paddles. I had only been "gone" for 30 seconds. They, then removed the catheter, put a binding on the "wound" along with a 10 pound sandbag to keep the artery from opening up. Then, they moved me to the Coronary Care Unit. I wore an oxygen mask, an intravenous tube, and about 8 electrodes taped to various parts of my chest. Somehow, I had the feeling that I wouldn't be going home the next day. Indeed, I would be there for 5 days. The second day my cardiologist visited me with the results of my angiogram. I had two completely blocked major arteries. Luckily, their function had been taken over by two smaller "sympathetic" arteries. Nature's bypass? I was stunned and almost passed out. Sometime in the past I had had a heart attack. It was impossible to tell when. It could have been last month or years ago. He told me that all of the peak bagging and exercising had prevented it from being a major, fatal heart attack. He also told me that the aspirin I had been taking everyday had probably saved my life! Luckily, at this point, he feels that my cholesterol problem can be treated with medicines. It was important to keep the "sympathetic" arteries from blocking. Before I left the hospital, I was given another stress EKG. This time, after 5 days of medication, diet, and close supervision, I did better. I went 12 minutes. I also had a thallium procedure done, which takes radiation photos of the heart. This showed a large scar on the surface of the heart and that it appeared to be about a year old. When I went home, it was Easter Vacation and, as a result, I had some time off from my teaching job. It took a while to get used to the medications. At first, I had terrifying headaches and sleepless nights. I started moderate walking and bicycling right away and this helped. And everyday, I take 10 pills in the morning, 3 at noon, 3 at dinnertime, and 2 before bed. I'm grateful. They seem to be working and the headaches have gone away. I'm not writing this to make you feel bad. I don't want to frighten you. I don't feel frightened at all. But, I know that most peakbaggers engage in a terribly strenuous activity. I know most of us are professionals, with sometimes stressful occupations, and that we tend to be middle-aged. I also know that my doctor listened to my heart for years and said everything was fine. I didn't even have high blood pressure. I had given up drinking and smoking decades ago. There are only two ways my condition could have become known, a stress EKG or, eventually, a massive, possibly fatal heart attack. In a way, it explains something I've always wondered about. I was always a slow hiker. Regardless of conditioning, I tended to bring up the rear. I really believe that I have been hiking a long time with my condition. The "sympathetic" arteries are only 1/2 to 1/4 the size of the main arteries. That means that regardless

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