Cypher® Stent Patient Stories

Five different heart stent patients, five different stories, one ending: a second chance at a healthier heart and life after coronary heart disease.
View other stories below.
Less than 24 hours after the procedure, I was back to myself. It was just miraculous for me.

BYRON - Doctor:

Well I've always been a very active person. I never really had a formal exercise program until I went to medical school and I was much more sedentary in medical school. So I started jogging and that rapidly became a big part of my life. When I first began to have trouble with it, I could still do my jog, but I just knew there was something wrong. I didn't have the exercise tolerance. It was just a struggle where it used to be a joy.
SUPER: BYRON doctor
It progressed to the point where I was actually stopping and walking occasionally. You just don’t think it would happen to you. There’s a tremendous denial that goes on with……..for a lot of us. So I said I just got to run through this and get over it or just spend the rest of my life on the couch. So, it was a pretty afternoon, I put on my jogging clothes and went along this running trail that we have near our home that runs through the woods. I started running and felt okay, but after a little while it came back, the bad feeling, the little bit of shortness of breath and the feeling that I just couldn't go through. And then all of a sudden quit feeling bad. I was feeling great. The pain had gone away, I was completely asymptomatic and I thought, man I finally done it. I've gotten through this and this is what I needed to do. And I was just thinking, oh how wonderful and the sky is blue and gorgeous and I thought, why am I seeing the sky and then realized that I was laying on the side of the trail, I had passed out. And then the pain started But I immediately walked back home and called my friend the cardiologist and had the arteriogram the next morning. That's when we found the blockage. A stent's not for everybody. I was a perfect candidate for a stent. I had single vessel disease, I had one vessel that was blocked up and the rest of my heart was okay. In my case there was just no recovery time. I was well immediately. I mean just like that. Less than 24 hours after my procedure I was back jogging. It was amazing because I had gone from not being able to walk across the yard, being just able to absolutely do nothing to back to my old self overnight with an incredibly easy procedure. It was just miraculous for me. It was nothing short of miraculous.