My father had this operation in 12/2004. He was over 80 yrs old at that time and he had high blood pressure plus he was a diabetic. His heart condition was bad and the doctor said he should try the operation (2 out of 3 blood vessels were blocked). He had the operation in the Prince of Wales Hospital and the operation was quite smooth. The doctor simply opened up a small wound in his leg and put the 'stand' through the blood vessel. He did not feel any pain at all.
Of course, our family debated about the pros and cons of the operation and we decided that it was worthwhile to try. He stayed in the hospital for a total of 5 days and he is quite ok.
After the operation, we made sure that he did not take any greasy, oily, deep fried food. Meat, esp red meat was reduced to the min. We also bought him some 'ling chi' pill to eat as the chinese doc said it is good to blood flow.