Twenty Eight Months Ain't Bad

I refused to have a quintuple cornary artery bypass graft almost 29 months ago and opted to have my angina, hypertension and coronary artery disease treated medically by a noninvasive cardiologist in San Diego. For nearly 28 months I was free of all angina pain. This after being told I was a walking time bomb and would no doubt have a heart attack within three months without surgery by an interventional cardiologist in Indianapolis. Well my medication has allowed me to live well almost ten times longer than the scapel happy doc in Hoosier Land.

A month or so ago, I noticed my blood pressure was beginning to stay about ten points higher than the 90/50 my medication had been keeping it at rest. Then, I had a minor bout of angina while rushing through Charles de Gaulle Airport near Paris. It went away as quickly as it started after I sat down for a few minutes. Since then, I have increased my metapropolol slightly, taking 100mg in the morning, 50mg mid day and 100mg at night. I just started the increased dosage a couple of weeks ago and, to tell the truth, have not been as faithful in taking my medications on time as I should have been.

This morning, I took my cardiac meds at about 8:30 AM. At 1:00 PM, I climbed some stairs and began walking around the deck of the oil rig I work on. The angina started pretty soon after I began my walk and started subsiding when I returned to my office. My blood pressure cuff is in my cabin and I don't want to wake my cabin mate, so I'll forgo measuring it until this evening. Yesterday evening it read 86/51. I just took half a 100mg Metapropolol about 1:20 PM. It is now 2:00 PM and I am back to normal.

I have made an appointment to see a noninvasive cardiologist in Chicago on January 9, 2007. Until then, I'll continue to monitor my BP and titrate my medications to control any further angina attacks. I think I'll record events related to the return of my unstable angina here on the blog, so you will probably see a lot more activity here for a couple of months.

I still am sold on the idea that medication regimens should preclude angioplasty and CABG, which should be a last resort. I know I made the right decision to opt for the medical treatment instead of the surgical. If I had my chest cracked open in June 2004, I never would have been able to land this very lucrative job I have.

I am convinced I will get through this resurgence of angina and stave off the scapel for at least the forseeable future. More tomorrow.