High Coronary Calcium Score: How do others feel emotionally?

I agree with @tim1028 about our conditions, and the more we know the better off we will be. This is a marathon and your doctor will be a valuable resource for you as you navigate. Each individual is unique in how they need to treat and there are quite a few options, more than there used to be. We are never in a better position than knowing what is happening and doing what we can to treat it. High cholesterol and LP(a) both run in my family. Mayo sent me to http://www.thefhfoundation.org to learn, and I am a trained Patient Advocate. I have been resistant to medication and go in every other week to get my blood cleaned out. I do understand your stress. 1 in 250 have FH (familial hypercholesterolemia) and 1 in 5 have elevated LP(a). I hope you find comfort knowing you are not alone and continue connecting for support. I, too trust God and He has been there every step of the way. I am the first in my family to be diagnosed and have also found comfort knowing others are finding out earlier because of me (example: one 21 year old niece has LDL over 350). You’ve got this.

Hi there, since your original question was about emotional response, I would first say remember stress is a big killer, so try not to worry. I 'm 79, and have had high cholesterol at least since my mid-fifties, but was never advised, along with a choice between improving my diet and increasing exercise, or go on meds, to get my calcium score done (and why that information was so important.) Making lifestyle changes helped some, but not enough. Finally this year a new PCP told my she wanted me to get my calcium score (which Medicare did not cover) because she was very concerned about my high cholesterol, especially as my father had died of a heart attack when he was 37. I did, and it was way high, putting me in the 99% range for my age of a cardiac event within the next 2-5 years. The thing that astonishes me about the medical profession is that no one, up until this year, had ever mentioned this test to me, and I cannot for the life of me understand why it would not be universally considered one of the first lines of defense, and covered by insurance, since the eventual costs of treating heart disease can be so devastating. So I would very much like to hear from any Mayo cardiologist who happens to read this to address this question, since not just I but apparently many of us were never told to get a calcium score until we were into old age.
Anyway, as I said, try to let go of the ticking time bomb vision, and keep doing what you're doing, and you'll probably be fine. I figure I've lived through at least four 2-5 year prognoses of a heart attack within that period of time, and I'm still here and thriving.

According to our heart Doc calcification can be buildup outside the arteries.

The first thought most of us had when getting a high CAC score is that we're a walking time bomb. After things settle down, there is still plenty of anxiety,but it is starting to ease. It's been 4 years since I got my high score and I now have under control what I can control. It sounds like you have your heart healthy anchors in place: diet, exercise, appropriate testing. You've done a lot of the right things, including going to Mayo. I think the evidence is promising but thin about K2, which I take, too. CoQ10 seems to have some solid evidence for taking if you're on statins. It's expensive but I get the Costco brand. Two other things that I've worked on in the past four years is good quality and quantity sleep, which I've achieved. The other is stress and anxiety reduction. I'm making good progress since I started meditating. Personal fact about Mayo: I was born at St Mary's hospital in Rochester, MN, right next to Mayo. I think Mayo now owns the hospital.
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The high calcium score IS calcified plaque in arteries.

Went to Mayo for executive physical and learned first time in my life my cholesterol was high. 234 total. HDL 76 LDL 138 I was asked to take LPa test after a CAC score of 743. It was terrible at 179. I am devastated but now see this is heredity and I’ve had it my whole life. Who knew? I’m 30 lbs overweight. Blood pressure is good. Triglycerides 113. Echo good. Stress test good. Started baby aspirin every day and Lipitor 10 mg. Been eating Mediterranean diet. No sugar. Intermittent fasting and daily exercise. I’m scared to death and am doing everything I can do. Feel like a walking time bomb at age 63. Trusting God and my faith to get me through. Hoping Lipitor works. Read about taking K2 and CoQ10 but doc poo poos it…..🤷🏻‍♀️

Hello everyone. I would like some support from this group. My husband is having bypass, aortic valve replacement and a portion of his aorta due to enlargement. His muscle and his ejection fraction are just great and I believe we found a good surgeon.
With all of this I feel very emotional. I am worried and crying a lot. All comforting words and prayers will be most appreciated.Thank you and God Bless

I don’t know , as I remember all the stress the first test caused! I will talk to my Bale-Doneen Dr. About it.

Statins are what is needed. The confusion comes from inflammation being the cause of plaque build up. BUT once you have Build up started. It makes sense to slow down the build up, by eliminating a great % of the lipids. Yes statins have side effects, but it’s one or the other.

Carbohydrate, that is. Oops.