How many here have had a "CABG"? (Bypass Surgery)

[stillontheroad]

Certainly age and the shape you were in before your surgery is a factor. At age 79, I had a quad bypass surgery and a double ablation last February. By June we were back up at our campsite and spent the summer exercising by mowing lawns, Clearing bush and hiking. We started slowly and by October, They did a final rehab assessment that showed me operating at 104% of expectations. Even tried tubing in the summer (got dumped a couple of times)but when I came to the surface and still could breath, I was good to go from there on. The left side of my chest seemed to take longer to be pain free. I found out later that they actually took an artery from within that chest muscle to use in the surgery. That is why it healed more slowly. (Just a note... I had to have a pacemaker 18 months before the Quad bypass). Getting back into full shape (meaning 2 to 3 mile hikes, swimming, lifting and heavy strenuous activities) will take a little longer. To that end we have joined a gym to work out a couple of times at least per week over the winter. r ...pardon me but my goal is to be water skiing again and heading out for another long trip with our 5r.

[BandJCarm]

Overall impression is how amazing today's medicine has come, to keep all us old, sick farts alive for so long.

Great thing.

Expensive. But great.

[stillontheroad]

The main advantage we have in Canada (Ontario specifically) is that my cost was $0.00. That included at least three ambulance trips, all hospital stays, all surgical costs (6 hour surgery) all follow up, all rehab and gym costs including counselling. It also includes unlimited follow up with my GP and cardiologist as well as pacemaker monitoring. From diagnosis on early Saturday to ICU was a three day span. As an aside, my rehab people continually asked about depression. I never experienced any but apparently many people who have bypass surgery do. For my part, I always looked forward to our next camping trip. That kept me positive.

[Celkalee]

Hello to all you who have endured and survived medical challenges. I am one of those nurses you may not have noticed checking your heart sounds, draining your chest tubes and regulating your IV's. For every single one, Bravo. I so admire your positive attitudes and enthusiasm to get on with life, to load up that RV and take off. That said, only you know how you are responding to your prescribed treatment. Take advantage of every opportunity to recuperate and heal. The more you learn about your health the better you will be. Permit the pro's to help you with that. As several have mentioned, many years have been granted to those who had good outcomes. Lots of good advice here from those who have had the surgery and are getting on with their lives. Don't rush, don't over-do but do challenge yourself. (under supervision For the unfortunate gentleman who has chosen to not recover, this is likely a clinical situational depression and needs to be addressed. It is not unusual I might add. Please make an appointment with the family doctor and get some advice on how to and where to start helping him. There are no easy answers but sometimes just facing the obvious can help. Often, a close friend or clergy person can initiate the conversation where a family member just cannot tread. Best wishes to everyone. I have seen every scenario over 44 years of active nursing. I have met the most amazing people and have been blessed to know that many of them are indeed Road Warriors!

[herbike]

Originally Posted by Celkalee

Hello to all you who have endured and survived medical challenges. I am one of those nurses . I have seen every scenario over 44 years of active nursing. I have met the most amazing people and have been blessed to know that many of them are indeed Road Warriors!

Celkalee, That is a very nice statement, I found it touching even though I have not had the health problems many of these folks have. It's so nice to hear from medical people with so much passion for their patients and their out come.

I'm only 73, (74 in Feb) and have only had one back surgery and Prostrate Cancer surgery so I'm away behind these folks with the heart problems.
Thank God for that.
My wife goes in Friday for breast cancer surgery with very high hopes of very little problems. Her team of GP, Patient Navigator, hospital prep staff and Surgeon
have got her attitude pumped. She has been telling people about this like a little kid waiting for Christmas, no depressing thoughts on her part. Her surgeon told her she will have to wait two weeks to go camping after surgery. She's only 71 and will not set down long enough to let much get her down.

Good health and Merry Christmas to all.

[Captn.Ken]

Can't add anything new. Just know that after 4 bypasses 6 years ago life has been so very good to me. My wonderful wife had her double bypass 22 years ago and is still going strong. My surgeon said God was in charge. He (the surgeon)
was just the assigned plumber.

[sasch]

Double bi-pass at 55 years old in 2005 - surgeon told wife if I kept smoking I'd be back in 3-4 years for another - holding a pillow on my chest in case of a cough was enough to help me to quit smoking for good. At 6 weeks I could finally sleep on my side and right around 4 to 6 months before I no longer was experiencing any pain but remained cautious to around 1st year anniversary. A chest X-ray at 6 years showed I had broken 4 of the 5 wires used to hold my sternum together which is why I believe at 6 weeks after surgery my chest was still "clicking". At 6 weeks they had taken all restrictions off until I told them about the clicking then they put me back on restrictions for another 3 months. Last stress test 2 months ago "A" OK and very thankful.

