Man, Am I Lucky

How A Routine Procedure Revealed A Threat To Life

Many of you have possibly wondered what has happened to The Art 2 Aging recently; there have been no posts since mid June; there have been no new podcast episodes uploaded to Substack.

So, what’s going on?

A quadruple heart bypass is what is going on – or went on.

The Back Story

Last year we interviewed Australian cardiologist, Warwick Bishop about heart health and the older adult. Warwick is a preventative cardiologist and his motto is: image, image, image.

In his view, the only way to determine calcium buildup in the arteries of the heart is through imaging: CT scans primarily.

I thought it would be a good idea if I proactively sought out my own calcium score, so I approached my GP for a referral to a cardiologist. The cardiologist arranged some tests, one of which was the all-important CT scan.

I had that scan in early May and it showed some blockages. My heart doc said that sometimes CT scans throw up inaccurate readings and the next best step was an angiogram.

That took a few weeks to set up and on June 16, I journeyed to Hamilton General Hospital for the procedure.

What that revealed, frankly shocked me. All four of my major arteries were blocked with calcium. There was no way for an angioplasty procedure.

I was a time bomb waiting to go off and now I was facing heart surgery.

The funny thing is that I was completely asymptomatic. Not a single sign or symptom. In fact, I was climbing the stairs in my condo building for exercise ( it was a wet, chilly spring) and, apart from panting from the climb, I felt fine.

Anyway, there we are. I had the bypass on June 17 under the skill and care of a superb cardiology surgical team at Hamilton General.

Now I am back home and looking at 4-6 weeks of rehab and recovery. So, folks, bear with us at The Art 2 Aging as I slowly regain my strength and energy.

Thanks for your patience.

Chris Henry