Reply #1: Join the club, Ray

[DFW]

I had exactly the same heart adventure. Slight twinges that went away. But although I have low blood pressure,
my mom had really high cholesterol, so I went to see a cardiologist just in case. The guy ran a test on me and
sent me up to the Kruppklinik in Essen that same day, telling me tomorrow might be too late. He didn't get loud
or upset, but it was clear he was being serious. The next morning, they went into my heart and immediately put
two stents in. When they showed me the before and after images, I had two forward coronary arteries 99% blocked.
The cardiologist said I was somewhere between 5 minutes and 2 days away from a massive heart attack, and might
not have lived to tell the tale. I now take the daily meds and changed my diet drastically.


I had to pay the bill up front here in germany, and send it in to our health insurance in the States for
re-imbursement. Typical of how our fucked-up system works, our insurance wanted to refuse payment due to
the procedure being performed by a non-approved doctor/clinic even though the same procedure in the USA
would have cost three times as much!! They eventually saw the light, but not before a lot of harassment
from forces they would rather not confront in court. If I hadn't been in Germany at the time, I might not
be here now to tell the tale.