[TitanMike]

Originally Posted by BandJCarm

Overall impression is how amazing today's medicine has come, to keep all us old, sick farts alive for so long.

Great thing.

Expensive. But great.

So true. My Dad had a series of heart attacks over a 10 year period of time and at the time about the only treatment was a week or so in the hospital, some primitive blood pressure reduction med's, and giving up all the usual activities that involved any physical involvement.

He died when I was 19. If the same treatment was available then he would most likely have lived to meet my wonderful wife (who passed last year from Pancreatic Cancer) my Son and Daughter, as well as my 5 grandkids, the youngest of which just started college this last fall.

I was lucky in that I was in great physical shape for my age. Only 20# heavier than when I separated from the Army in 1967. Able to put in a full day's work in the yard and could easily lift 150# from ground to truck bed. Unfortunately, as I said before, I inherited my problem from my Dad.

As for Cardio Rehab, I attempted to contact the people who run the program in my area. Nobody got back to me so I decided not to wait. I monitor my "vitals" on my own (except EKG) and have a monthly average BP of 125/72 and a resting pulse rate of 56 (which actually goes lower when Long Range Target shooting).

I'm kind of a "Lead, Follow, or get out of my way" guy and when the Cardiac Rehab people didn't get back to me I decided to not let that stop me. I have a full outline of the exercises and a good line of communication with my body. Like I said earlier, not my first bout of physical rehab.

I appreciate all the sharing of personal experiences and many of my questions have been answered.

BTW, just got back from half a day of walking. With the exception of some lingering chest discomfort which is only muscle/skeletal "leftovers" of the surgery I feel better every day. Main complaint now is that all the roads out of the area where I live are closed to me and my travel trailer by snow/ice. I figured I'd be south of the snow line by now but it looks like I'll have to wait until March.

As for my outlook for the future? Can't say. It's not here yet so I'm not worrying.

[TitanMike]

Originally Posted by Celkalee

I am one of those nurses you may not have noticed checking your heart sounds, draining your chest tubes and regulating your IV's.

Where were you during my four days in the Cardiac ICU? The nurses I had clearly wanted to be somewhere else and not doing what they were.

I was so irritated I filed an official complaint with the hospital management as well as letting my Surgeon and Cardiologist know what was going on.

One of the RN's was so incompetent he allowed my chest tube to spray blood all over the Nurse Practitioner who was supervising their removal AFTER she warned him it would happen if he didn't pay attention.

Then there was the group of nurses that would gather at my room's door and bitch about how their next Union Contract didn't give them everything they wanted.

[tomkatb]

Had a triple 14 years ago.

The operation is not that bad. My time in the hospital was awful.

First an old drunk with diabetes next to me. Listened to religious programs 24 seven. Yeah, he was hard of hearing.

The next room mate moaned at 90 decibels every 60 seconds. I wanted to sleep. I demanded several sleeping pills the second night.

My chest was sort of irritating for a couple of months. No drugs. No big deal.

Day one home I started walking. Got 300 feet from home the first day. Longer walks every day. I was walking the unruly dog in a month.

Went to rehab. Walked the treadmill with a monitor. Boring. It made me feel confident, not scared. So, it helped mentally, likely more important.

Just be cautious. You body will tell you what to do. Little pain flashes to this day in the chest. No big deal. But, that was a hell of a cut!

Only long term irritant is my blood flow is wonky when I lie on my left side too long.

They gave me the vest thing with handles to help the laughing pain. It hurts for a while. And, my wife is funny.

[stillontheroad]

Originally Posted by Celkalee

Hello to all you who have endured and survived medical challenges. I am one of those nurses you may not have noticed checking your heart sounds, draining your chest tubes and regulating your IV's. For every single one, Bravo. I so admire your positive attitudes and enthusiasm to get on with life, to load up that RV and take off. That said, only you know how you are responding to your prescribed treatment. Take advantage of every opportunity to recuperate and heal. The more you learn about your health the better you will be. Permit the pro's to help you with that. As several have mentioned, many years have been granted to those who had good outcomes. Lots of good advice here from those who have had the surgery and are getting on with their lives. Don't rush, don't over-do but do challenge yourself. (under supervision For the unfortunate gentleman who has chosen to not recover, this is likely a clinical situational depression and needs to be addressed. It is not unusual I might add. Please make an appointment with the family doctor and get some advice on how to and where to start helping him. There are no easy answers but sometimes just facing the obvious can help. Often, a close friend or clergy person can initiate the conversation where a family member just cannot tread. Best wishes to everyone. I have seen every scenario over 44 years of active nursing. I have met the most amazing people and have been blessed to know that many of them are indeed Road Warriors!

