[Conservative til I die]

I could be wrong on which procedure, but my grandmother had some sort of bypass surgery, I think one that involves balloons that they use to clear arteries or something. She was in her early 70s and a picture of health and no heart attack or history of heart problems on my father's side of the family. She's 83 now and had her kidney removed due to cancer and is still going strong, which is like most of my dad's family, with the old folks usually lasting into their late 80s and early 90s.

So, from what I can tell, there doesn't have to be something catastrophic to happen to require a surgery like this.

[Eva]

There is a huge difference between elective by-pass and emergency by-pass. They say that Bill Clinton suffered a heart attack, has a blockage and will undergo quadruple by-pass. That is huge and very, very serious. Of course since this is the first incidence of heart problems, it may not be as serious as it sounds, but if it was my husband, I would be very concerned.