in my thoughts - good luck!

As of now, it’s up to the specialists, Mother Nature and the Great Pumpkin.

I’ll pack them in my overnight!

And some luck!

At least they are smart enough to know that they don’t yet know exactly what’s going on in there.

I hope you get good news!

Anything that does not end up with me being cut open like a side of beef.

I've certainly had my share. It's no doubt fortunate it has been caught early.

I had sought out a cardiologist here because I "felt something" and wasn't sure what it was. The cardiologist wasn't positive, but he was alarmed enough to send me up to the cardiac clinic (same one!) that very evening. The specialist praised the doc for correctly diagnosing the urgency of my condition, and me for having read up on the symptoms to recognize that I needed to see someone about them ASAP. Within three hours of doing the test in the cardiologist's office in my town, I was on my way up to the clinic, where I was told that another 24 hours might have been too late.

This is not expected to be anywhere near that urgent, but I was told today that this a wise move to prevent it from becoming so.

...outcome as mine, that is, "we'll keep an eye on it."

The way it was presented to me led me to believe I was a goner. Eventually I recognized there was a communication problem in the institution I was using. (It would have been nice if some of the people communicating had actually looked at my chart, but it seems that might have been inconvenient. )

(My only symptom was a heart murmur detected by my regular physician.)

I've scheduled the 6 month follow up at another institution.

I hope your outcome is at least close in the end to mine, and if you need treatment it goes well and you have a complete fast recovery.

It was presented to me as "serious," and in reality, I almost WAS a goner. They suspected the worst (they were right, but didn't tell me until after I was out of danger). This clinic (Alfred Krupp cardiac clinic in Essen) is rated among the top cardiac clinics in Germany. It is my good fortune that it is so close to where I live. People come here from all over Europe to be treated, not just Germany.

...I've had a heart attack. (I haven't.)

I couldn't imagine I had a heart problem. I don't eat meat; and at the time I'd advanced to an angiogram to rule a heart attack out, my wife and I were running about an hour a day on Torrey Pines beach in San Diego.

The doctor who did the angiogram said my heart was more than ten years younger than my chronological age, which made sense.

To this day I warn people giving me an EKG that they will see the unusual feature and it means nothing.

The current mild condition I have is not related to coronary heart disease but apparently, as I discovered in the literature, from an interesting autoimmune syndrome that is rare and situational, active if one has suffered from untreated strep throat or strep throat treated after a delay.

I'm an old guy and overall my health is pretty good. I'm rather enjoying a sense of mortality. It makes living all that much more precious.

I'm not at a Kubler-Ross negotiating stage, since I know where my health stands and nothing's serious, but I do hope to live long enough to go to my son's thesis defense next year and needle him a bit for fun during Q&A.

I love it when my sons give academic talks. It makes me feel like we did OK raising them.

Then there was the angiogram. Thirty years ago this was not a trivial matter.

Hopefully this has not been the case for your husband.

I have tended to be dismissive of heart concerns by physicians since.

Apparently the "wait and see" problem I face currently is unrelated to the EKG, although, as things developed, I don't have incredible confidence in the group doing the workup and will do the follow up with another institution.

They actually scared the crap out of me for no good reason. The concern is justified but nowhere near as serious as I was led to believe at first. There were too many mixed signals, some involved with people obviously who had not looked at my chart before meeting me to discuss the concern.

Happily I have full access to the scientific literature and I was able to figure out what's going on for myself.

that this procedure will get the answers you need with the best outcome. That reassurance is based on this procedure having been done so many times by your team so that the experience makes it almost "routine." At the same time they are letting you know that they are likewise experienced in dealing with a more emergent finding that involves major arterial blockages. Fully informing without unduly frightening worst case and the rarest outcomes for those undergoing these procedures is incredibly important and it sounds like your team has a good approach to doing so.

Your DU family has you firmly in our thoughts and best wishes. I have confidence that you will be back with us better than ever--and quite soon! May your positivity sustain you and push any fears well to the side.

Best wishes!

And no one shares your preferred outcome more than I do!

You CAN get through this.

and smooth recovery! Keep us posted as you can.

and swift and easy recovery and healing.

Feels like you are in the right place at the right time.

be able to go home by the day after the procedure. I'm hoping for everything to go perfectly and for you to recover quickly...but please take it very easy while you're recovering. Let everyone pamper you.

My best to you that they get Humpty Dumpty back together in fine order. You will feel so much better! Take care!🥰

... my 79th circumnavigation of the Sun, and I kinda enjoy hearing people express their amazement at how much younger than that I appear... until I have to stand up. I tell 'em it's thanks to a strict daily regimen of sex, drugs, and rock n' roll; though it's just rock n' roll now, and I can't even dance anymore!
And good luck with whatever procedure you're dealing with.

So I've heard from the elderly over the years. Now it is me saying it. I really had no idea; I thought that happened to other people, not me.

I wish you all the luck possible. I never thought about the Great Pumpkin. I'll reach out to him the next time I end up in the hospital. Meanwhile, I am sure that he is watching over you.

How could he NOT be watching over me?

Although....maybe here is how:

over the "invisible man" in the sky!

The Great Pumpkin never asks for money.

That "invisible man" certainly is needy!

didn't feel worse since his 74 was older feeling than your 74.

He just seemed to perceive my 74 as being younger than his 74. He certainly remained cordial throughout the conversation. Many people perceive my wife as being 15 to 20 years younger than she is, too. But in such cases, comments are usually in the form of compliments, not expressed in a rueful or jealous manner.

When he was MY age!

I’m younger than that now.

And somebody needs to keep those classic lyrics alive, after all.

I hope it’ll be more good news!

🤞🏽

You've got this!

☮️💙🌈🌊🍀

Of good fortune and expecting to hear good news when it's over!

I have no family history, hike, eat a Mediterranean Diet, never smoked, etc... last month, out of nowhere within a week, was told I had 95% blockage... planted a stent and all good.... I trust you will be fine well... all good hoping

I plan on using that line as often as possible.