My Final Entry

It was June 26, 2012. I had spent more than the last eight years attentively taking several different medications to keep my blood pressure low and the blood flowing through coronary arteries. I had successfully avoided a quintuple coronary-artery-bypass-graft (CABG) since 2004. My angina incidents were usually one or two every month or so.

But on the afternoon of June 26, 2012 I experienced something far more life threatening than an angina attack. I had a full blown heart attack. I knew it was serious because my father, who passed away when I was 16, was sitting right next to me.
 or two
"Don't panic, Jeff. You are having a heart attack but you aren't dying," he said calmly.

"Tell Lori to stay calm and call 9-1-1," he then said.

The Chesterfield Fire Department ambulance transported me to Community Hospital where my ardiologist was also heading towards. I had always told Dr. Lee that I would not have a bypass. She told the emergency room to give me a loading dose of Plavix and aspirin. By the time she arrived, I had been dosed with these anticoagulants.

Dr. Lee asked what I wanted to do. She always allowed me to be in charge of my treatment plan.

"My father said take the surgery," I told her as she looked at me quizzially.

Three days later, when my coagulation time was long enough, I had a four vessel CABG. That was one year and a little over one month ago. My recovery was without any incidents and by October, Lori and I were living in New Mexico.

I still have the rare bout of angina, but it lasts less than a minute or two. I am as active as I want to be.

I am extremely happy with  the way things have turned out and would not change any of the decisions that got me where I am today.

Still Ticking

I know its been two years since my last post. Time flies when you are having fun. I've been taking my medication since 2004 and rarely experience angina. In the past year, my current cardiologist has tried to convince me to get the quintuple coronary artery bypass graft that I was originally told I needed back in 2004 when I took the advice of my second opinion cardiologist and began a medication protocol to control hypertension and assist my body in developing a better microcirculation and more efficient collateral vessels. It's been working.

Every time I see my cardiologist, my ECG and echocardiogram have shown my heart is normal. It would not be if the collateral vessels and microcirculation were not supplying the heart with adequate oxygen. In December I relented to my cardiologist's insistence that I have an angiogram which showed the blockages to my coronary arteries were essentially the same as they were in 2004. She still wanted me to have a five vessel CABG despite having a normal heart.

I told her that if a second opinion from a noninterventional cardiologist decided I needed a CABG, I would get one. Two months ago, I went to Indiana Heart Hospital for that second opinion. The cardiologist had all of my records and gave me a pretty thorough exam. He told me if I could do seven minutes of a cardiac stress test, he would agree with me that my medication regimen is providing adequate treatment of my coronary artery disease.

My current cardiologist gave me a stress test two years ago and I only lasted a little over five minutes at that time. Now my second opinion cardiologist wanted me to do two whole minutes more. Was I up for the challenge?

Tuesday was the big day. To make a long story short, I lasted seven minutes and 31 seconds and only experienced a slight amount of chest tightness at the end of the test that was gone within two minutes of the end of the test. The results were normal. My stress ECG showed no changes from my baseline ECG. The post stress left ventricle was normal in size. There was a normal pattern of perfusion in all myocardial regions. Resting images showed a normal perfusion pattern. Analysis of post exercise quantitative gated SPECT images showed a normal pattern of systolic thickening and normal wall motion in all regions. The post stress ejection fraction was measured at 63%, which is NORMAL.

Finally, my cardiologist's impression of the cardiac stress test: No scar. No ischemia. Normal LV systolic function. The post stress ejection fraction is 63%. NORMAL MYOCARDIAL PERFUSION STUDY.

I was told in 2004 that I would probably have a massive stroke or deadly heart attack within three months if I didn't have a quintuple coronary artery bypass graft. I opted to be treated with medication and now eight years later, I am still ticking.

Dr. Howard H. Wayne, a noninterventional cardiologist, said 95% of all CABGs are unnecessary. I hope that if you or a loved one have been told you need this very traumatic surgery, you will get a second opinion from a noninterventional cardiologist. It could save your life, or at the very least give you years of a higher quality of life than you would have if you had the surgery.

If you would like to discuss my blog or anything about the choices I have made regarding CABG surgery, email me at wordworks2001@yahoo.com.

Energy

Energy. It changes form but never dies or disappears. All things, organic and inorganic share one thing in common. They are made up of energy, energy that is always present in the universe.

Of late, I have begun experiencing the energy within me. I can actually tune into the electrical changes that occur in my body and through meditation and study have learned this energy has always existed and will always exist in one or more of the many dimensions or planes in which it comes to be.

Do you realize the significance of this fact? We never die. More to be revealed later.

