KEY POINTS:
They call it the Big Zipper Club - and after undergoing heart bypass surgery within 12 months of each other, the Stuart brothers consider themselves fully paid-up members.
Donald (59), Ian (57) and Pat (53) can compare notes and scars after a year of surgery in which which they virtually played musical beds in Auckland's Mercy Hospital.
"We're considering asking for a family discount, to be honest," joked Auckland journalist Ian, who had his triple bypass a month ago.
Pat, from Tauranga, had a triple bypass in September.
Eldest brother Donald, from Waihi Beach, trumped them both with a quadruple bypass after suffering a heart attack late last year.
That triggered alarm bells for the other two brothers, who went for tests.
"Donald was given between two and 12 months to live," said Ian. "Myself and Pat decided to go for angiograms. We were both told we had serious heart disease that needed to be urgently repaired. I don't think I would have lasted more than three or four years."
The Stuarts are no strangers to heart problems.
Ian said their grandfather was selected for the All Blacks but was sidelined with heart problems, and their parents both died of heart disease.
He said going through the experience of heart surgery together had brought the brothers closer.
"I've been staying with both of my brothers, and they have been fantastic. We're lucky to have such a supportive family.
"We don't know what the prognosis is, but it's taken away the uncertainty. It's all life-saving stuff."
Pat said the change in his life since having the surgery was "difficult to describe".
"I was having angina attacks four or five times a day. I used to smoke.
"Now I have no angina and I walk 6 or 8km a day."
He said he would be urging the younger generations of his family to watch their health and to have regular check-ups to avoid the family's genetic disposition to heart disease.
The brothers are planning to spend Christmas with their other brother and sister, who live in Christchurch.
Pat said a "hearty lunch" would be on the menu. "You can't be good all the time."
Heart surgeon Dr Paget Milsom, who operated on two of the brothers, said he had never heard of three siblings receiving bypass surgery in such a short space of time. "It's very uncommon," he said.
Milsom said around 2000 coronary bypasses were done in New Zealand each year and it was typical for heart problems to run in families and be revealed by angina.
