I just want to add that my mention of “exploring the options” was based on the general principle that every patient should be making informed decisions. Needless to say, if your doctors are recommending bypass, it’s very likely to be the best or only option. But who knows.
In my case, when I had my first angiogram, I was told that depending on what they found they might pop in a stent. What they found was stenosis in multiple arteries, and sent me back to my hospital room (I was there following a mild heart attack) with a recommendation for bypass surgery. After educating myself somewhat and pushing back, it turned out that stenting was possible after all. Your case of course may be entirely different but in your position I would want to have a clear understanding of why stenting is not an option, or what the downside would be if you went that route.
I’ve been racking my brain trying to remember certain buzzwords that I had come across during my researches back when I was going through this, because they were sort of key to some pertinent information I had found. I finally got it. One term was “fractional flow reserve” (FFR). The idea here is that pressure-guided stent placement, where the pressure drop across arterial blockages is measured as a guide for stent placement, is more effective than placement according to X-ray images, and the important point here is that such techniques are enhancing the effectiveness of stenting to the extent that it’s becoming more competitive with bypass surgery. Modern drug-eluding stents are also effective in reducing previously seen side effects. So stenting is becoming more and more viable.
Here’s a brief note about a clinical trial (FAME) now in its third major phase, and still ongoing as far as I know, whose specific intent is to compare the effectiveness of stenting (Percutaneous Coronary Intervention (PCI) = stenting) with bypass surgery, when the stenting is guided by FFR. FAME is another buzzword/acronym that sticks with me, because the hospital I was in was a participant in one of the FAME trials. The point of it all being that it seems that as time goes on, the relatively non-invasive nature of stenting is becoming a more viable alternative to bypass.
Again, I’m not suggesting anything more than you should ask questions and get a better understanding of what, if any, options there may be. Any good doctor should welcome the opportunity to more fully explain the situation.
Best of luck. You’ll get through this! 