ClarionMag Publisher On The Mend

Posted December 18 2001

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This December has turned out a little differently than I expected. On November 30th I checked into St. Boniface Hospital in Winnipeg with chest pains, and I stayed there until December 6th when I had a single cardiac artery bypass operation. The surgical team did a great job, and I'm well on the road to recovery.

I actually began having chest pain this summer, first when riding my bike to work, and then as the symptoms progressed, even when walking. For the longest time I didn't believe the problem to be cardiac, even when the pain began radiating down my left arm. Although there's heart disease in my family, I was (and still am) only 42, and in reasonable physical condition. I ate what I thought was a fairly good diet, and my cholesterol was just at the high end of normal.

Even my doctor didn't think I was having heart problems; after all, I passed all my cardiograms with flying colors and was in generally good health. He suspected some sort of gastroesophagal reflux problem, but to be certain sent me to a cardiologist, who also seemed doubtful about a heart problem. But the cardiologist was determined to eliminate any cardiac possibilities first, so he scheduled a treadmill stress test for me.

I failed the stress test. I was shocked - the test had showed that during exertion a part of my heart muscle wasn't getting sufficient oxygen, a condition called angina. At that point I didn't know the extent of the problem - most likely I had a blockage in one artery, perhaps the left anterior descending artery. And if you're not familiar with the blood supply to the heart, this isn't a huge artery like the aorta - it's one of a number of smallish arteries that branch off the aorta to supply blood (and therefore oxygen and nutrients) to the heart muscle itself.

My symptoms were typical for angina, but there are two kinds of angina: stable and unstable. Stable angina symptoms are very predictable, typically occurring on exertion, and stopping on rest. People can go on with stable angina for years, and sometimes the symptoms even go away. If the symptoms worsen, or occur without obvious cause, that's unstable angina, which is more dangerous. Although my angina seemed more stable than unstable, I began having increasing problems with chest pain. I checked into emergency, was tested six ways from Sunday, and released with a (more or less) clean bill of health. A week later, on November 30, I was back, and although I wasn't scheduled for an angiogram until December 10, the hospital cardiologist agreed to fit me in at the end of the day.

The angiogram showed a significant blockage on my left anterior descending cardiac artery; the cardiologist slapped an IV blood thinner into me and called down a surgeon to discuss the options. There was really only one: surgery. Because of the position of the blockage, I wasn't a candidate for angioplasty, which is the insertion and inflation of a balloon (usually with a wire sheath called a stent) to relieve the obstruction.

I stayed in the hospital for six days before the surgery, and four days after. Since I only had a single bypass, the surgeon didn't need to take a vein from my leg - instead, he used an artery from the chest wall and attached it below the blockage. That's a wonderful thing; I'm told that the pain from the leg incision is a lot more bothersome than that from the chest incision. And as I had angina, but no heart attack, my heart muscle hasn't suffered any damage at all.

I probably ought to add more to this description. After all, I've left out all the gory details of chest tubes and the removal of temporary pacemaker wires, and I know Russ Eggen, for one, really wants to hear about that. Maybe next time. Right now I need to take a nap. 

I do want to say how much I appreciate all of your prayers and concerns; I was relaxed and at peace going into the surgery, and in recovery afterwards. My wife, Bonny, is breathing easier now that she's not worried I might suffer a heart attack in the middle of the night. She was run off her feet, between visiting me in the hospital, answering numerous phone calls, entertaining and chaperoning visitors, running the household on her own, and returning to work full time this week; I owe her a great debt of love, not to mention a few chores around the house! My thanks also to Bonny's sister Wanda, who flew out from Portland, OR to keep Bonny company during the surgery, to my parents who traveled from Langley, BC and did much to start us back on our feet, and to all our friends and family for their ongoing care, support, and assistance with the little things that make a big difference, like shoveling snow and bringing home the Christmas tree. I look forward to doing my share again in the near future.