Anyone out there dealing with Coronary Artery Disease?

Question

My husband Had a heart attach back in December and is still having blockage has 7 stents and still has more blockage. I am looking for similar experiences. Thanks

My husband has been on all of that stuff Plavix, asprin, toprol. lisinopril, Imdur you name it I have even been making him take fish oil. He has been tested for being diabetic and he isn't. The blockage now is inside and surrounding the stents.

Answer 1

Has he been compliant with taking Plavix and Aspirin and the other meds listed above?

Answer 2

Now seven stents are really unusual and I doubt they are all blocked. Maybe he has additional blockages which makes me wonder if he is diabetic. If the blockages are mostly distal and the stents are open then he would not be a candidate for bypass and may not really need additional angioplasty or stents. Medical therapy with aspirin, statin (lowers cholesterol), beta-blockers and ACE inhibitors should work well for him.

Answer 3

How is his exercise tolerance? Any chest pain on exertion?
Maybe an angioplasty (PTCA) could be done to open these blockages, if not then a bypass operation will possible be recommended. If there are seven stents it will be very time-consuming to open them all up with angioplasty (I assume they are in different coronary arteries as well?) so in that case bypass operation may be necessary. This is always discussed with the cardiologist and the surgeon anyway so your husband's cardiologist should be available to give you more information about the treatment options.

Answer 4

Stents are a common way to open up blockage and a lot less invasive and less risky than bypass surgery. I hope he is getting some benefit from the stents and that his heart is healing some. He may need that bypass soon.

Answer 5

My husband had a heart attack 4 years ago, fortunately they didn't mess with stents, he had quadruple bypass and recovered very well.