and I thought I was over the hump . . .

I'm a 53 year old white male in better than average shape, (or so I thought) and I just recently had a stent put in my RCA. This is my forth stent, but this one came as a complete surprise. 

 My first introduction to coronary artery disease came at age 42. I was (and still am although not active in the field) a firefighter in a major metropolitan area in the northeast US. I suffered an MI 3 days after fighting a fire, with symptoms coming and going for the three days prior. The day of my actual MI I was sitting in front of a computer alone in a real estate office and experienced "that" pain again, only this time it didn't go away it got worse.

 The pain started between my shoulder blades and spread across my upper back. It went away in the past , but this time it radiated down my arms (yep, both arms) into my wrists and up the middle of my chest. I decided at this point that going to the hospital would be a prudent move. I naturally drove myself with a large cup of Dunkin Donuts coffee to keep me company. I arrived at the ER got out of my car and headed toward the door. This is when I experienced a pain in my lower left jaw that I hope never pays me another visit. Once in the ER I was hooked up and the on duty cardiologist read my EKG. The morphine couldn't have come at a better time, as it was here he told me I was having an MI. He administered TPA and in 20  minutes my color was back (I was grey for three days, this alone should have been a tip-off). I was transported to a hospital in town where I was cathed and received my 1st stent (12/19/97 bare metal, placed in my LAD). Six months later while walking, I experienced some burning pain in my throat. I was in Cardiac rehab and I mentioned this. After some investigating using the treadmill it was thought I should be admitted, this was when I received my 2nd stent (6/12/98 bare metal,circumflex). A little over 2&1/2 years later I had another small MI and and received my 3rd stent (2/6/01, bare metal, LAD).  It was during this procedure that they spotted a slight (40%) narrowing in my RCA. I was asked to be part of a study, which I opted for. It was called "reversal". Phizer <sp> ran the double blind study. As a result I've been on 80mg of Lipitor since then.

 I exercise daily and have for the last 10 years. I try and eat right (not always successful) My coffee intake (light with cream and spleda) is probably more than it should be, but I thought I was over the hump. About 6 weeks ago (9/11/08) I was admitted again, after a positive stress test, where I was subsequently cathed and stented. (9/11/08, bare metal, RCA) It was the original 40% narrowed area from '01, that was now at 85%. I don't smoke, have no family history, my chol is currently 118,  HDL 46, LDL 57, Trig 75. I've been on a bit of a roller coaster as this is throwing me a bit more than it probably should. I'm back in cardiac rehab and I plan on making some more changes . . . I'm just not sure what those will be yet.