Patient Stories: Meet others who have experienced stent implants.

Les Langen
Family history of heart disease

Les Langen's story is all-too familiar: hereditary high cholesterol, family history of heart disease - for many, the future is less than perfect. Les was in that group.

Two months into a new job, Les developed what he thought was a bad cold. When it wouldn't go away, he visited his physician who decided to give him a stress test. The results were not good: a blockage was discovered. Shortly thereafter, Les was treated with a coronary balloon catheter.

A few years later, his family history caught up with him again: another series of tests, another diagnosis - cardiac bypass surgery. Les ultimately had to have a triple-bypass. After that, Les decided to do a better job of managing his health. He started working out three to five times a week, changed his eating habits and adopted a regime of taking an aspirin along with his cholesterol-lowering medication.

Those moves were right on. But then Les noticed he was having difficulty climbing stairs. He decided to meet with his cardiologist. After a nuclear stress test, doctors realized the bottom of his heart wasn't getting any blood. While coronary stents aren't for everyone, Les' physicians deemed him a candidate for a coronary stent. He was immediately scheduled for an angiogram, which resulted in him having a drug-eluting stent placed in a blocked coronary artery. Use of coronary stents carry risks, including the potential for serious injuries, side effects and even death.

With Les's history of cardiology incidents and his family history, he knows he's not completely out of the woods. But he is thankful his doctors can use that information to their advantage and map options if something arises.