Just had my one year check up after a quadruple cardiac bypass surgery. I am fully recovered (except for the mammary vein that was used in the process, which still stretches when I work out). I had a CAC score of 886. You can't go by that whole number, but there is a breakdown that tells you where the blockage might be. I was completely asymptomatic, but after the cardiac catheterization was told I was not a candidate for stents and was recommended to a surgeon. When I think back on everything I went through with the surgery, the ICU, the long recovery, I wonder if I could have skipped that whole thing. Bottom line if you have a family history of stroke/heart disease you are a candidate for some procedure. It becomes a choice of a planned event or an unplanned emergency. I am told because I was asymptomatic, my heart muscle is still healthy. Of all of my friends in my close circle I was considered the most active, health conscious one. Worked out 7 days a week, ate organic, had the occasional drink, never smoked. So it is an irony when you read a quiz that tells you how to change your lifestyle and you can check all the boxes! So what else is there to change.

We have a choice of living under a Damocles sword or getting on with our life and doing all the things we can, while we can. For those of you with an engineering background -- our bodies also have an MEP system -- Mechanical, Electrical and Plumbing. So I learned today that while my plumbing and mechanical systems were fine, I had an issue with my electrical system which seems fine but would require a pacemaker in the future. I should never have let anybody tamper with my system. I have great doctors and think they all did a great job. But I feel like a used car, with frequent tune ups and always something new that is being discovered that needs more attention.

I am very grateful for this forum. I don't feel like I am alone. And it allows me to lead the good life. Whether or not it matters, I continue with my good lifestyle, working out, eating healthy and making a positive impact on others. But I am done. Not sure where my thinking will be in a few years if I actually will need a pacemaker. But for now, I have been very blessed, I have had a good life and when God is good and ready, I will go happily and without fear or regret. No more surgery for me!

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