Heart Bypass - Normal recovery Vs Abnormal

[email hidden] (Nancy) wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

My father is a 75 year old man that has been a smoker for over 50 years and was diagnosed with
diabetes 2 years ago. He is not on insulin and controls the diabetes with medication and diet. On
October 27 my father had an aortic aneurysm repaired which involved the aorta below the renal
arteries down into the iliac arteries. Post-op he ballooned with retained fluid and was put on
Lasix to reduce his water retention. On November 1, he was in great pain in the chest and his
blood values showed signs of being close to a heart attack. On November 6 a cardiac
catheterization was performed and a blockage was found on his left descending coronary artery. On
November 14 he was to have angioplasty but they could not unblock the artery and went directly to
bypass surgery. He had a double involving the left anterior descending and obtuse marginal
coronary arteries. On the second day post-op, the chest tube was removed but he still showed fluid
in his chest and another chest tube was put in for another 24 hours.

I know he has been through a great deal and his body needs to repair all this damaged tissue. I
have been told by others that you will be amazed by the change in your father. He will have so
much more energy but this is not happening. He seems to be in discomfort all the time and sounds
raspy. His main discomfort is where the chest tube was put in and of course his chest. His throat
is raspy from the endotracheal tube (I think?) Am I asking for too much or is this a normal
recovery for a person with his history?

It is not usual.

Quoted message said:

He just doesn't seem to have the energy to start walking around other than bathroom trips. What
kind of time line should I be looking at with regards to "normal activities"?

Would suggest more frequent follow-ups with his cardiologist while he is having symptoms.

Humbly,

Andrew
--
Dr. Andrew B. Chung, MD/PhD
Board-Certified Cardiologist
heartmdphd.comheartmdphd.comOpen ↗

Nancy said:

I have been told by others that you will be amazed by the change in your father. He will have so
much more energy but this is not happening.

Even though he's 75, he probably seems (or will seem to be) more like 85 or 90 years old, both
physically and from a personality point of view, for several months after all these operations.
You're going to have to wait until 6 months go to get a really good feeling for the degree to which
he will return to his pre-operative personality, state-of-mind, and physical capacity.

Quoted message said:

He seems to be in discomfort all the time and sounds raspy. His main discomfort is where the chest
tube was put in and of course his chest. His throat is raspy from the endotracheal tube (I think?)

This is quite common for someone that's been on a respirator. You'd think that they'd have figured
out how to build a more "patient-friendly" trache tube by now, as well as take better care when
inserting it.

Quoted message said:

Am I asking for too much or is this a normal recovery for a person with his history? He just
doesn't seem to have the energy to start walking around other than bathroom trips. What kind of
time line should I be looking at with regards to "normal activities"?

Again, you've got to wait 6 months, and probably more like 9, for the recovery to really set-in.
You're just 1 week after having open-chest surgery (was it beating-heart bypass or on-pump?). You
have yet to see him at his worst (both physically and psychologically). That will probably happen in
a few weeks and last a month or two. Look for signs of depression, sadness, and tiredness.

They should be asking him to caugh and take deep breaths at this point. Don't be surprised if he
caughs up some wicked phlem - better to get that out - that's the point of caughing.

Might be a good idea to get him on a diruetic to prevent fluid buildup in the lungs. They probably
have him on medication to reduce blood pressure. This is sort-of a gut reaction by the MD's to
reduce the strain on the coronary arteries, but they tend to keep to BP reducers going longer than
they need to. After a month or two if he's still overly tired a good part of that is probably the BP
reduction drugs.

Myo Cardium <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

Again, you've got to wait 6 months, and probably more like 9, for the recovery to really set-in.
You're just 1 week after having open-chest surgery (was it beating-heart bypass or on-pump?).

It was a beating heart bypass.

Quoted message said:

You have yet to see him at his worst (both physically and psychologically). That will probably
happen in a few weeks and last a month or two. Look for signs of depression, sadness, and
tiredness.

He already is showing these signs. He was expecting to be in the hospital for only a week and it is
now a month. He exhibited these signs after his aneurysm surgery and they seem to be worse. It's
like he has a fear of going home because he doesn't know if he can cope with things like showering,
getting out of a flat bed etc. On the other hand, he desperately wants to get back to his house
where the heat is warmer and he can do things at his own pace.

Quoted message said:

Might be a good idea to get him on a diruetic to prevent fluid buildup in the lungs. They probably
have him on medication to reduce blood pressure. This is sort-of a gut reaction by the MD's to
reduce the strain on the coronary arteries, but they tend to keep to BP reducers going longer than
they need to. After a month or two if he's still overly tired a good part of that is probably the
BP reduction drugs.

They have him on both of these drugs. He doesn't like the lasix as it makes him get up too often
in the night. He doesn't get a good nights sleep because he is always waking up to go to the
bathroom. I think they have reduced his dosage because of his complaining. My father is not a
very good patient. If he doesn't want to do something, it's like pulling teeth and dealing with a
five year old.

Another concern I have is that he sometimes still feels the need to be on oxygen. If he has been
sitting up eating, then sits in a chair for 15 minutes, add a bathroom break and then he wants to
lye down and have the oxygen handy - "just in case" - he needs it. Should I be looking into getting
portable oxygen for when he goes home?

Thank you for your reply. Your message has been very informative.