Heart healthy but has 3 arteries blockage - no fatigue, do I still need to undergo surgery as recommended?

I do not feel any fatigue and can walk comfortably and had sometimes choking feeling. Once my blood pressure increased irratically and that got me to the Dr visit. I have undergone angiogram and Dr detected 3 blockages and is recommended Angioplasty, other alternative is bypass. Doing my research found that 1 in 5 blockage closes with angioplasty while 2 in 5 who has stent inserted to hold the plaque closes within months and patient will have to undergo angioplasty in less than 6 months. I am worried and not sure whether Dr recommends based on money he makes or whether I need to get second opinion or have other alternatives such as treating with medicines. I am looking for someone who knows or similar symptons and have successful solution.

Many thanks in advance for your stories.

Three things come to mind immediately: 1) Get a second opinion before you go through any major procedure. 2) If you're not sure you can trust your doctor so much that you even think for one instant he might be trying to use you to make more money on you with unneccesary treatments, get a new doctor, and 3) I think your stats are off. I think your research is old or somebody did some poor research--like a population of 10 patients or something like that. Angioplasty does not routinely re-occlude within months. Is it technically remotely possible, yes, but routine, absolutely not. Also stents do not routinely re-occlude that soon either. Perhaps your data is from a time previous to drug-eleuting stents,which are stents with anti-clot meds built into them to prevent clots from forming around the stents. Are they fool proof? No. Are the overall performance records better than what you read? Yes.

You need to know which vessels are blocked and what percentage of blockage you have in each one. Call the doc who did the recommending and ask that. If you're going to get another opinion from anyone, you need to know that information. That's the info that is driving your doc's recommmendation, and I have to tell you your doc's recommendation that you have the least invasive: angioplasty vs. bypass is a good one. During angioplasty when your doc has a better view of what's really going on, he may decide you do need stents,and he may decide you really have to have bypass. You have got to find a doctor you trust for this. Believe me, your doc does not want to do this procedure to you over and over, because just as you are at some risk during the procedure, and he wants to minimize your risk, your doc is also at risk during the procedure-- on knicking your vessel and causing you some massive internal life-threatining bleed. So if you don't trust your doctor to want to minimize your risk in your health, at least realize he wants to minimize his own risk of potential professional culpability for potential damages to you. The less times he has to access those vessels, the less his risk of professional error is. Let's just say he knows it's to his own advantage to be inside your heart vessels the least amount of time and the least number of times possible. And if your doc can spare you open heart surgery, well I think you undersand that's to your advantage. The only way to know for sure is to try the angio and/or stents. It is VASTLY to your advantage to try to avoid open heart surgery, or bypass. Your risks multiply almost exponentially when you move to that procedure, and your recovery time is also much longer and harder. With angioplasty and stents, you would routinely stay in hospital overnight and have about a 2 week recovery period. With bypass, the absolute minimum you can stay in hospital is 3 days and that's rare. It's usually 5-6 days and you can look forward to 2-3 months of active recovery, and then really and truly, no matter what anyone tells you, your body can take up to a whole year to feel completely normal again. Your doc is doing you a great favor if he is trying to prevent you from having bypass. It's not a light thing to go through. Is it fairly common these days? Yes, but that doesn't make it any easier to recover from. As for your being able to walk comfortably without fatigue, don't go by that. Depending on the vessels and the amount of blockage, you could be walking around feeling just fine and whistling a snappy tune and drop over dead. One of those vessels is commonly called the "widow maker," for that very reason. I think you just have to go get a second opinion.