And the gastric issues

Recovering from open-heart surgery is partly medicine and partly morale. A morale problem I had (among quite a few) was the pain in the chest from having been wrenched open. The pain gradually went away, until about two months after the surgery when I felt pretty good, and I was getting some light exercise and gradually began to be not quite so puny. I then got into cardiac rehab and regained some strength.

And then a dull pain began to appear in the center of my chest. We went back and forth with the cardiologist for quite a few weeks running all the tests short of catheterization, and finally he sent me back to my primary care doctor with recommendations to test for GI problems. This turned out to be the solution -- I had an ulcer. It was diagnosed with an upper endoscopy, which meant once again under anesthesia and a viewing device down the throat and into the stomach. The doctor said I was also due for a colonoscopy, so both were done at the same time. One end had the ulcer, the other a polyp. The polyp was snipped out, and the ulcer gradually healed with medication and bland diet.

This put me on a routine of occasional GI tests. Every couple years for the colonoscopy and the upper endoscopy.

This is a long-winded way of reporting that two weeks ago I had a biannual upper endoscopy, and today I had the followup visit with the GI specialist, who said I'm pretty clean. They did a couple grabs of tissue and ran it under the microscope. I am waging the good fight against GERD and Barrett's syndrome, and so far so good. For this I take Nexium for the rest of my life. And hope to stay clear of one of the gastric cancers.

And the other good news is a colonoscopy this fall. I tolerate the prep pretty well. Some complain of it. I usually feel good after all the toilet time. It leaves me feeling light and bright. People used to go to the spas and pay a lot for this. Enjoy.

Post No. 1

This is a running account that I should have started eight or nine years ago. Never too late, for the big procrastinator. It is the story of recovery from heart surgery. Back then I was early in the process, and probably at the peak of optimism and fitness. Now I'm wiser and not so fit, but probably feeling better than even then, when I was still under 60. What has happened in the meantime? What's coming? Let the blog roll. Others will be free to comment.

First, the bare facts. I had quadruple bypass surgery. It happened without warning in December 1996. No heart attack. Over the years since then, I've been in the cardiac unit several more times, and there's a stent in one of my bypass grafts, and that stent had to be cleaned out with a cutting balloon. There's a stent in the big artery in my left thigh, too. I take pills that cost almost $10,000 in 2006.

I'm a big customer of the U.S. health-care system. I know it needs fixing, but meanwhile I'm a pretty vigorous man of 66, a sailor, bike rider, swimmer in the Atlantic, active in politics. People don't look at me and think I'm sick. So at bottom, I'm a believer in bypass surgery and those who deal with me in doctors' offices. I think of the alternative -- no bypass surgery, probably a funeral quite a few years ago. This is much better, but it doesn't hurt to examine the process and think how it might be improved, and sometimes just to chew on it and think.