URL: http://scriptingnews.userland.com/backissues/2002/09/25#medicalNotes
Date: Wed, 25 Sep 2002 12:49:48 GMTMixed news from yesterday's heart checkup. First, I went seven minutes on the treadmill. That was pretty good. My heart 
was racing like it hadn't since I was in college. They also did an extensive 
ultrasound on my carotid arteries[1], they're in the neck and supply my head 
with blood. More good news there. They're clear, free of plaque, healthy, not 
diseased[2]. So it appears I just have coronary artery disease, not general 
artery disease. That's good because there would be a risk of stroke if they 
were sick, and not a whole lot they can do about it (as they can with the 
heart). Now there was some not-good news. A small part of my heart isn't working very 
well. There are a few possible reasons for that, some fixable, some not. I 
asked the doctor, does this mean I'm going to die sooner, and he said no. Does 
it mean I have to restrict what I do, he said no. So what does it mean? Really 
not much, other than I should watch, as before, for recurring symptoms, the 
ones that brought me into the hospital in June. If they come back, we'll do an 
angiogram, and maybe an angioplasty, but the likelihood of another bypass 
because of this is small. That's quite a relief. I don't like the idea of part 
of my heart not working, but what can you do about it?[1] http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&safe=off&q=carotid+arteries&spell=1
[2] http://www.vascularweb.org/doc/190