Update

In September I began having palpitations, usually in the evening. I was fitted with a halter monitor which I wore for 48 hours. No abnormalities were observed. I began course of 35 session of ECP and have 10 more to go. The palpitations continue and are accompanied frequently by PVCs. Two nights ago, I had a bout of midsternal chest pain, probably angina. My BP was about 140-150/80-90 at the time. There was some mild sweating. This lasted about half an hour. Th next night, while taking my BP with a digital cuff that beeps when the heart beats, I had a 5 second runof pretty fast taachycardia. The pulse had been reading in the mid 70s before this event and was reorded at 111 after the tachycardia. There were abolutely no symptoms at this time.

I havean appointment with my cardiologist on October 14. I will keep those interested posted.

Belated Update

It's been several months since I last posted here. I guess that's a sign that all is going well. It was, at least with my coronary artery disease and angina.

However, about two weeks ago I began having some strange sensations in my chest during the evening while I am simply relaxing or reading a book. These feelings are not pain, they aren't even discomfort. It's like the feeling a teenage boy gets when he falls in love for the first time and I haven't even dated lately.

I noticed my BP, which usually is around 90/50 during this hour was in the 140's over 80's and my pulse thast is usually in the high 50's or low 60's was in the 70's to low 80s. For some, my BP medications have stopped working as well as they had before.

So, I am going to see a cardiologist later this morning. I will let you know how it turns out.

A Letter to the Editor

Six years ago, I urged Bill Clinton to get a second opinion instead of blindly opting for a quadruple coronary artery bypass. A few months before his surgery, I had been told by an Indianapolis cardiologist that if I did not undergo a quintuple bypass, I would probably have a massive heart attack or stroke within a few months. I opted for treatment from Howard Wayne, MD, FACC, FACP, of San Diego. Now, six years later, I am doing great and Bill Clinton has had to have two stents placed in a coronary artery.

Most patients who undergo coronary artery bypass surgery undergo the placement of stents or even another bypass five or six years later. In April, it will be six years that I began treatment with medication for my coronary artery disease and angina.

Dr. Wayne is gone now, but his web site is still up and as valid as ever. Check it out: http://www.heartprotect.com/

Routine exams result in under diagnosis and under treatment. The stethescope and EKG will detect heart disease in 10-20 percent of future victims. The stress EKG will detect 10-15 percent more. Not until the heart disease is far advanced and often too late to treat will these tests become abnormal.

Invasive tests (angiograms) result in over diagnosis and unnecessary surgeries. Angiograms cannot image the small arteries that make up the heart's microcirculation. A coronary artery may appear to be obstructed, but the muscle it goes to often functions normally and is in no danger because the blood supply comes from microcirculation.

Noninvasive tests involve placing radioactive detectors, sonar devices, electronic sensors, pulse transducers and microphones on the chest. No catheters, tubes or needles enter or "invade" the body.

These noninvasive tests image and permanently record:
localized abnormalities of motion and heart muscle due to obstructive coronary artery disease.
flow of blood in heart muscle.
thickness of heart's muscular walls.
dimensions of the heart's chambers.
structure and motion of its valves.
obstruction or leakage of valves.
heart murmurs: their origin and the vloume, velocity and pattern of blood flow through each valve.
duration of each phase of the cardiac cycle.
normal and abnormal heart sounds.
systolic and diastolic heart function.
fraction of blood ejected each beat.
Noninvasive tess are extremely sensitive in the early detection of heart disease. Heart disease, if present, will be found with resting tests in 85-90 percent of patients, even in those without symptoms. Exercise tests with noninvasive studies will identify almost all of the remainder.



Once heart disease is found, surgery is usually not needed, despite what an invasive cardiologist might say. Predisposing conditions, once identified, can be treated and eliminated, without surgery.



Drugs which reduce the workload of the heart, protect it, and improve its blood supply and function then can be given. The same noninvasive tests used for early diagnosis may be used to monitor the patient's progress. These can be compared with previous tests in order to optimize treatment and to detect and treat adverse changes even before symptoms appear.



If you find this too hard to believe, check out my blog. I started it in 2004, when I began Dr. Wayne's treatment. I am living proof that even when your cardiologist tells you you need immediate quintuple coronary artery bypass surgery, it ain't necessarily so.



My blog is at http://wordworks2001.blogspot.com

I told him so!

Six years ago, I urged Bill Clinton to get a second opinion instead of blindly opting for a quadruple coronary artery bypass. A few months earlier, I had been told by an Indianapolis cardiologist that if I did not undergo a quintuple bypass, I would probably have a massive heart attack or stroke within a few months. I opted for treatment from Howard Wayne, MD, FACC, FACP, of San Diego. Now, six years later, I am doing great and Bill Clinton has had to have two stents placed in his coronary arteries.

Dr. Wayne is gone now, but his web site is still up and as valid as ever. Check it out: http://www.heartprotect.com/