When we are patients, we sometimes do not realize and appreciate all of the amazing things that our nurses do for us. I can remember (still in la la land) in the ICU. Tubes everywhere and especially that breathing tube down my throat. My mouth was so dry it seemed caked. my nurse (bless her or him) offered me a small piece of ice. It was glorious. The second day (now she) e me supported me with lots of encouragement (you can do it, take it slow, good, good) to ease myself out of bed and with her on my arm and a walker walk 70 feet and back. From that point it was a continual road to wellness again with the support my wife and family and a long list of nurses before my release then home care nurses and rehab support persons. Thank you all. You are truly appreciated. Celebrating my 80th birthday soon and this year of recovery has made me clearly understand that without the dedicated help of the whole health care system, I would not be looking at many more years of happy camping and generally enjoying life and family. Thank you.

[mdstudey]

Originally Posted by Celkalee

Hello to all you who have endured and survived medical challenges. I am one of those nurses you may not have noticed checking your heart sounds, draining your chest tubes and regulating your IV's.

I know who you are. I bet you are like the one nurse who actually became my advocate when I was moved from the ICU to a holding area until a room "opened" up. I actually had a nurse who complained to me because he had to hold me down and was yelled at because I was half way out of bed. Husband told me about the doctor becoming ballistic because I was half way out of bed. I could not comment because I had a breathing tube in my throat. I thank you for being such a caring compassionate nurse and need more like you.

I started having chest pain, sweating and puking 2 1/2 years ago. I told my husband he needed to get me to the hospital or he was going to wake up to a dead wife. Within 10 minutes of getting me in the hospital I went into full cardiac arrest, was brought back only to go back and did it again. After bringing me back a second time they knocked me out and got me into the cath lab and got a stent into my heart. My cardio said I blew out the right side of my heart and he had to repair it. No they did not have to open me up. They did have to put a breathing tube in because I refused to breath on my own and then placed me in a coma for 3 1/2 days to keep me on a chiller in order to reduce any brain injury from the cardiac arrest. I will find out on Jan 3rd if I will have a defib installed. Only 40% infraction rate. I have had chest pain on and off since the initial heart attack.

I am the 2nd lucky one of the kids to inherit my fathers heart issue. The other one died at 53 in his sleep.

In reading your stories you have given me some hope and understanding. I went into depression afterwards and was actually told by one professional that I needed to get over it because I was alive. No suggestion of cardio rehab and other health issue that keeps me from exercising like I should, not to mention I have a hard time breathing. I am hoping to get a bike for Christmas to take pressure off the knees.

I hope everyone would learn about heart disease. I always thought since I was a girl and it was mostly the males in the family that had issues I dodged a bullet. No so. Heart disease is an equal opportunity disease.

[newcowg]

I think you will get a different ans. from each person. I never had one iota of pain in chest area. Leg bugged me for couple months, especially on surgery day. Under at five am, back in room at 2 pm, made me walk halls 4 pm. Have been like a new man since

[Retired JSO]

I had a quad bypass in 2006. I’m now 67 and aim to enjoy whatever time the new pipes allow. BTW, my grafts were removed from my left leg. About a 2” incision just inside the knee and a 1” incision just above the left ankle. The vein was removed with a “core” type procedure resulting with no leg discomfort. After 5 weeks sleeping in a recliner, my chest healed enough to finally sleep in bed.

[BobSparky]

Like you, I had 5 bypasses on 9/15. I came home 4 days after surgery. Like you, I still have off and on pain (mild) and am nearing the end of my cardiac rehab. To me, this is much needed due to the constant monitoring during exercise and the variety of exercise. We took our 5er out for a weekend on week eight and it went well. In today's world, all the hard work is done for you electrically. As others have said, my left side was tender due to the mammary artery they used on one of the bypasses but gets better every day. I have lost 14 lbs. and am back to my high school weight of 175.
We plan on leaving for Florida mid January and will continue my exercise as best I can.
Hats off to all of the doctors, nurses ( the best) and staff at the Lancaster General Hospital for giving me a second lease on life. God bless them all...

