Cycling with a 'stent'

[billplumtree]

Well, I should soon be eligible for membership of the illustrious Stented CC.

Update:  I'm withdrawing my application for membership, on the grounds of not meeting the requirements 

There's been a load of faffing in the meantime, including turning up at the hospital in Blackpool to be stented and the consultant saying, "Nah, I don't think you have enough symptoms to justify it", me being unable to decide whether to be pleased or disappointed - I hadn't had any more symptoms, true, but I'd backed off from full 100% balls out effort to avoid 'em - and him referring me for further tests.

So I had a stress echocardiogram yesterday.  A wee dose of dobutamine and I got a full cardio workout, heartrate pushed up to 150 bpm (as high as they felt they needed, but I've seen it a damn sight higher than that at body pump and on t'bike.  Anyway...), and ultrasound imaging showing how much of my heart was or wasn't working.

And it turns out that, even though one of my main coronary arteries is 70% blocked, my heart was still banging away like a good'un and unaffected by any drop in blood supply due to the blockage.  Doc conjectures that as the blockage has built up gradually, and as I've done a fair bit of heart-stimulating exercise in that time, other blood vessels have enlarged to compensate for the blocked one.  A kind of natural bypass, if you like - and I do.

I liked the doc, a fine chap with an admirable scientific bent: his explanation above is obviously a pet response to the prevalent(?) stent-any-obstructed-artery orthodoxy, part of his campaign to get functional response taken into account as well as simple structural measurements.  He even threatened to publish me as a prime example. I'm gonna be a poster boy for healthy hearts

[GothonaBrompton]

Hubby can join the stent club.  His is in the abdomen though - fitted when an aneurysm waiting to happen was picked up on a routine scan offered to all men over 65 by our local NHS.  The operation was 4 weeks ago today.  There were no symptoms whatsoever before it, and he is slim, fit and eats well.

We saw the before and after CT scans this week and the aneurysm has now shrunk around the stent nicely so all should be well.  He still gets tired quite easily though but is looking forward to getting back to cycling.  The incisions are sore but not painful; they are awkward though as there are two 4 inch incisions either side of his groin, right in the joint of the leg (not a terribly comfy place for cycling!).

[mrcharly-YHT]

Bill, that's really interesting (and good news for you).

I don't exercise anywhere near your level but have maintained 9-20hours a week of good cardio consistently for the last 6 years. Before that I was running up to half-marathons and teaching athletics. So I wonder if my body will adapt in the same way. It makes sense, as bodies do adapt to muscular/skeletal issues.