About the beginning of June 2020, Ray experienced some slight chest muscle pains after repairing some fencing which involved swinging of a sledge hammer and other strenuous work. He went to the emergency room to have it checked out and was told he should get in to see his regular doctor. There was already an appointment scheduled for his annual physical within a couple of weeks. At that appointment he was referred to a cardiologist for a stress test and told to monitor his blood pressure twice daily. He began doing that and it averaged 145/95 daily. He was then referred to another cardiologist in Missoula MT to have the dye ran through the veins to look for blockages and have stints inserted at that time if needed. At that appointment they discovered there were a massive amount of blockages and he had 2 choices. 1) to have stints put in which would have to be replaced in 10-15 years or 2) to have open heart bypass surgery which would be a permanent fix. He chose option 2. The surgery is scheduled for July 9th at St. Pat’s Hospital in Missoula, MT. Normal hospital stay following surgery is 5 days then return home to start physical therapy. Normal recovery time for returning to work is 6-8 weeks with a 3-6 month full recovery. His new life will consist of a diet change and a daily exercise program. They have increased his cholesterol medication to the maximum dosage for the rest of his life, put him on a beta blocker, instructed him on a diet change and told him to remove the salt from his diet. After 2 days of eating fruits and vegetables and removing the salt his blood pressure is down to 121/70.
