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What I Learned From My Open Heart Surgery
Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy (HCM) | Last Active: Aug 16 11:41am | Replies (104)Comment receiving replies
Am new to Mayo Connect. I will try to be concise. I am 85 years old, and the image of my father. My father, living in New York in the early 1970's, was an early beneficiary of bypass surgery, after a heart attack. He survived the blockages and the surgery, and went back to work. He died of an unrelated disease about 18 years later.
I am now 85 years old. As mentioned above, I am in my father's image. Eighteen years ago, at age 67, I had bypass surgery. Obviously, I survived it. I've been living a normal life until about two years ago. Angina now comes with light physical effort, especially if combined with mental tension. After a catharization I was told that one of my arteries is totally blocked and two others are "OK". The only treatment available to me is medical, along with very limited physical activity, emphasis on "limited". I know that a lot of research work is going into development of a chemical that will dissolve plaque. I would like to volounteer as a test subject. Does anyone in this forum know where such research is being done?
Replies to "Am new to Mayo Connect. I will try to be concise. I am 85 years old,..."
Hi @lesterholland. Like @karukgirl mentioned, you can search for clinical trials being done at Mayo Clinic by using this search tool https://www.mayo.edu/research/clinical-trials
It can be a slog to wade through the eligibility criteria to know if a clinical trial is right for you or you for the trial. That's why Mayo Clinic offers a phone number or contact form to talk with someone who can discuss the availability of research that's right for you. Thank you for being willing to help advance treatments options.
Non-cancer clinical studies questions
Phone: 800-664-4542 (toll-free)
Online form https://www.mayo.edu/research/forms/clinical-trials
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Welcome to Mayo Clinic Connect @lesterholland!
I found this link to Mayo Clinic Education, maybe start there? In the meantime I will reach out to our esteemed Moderator, @colleenyoung to see if she can more precisely answer your question.
https://www.mayo.edu/research
The older I get, the younger 85 sounds to me! It must be quite disheartening (no pun intended) to be living a "normal life until about two years ago" and now having angina with little provocation.
It sounds like the heart cath you had which shows a totally blocked artery...and I am assuming you mean one of your bypass vessels?
I confess, I know nothing of what the latest and newest medical treatment for these blocked grafts may be, but it certainly sounds like a worth cause to pursue any of the latest developments.
Have you considered a second opinion?