I am 73 years of age. Twenty years ago I was diagnosed with a 99 per cent blockage of my heart’s left anterior descending artery (LAD).
Usually, when a doctor hears this, a sharp intake of breath is followed by “And you’re still alive?” I did not experience a heart attack.
Cardiologists told me, “You would have had only one.” That was my father’s fate before the medical technology which saved me was even on the drawing board.
An angioplasty cleared my arterial blockage and a steel stent has kept it clear. Some have described my still being here as “dodging a bullet” or “winning the lottery.” I think of it as both.