This series by WBBM's Steve Miller is a personal look into heart disease - inside the doctor's office and the operating room - four months after he underwent emergency triple bypass surgery.
The Flunked Test That Save My LIfe
My own journey began with what I thought was surely a routine treadmill stress test. A test he flunked. The same kind of test Tim Russert actually passed two months before he died.
When I flunked that test, the events in my life started gathering a momentum I was unaccustomed to - and the firm grasp I had had on my health seemed to be slipping away.
Triple bypass surgery at age 52? I couldn't believe it. Neither could my friends or my family, including my older brother who'd had bypass surgery four years ago.
"Where you've always led a fairly pure life. Never did abuse your body and kept in good shape. It still happened to you."
I'm still not sure why it did happen to me.
Or why heart disease struck Tim Russert.
Doctors say there are a multitude of reasons why heart disease strikes. I won't pretend to offer a definitive explanation.
But I will tell you what I went through. After I was lucky enough to flunk a stress test that led to the surgery that may have saved my life.
This all started with my doctor and his nurse practitioner Donna McGregor pushing me to have a treadmill stress test. Because heart disease runs in my family.
I wish I had had the foresight to document my own feelings on the eve of bypass surgery. But since I did not, other people with graciously agreed to talk with me hours before their own bypass surgery - one of the was Muhammed Hassan.
Web Exclusive Video: Watch An Angiogram, Stress Test
This footage was shot during a triple bypass surgery preformed by Steve Miller's surgeon Dr. Richard Lee. A special thanks to Howard Southerland, the patient (pictured at left).
This footage was shot during Sergio Isunza's angiogram preformed by doctor is Dr.Nirat Beohar. You can read/listen to more about the procedure below.
This footage was shot during Ana Arman's stress test. You can read/listen to more from the procedure below.
WBBM's Steve Miller had triple heart bypass surgery four months ago, and he's been reporting on his experience with heart disease. Recently, he observed a bypass operation at Northwestern.
WBBM's Steve Miller had heart bypass surgery four months ago, and he's been reporting on his experience with heart disease. Recently, he was in the operating room for a bypass operation at Northwestern Memorial Hospital.
WBBM's Steve Miller had heart bypass surgery four months ago, and he's been reporting on his own experience with heart disease. Now he reports on other people who have shared their stories on the eve of their surgery.
He flunked two treadmill stress tests, then chalked up a worrisome angiogram. Then four months ago, WBBM's Steve Miller had triple heart bypass surgery. He continues his reports now on heart disease.
WBBM's Steve Miller has been describing his own experiences with heart disease - first flunking two stress tests, then taking the test that would determine whether he needed surgery. Here's that report.
WBBM's Steve Miller has been describing his own experience with heart disease - four months now since his triple heart bypass surgery. He continues his reports with a look at the test that found the problem and changed his life.
WBBM's Steve Miller had heart bypass surgery four months ago. Today he continues his story about heart disease with a look at the risk factor that's unchangeable: family history.
Imagine going in for a routine medical test - and less than two weeks later you're having triple heart bypass surgery. That's what happened to WBBM's Steve Miller. Today he begins his series with "Life as a Cabbage."
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