Cardiac Calcium Scoring

my2sunz
Wed, 11 Apr 2018 04:15:54 +0000

Thank you all for sharing your experiences and insights. I haven’t yet read the Jane Brody article, but will right now. My update:
First - I think I mentioned in my earlier post that the number from his CAC 14 years ago was 700 - which is very high. But no way was I prepared to find out that a repeat of the test in February was a score of 3,000 (no, that is not a typo). I didn’t find this out until today, when his cardiologist came in to discuss the cardiac catheterization that he had today.
Turns out that his LAD artery was close to 90% blocked, so he is the proud new owner of a stent in that artery. Both the cardiologist who performed the procedure as well as his personal cardiologist were amazed that he had no symptoms at all. I know I should feel relieved - and I am to some extent to have this very dangerous problem taken care of. But the doctor who performed the procedure said that he has diffuse coronary artery disease but right now, no blockages that are more than 60%, so he will basically just be monitored at this point, plus they are upping his statin prescription from 40 to 80 to bring down his LDL to 50 or less. He has to be on Brilinta (sp?) for six months to a year and take 81 mg asprin for the rest of his life. Otherwise, there is not much he can do , since except for his lousy genes, he doesn’t have any other real risk factors. That said, I am going to look into diet changes, such as a more plant based diet that could possibly help. Didn’t Bill Clinton become a vegan after his bypass surgery? Don’t know if I could get him to do that!
Anyway, I just wanted to give an update; thanks again for the info, advice, and support.