Hereditary CAD

I am a new user here. In January 2012, I made a cardiologist appt because my sister, age 49 died of a massive heart attack, my younger sister, age 43 had a heart attack and survived, my older brother, age 62, had 2 heart attacks, and now has CHF. My mother died at age 66 of CAD.

I did not have many symptoms, so I thought. I was 48 years old, non smoker, fairly healthy and active, and went because of my family history. I had had some burning sensation in my chest when I walked on the treadmill, shortness of breath at times when I vacuumed or shoveled snow, and tired in the evening. All easily attributed to age, work, stress, etc. etc. I had gone to the ER due to shortness of breath in December, 2011, and was sent home with a diagnosis of asthma, yet my family history was given.

Long story short, had a new doc appt, and based on symptoms and family history, sent me for an angiogram the next day. When they went in I had an 80% and a 90% blockage (two back to back) in my LAD. Doc wanted to do bypass surgery, I freaked, said no, they put in two stents and here I am, not feeling 100%. I am on lots of drugs for BP, cholesterol, aspirin. I take nitro for chest discomfort.

I still have chest pain from time to time, tightness in my neck and extreme fatigue after exertion, i.e. mowing the lawn. I had a cardiologist appt today and they want to do an echo stress test on Wednesday. Not sure what he is looking for, but I trust him. He said I should be able to do everything, without symptoms, however, this is not the case.

Not sure what to think at this point. Scared, but frustrated.

bad-genes,    Thank goodness you went in for a appointment BEFORE you had a major event happen.

Obviously you should follow all your doctor's advice regarding the meds and tests.

Having said that,  if I were in your shoes I would also make a rapid and radical change in my diet.

You might Google (bill Clinton heart diet) and see what the ex-president has done to make his odds better.

Now, he did have a bypass,  but even after that he didn't make all the dietary changes he could,  until his bypass started re-blocking.

That was his final warning and with that he finally made huge changes in his diet.  He gave up his prior mild change routine and went full-on with the new diet.

I won't tell you to follow doctor x or diet z,   but begin reading about all the changes Bill Clinton finally made and the doctors he follows regarding dietary advice.   You may want to do what he finally found necessary.

Do some extensive reading.  He got the best advice he could and now credits his ongoing health in part to those changes.

The changes will be huge for a person eating a normal American diet,  but they give you a additional way to improve your odds of living longer without a serious event and/or the need for bypass.

Your doctors won't insist you do this,  but at the same time I can't imagine they won't tell you it would help.

Remember, even a radical dietary change is no substitute for following all your doctor's other advice.

We're talking about very serious matters and though changing one's diet in a dramatic way is difficult at first,  I can only say that were I in your situation, with your family history,  I'd begin the changes tomorrow.

I wish you well.

Look, I agree that the Mayo Clinic diet is good diet and better than most Americans eat normally.

However, if you read that link it titles the diet as follows---

"Heart-healthy diet: 8 steps to prevent heart disease"

Bad-Genes already has serious heart disease. They initially suggested bypass surgery.
He is well past "preventing heart disease".

I am not a vegan and indeed Clinton's diet is mostly vegan but in reading about it, he is not 100% vegan.

As I indicated, were I in Bad-Genes situation I'd be doing the maximum I could to prevent a actual event and to prolong my life, and to make my current quality of life better.
Good chance the Mayo Clinic diet would be a improvement from his current diet.
It may have been a great diet for him to be on about 10 years ago when he had more time to "prevent" the course that has now occurred.

Now, according to his doctor, he is on the brink of bypass surgery.
I could name a few doctors who have written books on diets, but I just thought giving him the pointer to where a well informed, well known, heart patient went, he could begin learning more about what more extreme diets may do for someone in his advanced situation.

Bill Clinton could also have followed the Mayo Clinic diet about 20 years ago. Finally he made more radical changes after having his bypass.
Seems like Bad-Genes current position is much closer to Bill Clinton's regarding how far to go with dietary changes. Clinton is hardly someone who doesn't have access to the finest medical advice.
He has not made some crazy ill conceived choice.

As you indicated, I am not a physician. I don't even advocate a single particular diet book or plan.
Only that at a point just short of bypass surgery, that more radical steps may be in order.