Originally Posted by
eja_ bottecchia
The bad news is that the test showed the presence of some arterial blockage. It is this arterial blockage that is causing the chest pain (angina) when I push myself while climbing. The heart is a muscle and, like any muscle, it needs a steady supply of oxygen and nutrient rich blood to operate at maximum efficiency. Angina is caused by a build-up of lactic acid in the heart muscle which, like any other muscle in the body, starts to "hurt" when levels of lactic acid go up.
I am scheduled for an angiogram this coming Tuesday. Depending on what he cardio sees, he may put a stent to keep that bad boy wide open.
I waited until I had to be hauled off in an ambulance for an emergency angio. Within hours I was feeling 200% and wanted back on the bike, but was told that the incision, while quite small, is on a major blood vessel that could bleed out really bad if not treated carefuly.
Originally Posted by
eja_ bottecchia
1. First, he told me, my heart is strong enough and healthy enough that it was able to keep pumping blood, spite of the blockage--that is why I could keep riding and climbing with only minimal chest discomfort. He said that sustained aerobic exercise, like bike riding, is very good for the heart.
Docs told me this as well. I had been riding my bike at the time. This was in ’08. Ironically I had a second one in ’12, a year ago last month. This one came with no warning right after finishing 20 miles, that I capped off with a Jalepeno Cheeseburger and Arogant Bastard Pale Ale.
Docs told me the meal was probably not a factor. I am one to err conservatively, and will never do that again. The thing is that after a stent, you will be put on a drug like Lipitor, which helps keep it open. Other drugs they give you can be eliminated through diet and exercise, but unfortunately, not this one. I was not always real good about remembering to take my meds, and skipping that one a few times may have been a factor too.
Docs told me that what happened to me was a ruptured unstable plaque. Plaques, hard calcium deposits, encapsulate fatty masses adhered to the blood vessel walls. A jolt, like hitting a pothole on a bike, could have dislodged it and let it move up to where it blocked the right anterior vessel, where one of my two stents is now a double.
We get old. No escaping it, but we can make the best of it by getting our arses in the saddle.
Originally Posted by
NVanHiker
. . . I wanted the real deal which lasts 20 years. And I didn't want to go on a waiting list, finally get a date, then get bumped several times - I got emergency bypass surgery right away. You have to adapt to your medical system. Or head south of the border
.
I was afraid of the whole bypass thing. That is a major invasive procedure and the recovery time is months. Also, while there are no waiting list down here, that's because not every one who needs one is allowed to get one.