[olemax]

I had a quad March 3, 2015. All went well, and I had minimal problems afterward. I'm in pretty good shape for a 63 yr. old, had been working out at the gym, and cycling up until I started really having problems.
The sternum discomfort lasted for six months, and was noticeable for up to a year later, if I did anything that caused a strain on the are of the incision.
In my case, it seems to have gone away after I started doing some exercises that actually were uncomfortable, such as bench presses. Now, at almost three years out, I hardly notice anything except the large numb patch of skin on the left side of my chest. Physically, I'm 100 percent now.
My advice is to follow Dr.'s instructions for the first six months, stay active and do as much as you reasonably can, being careful to not do any damage.

Best wishes.
Ole max

[Rokslinger]

This Friday will be the 10th anniversary of my triple CABG or OPCAB (Beating heart surgery). I was "lucky"enough to find a 90% blockage through a routine physical and progressive testing. I never had a heart attack. I had most of my saphenous veins removed the year before so it was a challenge finding enough vein to do the job. I was up and walking the next day and went to cardio rehab. I elected to stay with cardio rehab for nearly 10 years up until last May when we left for Alaska and stayed until September. My pain and sensations pretty much left after about 3 months after surgery and by then I was just about normally active. I am 72 now and do heavy yard work, ( felling trees, hauling bricks and lumber, building and of course maintaining and driving our Forester. I feel extremely fortunate to have had my life extended and thank my maker every day for the wonders I have seen in that time.

[Jim34RL]

I had double bypass surgery on SEPT 12, 2001. I was 52 when I had this surgery, I went to my doctor complaining that I could not complete my 50 min cardio work out with out being extremely tired after my weight lifting exercise. I had 95% blockage in the left artery and 90% in one other artery. I did go through rehab and I still walk today trying to do 5 miles a day plus 10 flights of stairs every day.

In the extreme cold weather when temps are in the teens or below I will ride a recumbent bike for 50 to 60 min's. Plus the 10 flights of steps and 2 to 3 miles of indoor walking.

After I had the double by pass and was fully recovered after 6 months I tried doing my weightlifting exercises again. My last bench press was 6-months after this surgery. My sternum was hurting and seem like it wanted to pull a part when I was bench pressing. I was only at 225 LBS nowhere near my 300 LBS that I was doing before. Doc told me to stop and I did not need to lift anymore.

One of the best fitness trackers in the market place today is the FITBIT Charge 2. As this will monitor your heart rate and exercise activity all day long. I have used others in my 16 years since surgery such as Polar Heart rate monitors but the Fitbit to me is the best one. I have linked this to my phone and the app keeps track of my day long activity.

Good Luck.

[RobnCari]

The night before Labor day after supper I started having pressure in the chest radiating up into my neck and jaw. I had my wife take me in, they told me "not a heart attack but not right either". While sitting in the exam room started having waves of nausea the nurse got the Dr. and I was immediately on my way to the Cath Lab. Had a Stent placed. Afterwards thinking it was over they came in and informed me I needed a CABG X4 or 5. I'm thinking... I'm 50 year old non smoker, not over weight, not out of shape, no family history. What gives? You never know until you know. I had the CABG X5 on Sept. 7 Luckily I work in the hospital I was in and it is one of the leading Cardiac hospitals in the country. I knew I was in good hands and I did whatever they asked. I was walking the next day, tubes and all (very painful). Went home on the 12th. Started the Cardio Rehab 3 weeks later. Worked out at home or rehab six days a week. Went back to unrestricted work on Dec. 4. I'm currently in the cardio maintenance program. The nurses are there and available if I have questions or problems but I'm not monitored or structured by them. I still have "pins and needles" on the side of my foot of the harvest leg, some numbness as well but getting better. My chest feels pretty much normal the incision is pressure sensitive and numb. The exercise definitely has a positive impact on the healing process. I thank the Doctors and Nurses that were involved in my journey every chance I get!
As a side note we ordered our R-pod my second week home and it was delivered the third week of November. Used it Thanksgiving weekend (520 miles round trip) can't wait for spring!

[AdamKam]

I joined the zipper club 17 years ago with a quadruple bypass. I was fortunate to have a beating heart bypass without any need to have a blood transfusion, I was only in the hospital 3 nights. I was 69 at the time, now I am 86 and still hauling. I was very fortunate in having one of the few doctors that use this procedure. Also I had only 4 1/4 inch incisions on my legs to procure the veins. Glad my doctor didn't decide to specialize in breast implants. The sad part, a friend who was to sit with my wife had a fatal heart attack in the hospital parking lot and the last thing he told me that his doctor told him he had the heart of a 25 year old. You never know, so make the most of your life and remember a moving target is hard to hit so keep moving.