DEAR DR. GOTT: In December 2004, I found out I had a coronary heart blockage, and my doctor wanted me to have an angioplasty.

I didn’t feel good about this procedure at my age (61). Then I heard about chelation. In January 2005, I began treatment and I am feeling great. I can really tell the difference in my health. My blood pressure is under control, and I have lost nine pounds.

There are a lot of people who feel this treatment is an alternative to surgery. I know it has worked for me.

DEAR READER> Before changing my tune and endorsing your position, I need to know if, in fact, tests have confirmed that your coronary-artery blockages have decreased. Simply feeling better after chelation therapy is not a useful end point in determining the effectiveness of therapy. You need to have a coronary angiogram to assess the status of your cardiac arteries. Until then, I wouldn’t favour chelation over coronary surgery.

To give you related information, I am sending you copies of my Health Reports “Coronary Artery Disease” and “An Informed Approach To Surgery.” Other readers who would like copies should send a long, self-addressed, stamped envelope and $2 for each report to Newsletter, PO Box 167, Wickliffe, OH 44092. Be sure to mention the title.

DEAR DR. GOT$> I’ve been suffering with a chronic sinus infection since 1999. I have had three surgeries for nasal polyps and a deviated septum. Since the first surgery, I have been plagued by an infection that does not respond to antibiotics.

I am being treated by a very fine specialist whom I respect and have confidence in. A culture sent to the hospital lab reports finding a type of staph bacteria as the source of the infection. I have also been examined at a well-known teaching medical centre in our area, and nothing positive resulted.

I need both knees replaced because I suffer from advanced arthritis. My age is 77.

Can I still have the knee replacements done while this infection is present in the sinuses? Could I have picked this staph infection up in the hospital because of the first surgery on my sinuses?

DEAR READ<$> Chronic staph sinusitis can be a challenge. Whether or not you can be cleared for orthopedic surgery is an issue that your physicians — especially your surgeon — have to determine. I don’t have enough information (or training) to solve this problem.

If I were in your shoes, I’d put the surgery on hold, undergo an extended treatment with an antistaph antibiotic and reopen the discussion after several weeks. I would avoid elective surgery until my sinuses are clear.

Your chronic infection could, in fact, be a re-infection that you picked up in the hospital — all the more reason to delay surgery until you are healthy. To give you related information, I am sending you a copy of my Health Report “An Informed Approach To Surgery.” Other readers who would like a copy should send a long, self-addressed, stamped envelope and $2 to Newsletter, PO Box 167, Wickliffe, OH 44092. Be sure to mention the title.