Bill Clinton: It Could Happen to You

In Kate Dailey's blog about Bill Clinton's recent heart procedure she made clear something that anyone with coronary artery disease ought to know. Sometimes your arteries can block again no matter what you do. That, of course, doesn't mean it doesn't matter what you eat or whether you take your medicine, but the truth is President Clinton, by all accounts, had changed his lifestyle, was taking good physical care of himself, but he still had another blockage. Let's face it, some of us have heredity working against. The good news is that we are still not helpless and hopeless. I think that that Clinton's story ended well for a very simple reason. He had chest pains and he didn't ignore it. I remember well that when I went in the hospital for my bypass my diagnosis was coronary artery disease and when I was discharged that was still my diagnosis. I wish President Clinton many more years of quality life, but more importantly I wish for all of us dealing with his condition to learn from his actions. It could save our life.

Do Doctors Really Get It?

My cardiologist gets it. A growing number of physicians are starting to get it, but many others seem to still be in the dark. I am talking about the depression that so often accompanies bypass surgery. Here is my simple wish. I want cardiologists and cardiovascular surgeons to talk to their patients before and after surgery about depression and for the patient and his family to be aware that the risks for depression are real, but are treatable. A bypass patient could be screened for depression while still in the hospital. In my case I ended up suffering for weeks not really knowing what was wrong. Like is so often the case my wife's strong suggestion to seek help is what caused me to take the first step which led to a visit to my family doctor and finally to the medication that I needed to help me recover from my depression. Not everyone who has bypass surgery gets depressed, but many do and unfortunately many of those that do never get the proper care for a medical condition that is just as real as coronary artery disease.