Firstly I would just like to say that when something is affecting the heart, it is very scarey and it does make you immediately keep thinking of death. It is important to keep
in mind that knowledge, technology has come forward leaps and bounds in the last 10
years. I guess what I'm trying to say is, keep a level head as your are doing and make
sure you continue to look into what Doctors recommend.
It sounds as though the RCA is severely diseased and is continuing to disease at quite
a high rate. To keep requiring stents suggests the disease is not slowing down. Is he
on cholesterol lowering medication and is his blood pressure normal? It can be a never ending battle fighting a disease if you don't get it under control. To stop my disease increasing I had to get my cholesterol very low and change my outlook on life. Instead of taking life seriously and worrying about everything, I had to boost my sense of humour.
The left side of the Heart does most of the work, it has the task of pushing fresh blood to all parts of the body and back to the right side of the heart. The right side of the Heart
basically only has to push blood through the lungs and back to the left side of the heart.
You don't mention anything about the Left anterior descending or the Circumflex so I
assume these vessels are working adequately which is a good thing. Your Doctor is
correct when he states the RCA can be totally blocked but it depends where the blockage is. The left side is the most important.
If I was in your shoes, I would look into the option of a bypass. You can have stent after
stent but each one adds to the risks. With a bypass you can ask about the possibility of
a full endarterectomy. Arteries have three main layers and an arterectomy involves removing part of the inner layer, normally around the graft site in a bypass. However, the
surgeon may be able to perform a full endarterectomy on the vessel. An incision would be made at one end of the vessel and the inner lining pulled out completely, along with
the disease. Sure, there are risks, but there are always risks to anything and your Doctors will be able to talk about this procedure (if they have the expertise).
Once this procedure is performed, there will be a nice artery to graft onto, or it may not
require grafting at all. Whatever procedure you opt for, you seriously need to slow down
the disease by getting his cholesterol levels rock bottom and having beta blockers.
Has a transplant been offered? if so, my advice is ignore this until absolutely ALL other
possible avenues have been explored.
As a final piece of advice, do you know of any research centres that you can get hold of?
I had three main Heart hospitals tell me there is nothing they can do and a transplant is
my only option. I approached Imperial College Research London and they have said they
can treat me with a 1% risk. Research hospitals have a much different outlook and see
things as a challenge rather than a burden. Please tell your husband not to be depressed
because I was told for 2 years that I should have a transplant. You should never give up
because there is a doctor out there who can do something, it's just a matter of time before you find him.
Please keep us informed.
I feel very sad for your husband and I am in somewhat of the same predicament as he is in. I would highly advise a dean ornish style diet. It has worked for many people with regards to avoiding bypass/transplant scenarios. You can google his name or that of Dr Fuhrman. Both heart diet plans have shown to reverse heart disease and to relax artery's and lower blood pressure and normalize HDL/LDL. I started the diet in February and have lost 30 pounds and my HDL is 45 and my LDL is 65. My Trigs went from 186 to 70. I am just trying to help , look into both of those doctors and go to their websites and it may help him avoid heart attacks and slow or stop the progression of those blockages. Either way I wish him better health and you are a doll for worrying about him in this fashion.