security guards, were also present. I was not anesthetized, and I could see the process on a television screen.

The catheter was inserted through the upper thigh artery, and they needed to puncture a bit to locate the appropriate artery, which caused a slight stinging sensation. The catheter was guided up to the aorta at the top of the heart, and a contrast dye was injected through the hollow catheter, which had several holes near its tip, to make the blood flowing from that point visible. I could see the movement and flow of blood myself. The entire heart was found to have open and healthy arteries, with no blockages present. When the contrast dye was injected, I felt a bit warm. They performed the same procedure with my lungs, and the whole process took about half an hour. Dr. Iraj Nazari, who is an esteemed professor, and the doctors, nurses, and technicians expressed their joy. Dr. Fereydoun Noohi remarked that having a heart in such good health and strength at my age is rare and similar to that of young people. We returned to the recovery room in that condition. The site of the incision was bandaged and required care to prevent bleeding and to facilitate the flushing of the contrast materials with fluids. An IV was connected for fluid infusion. Throughout the afternoon, I urinated several times, and the nurses noted that patients typically have difficulty urinating under these conditions, which I did not experience.

We were ready to go home. The doctors recommended that I stay overnight. They connected devices to monitor my blood pressure, pulse, and ECG. They monitored my condition there, and I could see that everything was normal. Fa’ezeh, Mohsen, Yasser, and the children also came and stayed until late at night. Mehdi, Iffat, and Fati remained overnight, bringing food from home. We did not inform relatives to avoid rumors.

In the evening, Dr. Majid Maleki and Dr. Fereydoun Noohi came to provide further explanations. I mentioned that they brought several examples of films of healthy and diseased hearts and showed my angiography film, which my family also viewed. Overall, it reflects significant advancements in modern medical science, and they believe that good practices are being implemented in Iran, attributing their successes to the support received during the reconstruction period. They mentioned that each doctor at this hospital performs numerous angiographies daily, with costs of around 800,000 tomans per patient. In the evening, I got off the bed to use the restroom, and Iffat assisted me. I slept comfortably that night. I performed my noon, afternoon, evening, and night prayers on the bed using tayammum.

Ultimately, my main concern is why the doctors, despite numerous tests including exercise and thallium tests, x-rays, and MRI observations, were unable to determine the health of my heart, and I did not see any signs of a problem myself. I expressed this to them, and they responded that there are many individuals who do not feel heart issues but still have problems!