Hello and Hi :)

My name is RJ and I wanted to climb aboard with ya's. I am 53, and have had an mi and 2 stents. 2.5 years ago my ramus artery, which is small, went fully closed. The mi was supposedly light with little damage.

I am taking the standard regime of heart medicines. Beta blocker, ace inhibitor, plavix, and timed released nitroglycerine. I take plavix because I cannot tolerate aspirin.

The cad increased and ~5 months ago I had my lad and obtuse marginal stented. I have a left dominant heart and my rca is congenitally small and ~60% blocked and unstentable.

I had 4 days of fairly extreme angina, but it was relieved by fast acting nitro. This lead me to a doc. This led me to the GREAT 64 slice coronary ct scan. It was right on with the percent blockages and locations.

I have a question if I may. Have any of you went to the hospital where all of your cardiac care has been received, and obtained copies of your medical records? I did and am very disappointed with what is actually in a report. An mri report contains maybe 25 words. The results of the ct scan the same. Same for the stress test. My question really is, do you think the doctors have more records on file at their group's files, or are the reports really that short? I am a tad frustrated because I think my doc may be holding something back from me, because of what his nurse told me.

Thanks for listening,

RJ

Thanks for your reply Dreamgirl. Sorry for the confusion. I didn't explain it well. Prior to my heart attack or mi, I didn't know that I had coronary artery disease (CAD). The small ramus artery was too small to stent in June of 2003. It was left closed. At that time, other fairly small blockages were noted in my lad and rca, during the angiogram or cardiac catheterization. The CAD progressed and I had 2 more cardiac caths that showed increasing blockages. Then I had the bout with angina about 5 months ago, had the ct scan, a cardiac cath and 2 Taxus Express 2 medicated stents inserted. I cannot tolerate statins.

Blockages can increase in just a short while, I have read. I guess it depends on a lot of other factors.

I had an echo cardiogram in March of last year. My cardiologist told me all was well. In the records I retrieved, it showed I had mild tricuspid and mitral valve regurgitation and irregular Lv wall motion. I don't know if this is all normal due to my age, or heart disease.

Thanks again for your reply,

RJ

My cholesterol is very high due to an inherited disorder, hypercholesterolemia. I cannot tolerate statins or any medicines to lower my blood lipids. This is hard to believe, but all too true. I get the immediate "unexplained muscle pains" they mention in the commericials. I kept taking Crestor, after the onset of these pains, and almost developed rhabdomyolysis, which can be fatal.

Thanks again for your response :)

RJ

Diet, diet, and more diet, lol. I am going to start an attempt, for the humpteenth time, to take statins again. I was given really high doses in the past, because my lipids were so high. I am going to start "baby doses" of Lipitor fairly soon.

I am recovering from what I don't know, but one of my doctors thinks it could be an allergic response, or an adverse reaction to the polymer and/or the paclataxal medicine in my 2 stents, which I received at the same time. He told me that the effects of the adverse reactions usually peak in ~3 months after the stents are placed. I had mine on August 29, 2005.

I am weak and having too many strange pains now, to start an attempt. I have also had strept throat. That may be the most of my problem now.

Is your cholesterol high? I really understand and can relate to the vague aches we get, as we age. I took Tricor to lower my triglycerides for quite a spell. Tricor is a fenofibrate, BUT carries the exact same warnings as statins. I believe it caused peripheral neuropathy (PN) in my arms and legs. My triglycerides were >2000, about 6 years ago. They average around 700 to 800 now. I take many many supplements...

Thanks for your reply Heidi.

When it comes to information about my condition, I don't want it short and sweet. That is a big problem I think, and it keeps us from finding out what might help us. When we present with many symptoms, then go and have a very sophisticated test, such as an MRI done, we want a detailed explanation of all the abnormalities seen in our brain. Here is an example; "changes noted in the brain due to small vessel disease"..... How would you like to see that, with no further explanation? I can give many other examples, but due to the "changes in my brain due to small vessel disease", I cannot remember? Why wasn't these "changes" described? I think it is because of lazziness that we, as patients accept.

Have you ever read the nice letters, written on expensive stationary, that, say your cardiologist sends to your family doctor? Your condition of concern is discussed in a lengthy manner. The cardiologist wants your family doctor to know your total, current cardiovascular status, as he sees it. He gives the family doctor the "big picture" out of professional courtesy. He knows the family doc does not specialize in cardiology.

Do you think the cardiologist should send the patient a copy of this letter? Would you like more information than you are getting? I know that I would. I am ultimately responsible for my own health, by managing the information provided by the various doctors that I see.

Thanks again for your reply, and I do hope that you feel as well as possible.

Regards

RJ

Good morning Heidi and thanks so much for the information :)

Have a great day