Hello all.
I'm a daily logger onto this website, infrequent poster.
Jim, username mjames1, from USA, we haven't heard from you for a month or so. I always find your comments to be informative and well balanced.
Are you OK Jim?
Please let us know if you are all good.
Regards
Blake (NZ)
He has replied to a post this week, maybe it was yesterday.Jean
Hi Blake,
Thanks for the nice words and concern.
Recently needed six stents for blocked coronary arteries, so a little less time here and more time on other heart forums, both at HealthUnlocked and elsewhere.
My recovery is going well and getting close to where I was before the whole thing's started.
Jim
Wishing you well Jim. This forum needs you so look after yourself 😉😊
Wishing you a speedy and successful recovery Jim.
Best wishes for a speedy recovery. I’m sure you’ve replied to me a few times.
Where’s Jim?
I had the same thought yesterday and a click on your profile then Posts or Replies showed you had been around on BHF and replied to a few here so thought no more of it.
Take it easy Jim and best wishes
I too wondered where you were. Thank goodness you are ok and in recovery. Wishing you well Jim and while l am here, thank you for your vast knowledge and helping many on here. Take it slow with lots of TLC.
Hope you do well.I had 2 stents for CAD 22years a go still doing well,will be 85yrs later this year,had AF since about55yrs old been permanent AF since2017,doing fine with that also.
. Good to hear, great encouragement thank you.
Good to hear you are taking it steady, I know, never assume, but glad you are making good progress.
Wishing you a speedy recovery!
Glad to hear all is well with you and that you are the road to recovery
The great things about these types of forums is the collective knowledge built up by individuals from all corners of the globe.
I find it an excellent source of information and encouragement.
Thanks Jim
Blake
Same here. I would probably not have gone ahead with my ablation, without the help of the lovely people on here. Their information and encouragement, helped me to decide to have it, 16 months ago now. I try to help anyone on here, who needs it, in return.
Another fan here Jim ! I too very much appreciate your posts.
Sorry to hear you've needed SIX (!) stents, but obviously delighted to hear you're pulling through well. Presumably the narrowings were discovered via an angiogram, but what led to you having the angiogram in the first place ?
Take good care.
Mike
Mike:Presumably the narrowings were discovered via an angiogram, but what led to you having the angiogram in the first place ?
Yes, discovered via angiogram. Started having chest pains last March, but both GP and Gastro wrote it off to Gerd, both based on symptoms and a negative nuclear stress test. and indeed, some of the pains may have been Gerd, as they can be so similar.
Finally a cardiologist took my history, looked at my Coronary Artery Calcium (CAC) scan (It was 2200) and off to the Cath Lab, where they discovered severe five vessel CAD with multiple 95% blockages, including the LAD.
Looking back, we should've intervened a lot earlier, but I got lucky and was spared a heart attack and any resulting damage.
Jim
Thanks Jim - did you also have the lp(a) test and, if so, was it also confirmatory?
Yes, lp(a) was high. That and the CAC score are two tests I highly recommend to help stratify CAD risk.
Jim
Really pleased you are recovering from such a serious procedure.
And, hoping I'm not being insensitive, have you been able to reach any conclusions about the causes of your almost total blockages? I'm thinking such personal experience would provide helpful insight for others on our Forum, and for me. Or perhaps genetics played a large part?
bob.
Ozziebob,
My experience with friends suggests that there is a strong genetic component at work here. Certainly high lp(a) is often familial.
OzzieBob: have you been able to reach any conclusions about the causes of your almost total blockages?
For me a combination of advancing age and genetics plus being part of a medical system where treating heart disease is often more reactive than proactive.
Here are some sobering statistics.
1. 1/3 of all worldwide deaths are from CAD.
2. SCD (sudden cardiac deaths) account for 10 to 12% of all deaths in the general population.
And most sobering of all..
3. 12% of the general population will die of CAD without ever knowing they had it.
And yet, GP's and Cardiologists generally coddle us along until we are symptomatic or have an event.
Jim
Thanks for your reply. Both my parents had heart bypass operations at or before age 70, and neither lived long afterwards. It seems I should be looking into the tests you mention, lp(a) and CAC score, but, disappointingly, my GP hasn't offered either. Although, to be fair, my family history in Australia is probably not recorded properly in my UK medical record. I will ask my GP if I get a chance.
Lp(a) & cac score- what are these tests please?
Courtesy of Google ... I'm no expert, just a patient like you ...
Lp(a) blood test gives the amount of Lipoprotein (a) in your blood (Lipoprotein (a) is a type of low-density lipoprotein (LDL), or "bad" cholesterol, that carries cholesterol to your arteries). A high level of lipoprotein (a) in your blood can indicate a higher risk of heart disease, stroke, and other health problems.
And the CAC (coronary artery calcium) score (provided by a non-invasive CT scan that measures the amount of calcium in the walls of your heart's arteries).
Both tests mentioned above by mjames1 .
Doesn't the routine blood test always measure the Ldl and Hdl cholesterol - I know mine does, or are we speaking of something different?
A reply to Jim...
Where have people gone.
