extra_magic_tacos

If you don't mind my asking, how's your sense of taste?

I had a heart attack just over three years ago (no bypass, but four stents). I'm 44. I imagine you're probably freaking the fuck out right about now--I certainly was. Hopefully it will be of some comfort to hear me say that three years on I feel fitter than I did at any point in my 30s.

The way I understand it is that sixty years ago guys like us would have been more or less fucked. Today, not so much. I seriously feel great. I'm bench pressing more than I did in high school. Take your meds, exercise, and enjoy your new lease on life.

No kidding? HH was a fascinating guy, one of my favorites to read about. Do you have any stories you can share?

Hey,

First, thanks for doing what you do. I had a heart attack a couple of years ago and the stents I got made a HUGE difference in my quality of life. You guys are frigging awesome.

I don't really have a specific question, I'm just kind of curious about the equipment you use for angioplasty and putting in stents. (For those who haven't had the pleasure, they cut a small hole in your leg at the groin and run a probe up through the vein into the heart.)

Like, how do you control the probe, or whatever its called? A wee little joystick, or something? And how do you train to work with something like that? The first time you do something like that isn't on a live person, is it? Are there practice mannequins or something?

Oh, and what's the piece of equipment called? I'd like to google it. Tools are really interesting to me, but the one time I saw it live didn't seem like a good idea to be asking a lot of questions.