New to this forum. I had a heart attack 7 months ago, triple bypass a week later. I’m interested to hear from people that have experienced similar and how they are recovering, set backs, how you are feeling? Any symptoms you might have or if you are fully recovered.
Thanks
Hi Jono
I had a HA too last April
Had one stent . Feeling a lot better now but struggled in the early days with anxiety .
Lots of people on this forum have had bypass surgery so feel sure they will give you advice and support.
Welcome to our forum full
Of fellow hearties all with different experiences .
I found when I was struggling people on here really helped me to be strong and to
Come to terms with my HA.
Hope we can help you too,
Take care x
Not quite the same but a friend and myself needed triple and quadruple bypasses respectively. Ours were elective surgeries - his following a stress ECG and mine to treat. We both had post operative issues. He had fairly serious issues with his leg from where the donor vein was taken whilst I suffered an electrolyte imbalance and had issues with my right hand caused by (this is suspected) my ulnar nerve being nipped during surgery. As regards recovery it was a feeling of getting somewhere after three months and being in a good place after six. After about a year its on your mind far less. Hope this helps...
Hi Jono. I had a triple bypass in August 2020. Quite unexpected, but anyway everything went ok. I’ve had a few issues with my donor leg (pain walking on it) for the first few weeks. Ended up taking Gabapentin for a while. 18 weeks on it’s much better, a few niggles here and there especially walking up hill.Chest got quite sore and obviously hurts sneezing etc but I feel a little bit better as every week goes by. I’ve had a few moments where I’ve got breathless going up steep hills which was a bit surprising. Yesterday walked 5 miles and felt really good. I think you need to be really pro-active and do your exercising and keep a very positive outlook on things. The surgeons have done a great job on making us better, so I look upon it that I have to do my bit for myself and them. All the best with your recovery.
Hi Joni, I had double bypass in Sept. three and a half months later am feeling much better. Chest wound feeling lot better and am now able to sleep on front. Am feeling much better mentally than I was as I am able to do a lot more than I could. Did have lots of anxiety. Make sure I get some exercise each day, up to 5 miles now and getting used to tackling hills, taking them slowly. I have been lucky as rehab service is still running in my area. Only issue is sleep pattern still disturbed, but am sure that will improve. As others have said, the surgeon has done their job, for which I am very grateful. Our job is to keep going with the exercise. Keep well and smile with every new day.
Hi Jono, Welcome to the forum.
I had a triple bypass in early October 2020 so I'm now 14 weeks post-op. I'm making steady progress and I've had no significant set-backs. Positives : Chest wound is comfortable and healing nicely. I can now sleep in any position I like. I'm walking for about an hour a day and I have a favourite route through our town to a local park and back - it's about 3 miles. I have a static exercise bike and I'm starting to do some gentle exercise on that too. Less good : my left knee is quite sore in places and numb in other places. This is close to where they took the vein for the bypass - so maybe it's not a surprise, but I wasn't expecting quite such an effect on my knee. I still sometimes anxiously listen to my heart at night and occasionally I struggle to sleep. But my sleep is much better than immediately post-op.
I think a lot depends on how active you were before the op. We are told that everyone is different and everyone heals and recovers at different speeds. Everyone will handle the mental stresses differently too. I'm still quite shocked about what has happened to me. I felt pretty healthy and active, and I have been eating sensibly for years and years (wholemeal cereal/bread, skimmed milk, lots of vegetables and salad, oily fish, not much red meat etc)......and then suddendly I had problems followed by an angiogram, and then bypass surgery. So I feel a bit cheated!
I hope this helps in some small way. Good luck with your recovery.
Hi Jono,
AVR and double bypass, 26 February 2020.
No symptoms, so quite a surprise when an appointment at the respiratory clinic for a previous “Christmas lurgi” which hung around forever threw up a “heart murmur”.
I had a problem with a partially collapsed lung after the operation, and the two absolute keys to recovery I have found were breathing exercises and slowly building up walking distances. Now back to my previous average of 14k steps a day.
The only other symptoms, probably due to the drugs regime,are increased acid reflux and itchiness around my wound which has healed nicely other than that.
We all start from different bases but the basics for recovery are the same for all. Your body will tell you when you are on the right (or wrong!) track.
All the best for your future.
Hi Jono,
I had an elective triple bypass 11 months after my HA to supplement the stents that had been inserted at the time of my HA. All has been fine as far as the main surgery is concerned. The only issues that I have two and a half years on are associated with the sites of the donor blood vessels, with nerve damage in both my arm and leg. I had an artery taken from my left arm and a vein from my right leg. The muscles in my chest also have never fully recovered from the surgery. All three areas respond to massage, so I am happy to live with these issues.
As to how I feel overall, well although I was fit before my HA, I definitely feel much fitter now. Being fit certainly helped me recover quickly. I have an interest in hill walking and no longer have to make frequent stops on ascents, nor do I suffer from the build up of lactic acid in my leg muscles like I used to. I undertake regular exercise to keep my level of fitness up, important at the moment as I cannot get to the hills due to lockdown. It also is helping me maintain a positive mental attitude which is a really important part of keeping well.
All the best for your recovery.
Gerald
Hi JonaWelcome to the hearties forum. My circumstances are a bit different to most as i had double bypass Sept 2020 and then suffered some serious complications after 2 weeks, i developed Dressler’s syndrome (a form of pericarditis) over the next 7 weeks i deteriorated to the point i was having HA symptoms several times a day everyday, Numerous trips to A&E to be told it was the Dresslers. On 5th December 2020 the episode was captured and it was a HA, i had emergency surgery where stents were put in and had a further HA during surgery and needed another stent. Now 16 & 6 weeks on i haven’t had any episodes. I still have sleeping issues and nerve damage tenderness around the scar but i can live with that compared to the other stuff i had. I’m grateful to be alive more than anything as all this was totally unexpected. I can now start to rebuild some strength and get fit again and get back to work. I had my moments mentally but i quit smoking and i’m still off them!!
This forum has been a really big help, speaking to people who understand what you are going through and there’s been some fantastic tips.
Wishing you well for your recovery.
Stay safe and well x
Hi Jono. Had a double dypass about 11 months ago so still have general aches and pains in my chest which is, I believe, normal at that sort of time post-op. Biggest issue I had was my shoulder, I had a lot of pain in my right shoulder and back after my op which can be quite common. After a quite long wait due to Covid issues getting a specialist appointment I was diagnosed with Scapular dyskinesis which is now responding well to physio.
Hope your recovery is going well.
Jono I had heart attack 2nd aug 2019 out of the blue aged 61. Blue lights to AE and had emergency stent fitted. To say I was in shock is an understatement. They kept me in hospital for sixteen days as they were sure I would have another attack. After consulting with cardio surgeon it was decided a triple bypass was the way to go. Had surgery 16th October. Went thru the usual routine ICU for 24 hours then HDU for five days had one or two issues but with the help from incredible cardio nurses got thru it and back on the ward then home after ten days not realizing that was the start of the journey. Getting used to the lifestyle changes and medication is not easy but becomes a routine. Without a doubt the biggest help was going to Rehab clinic six weeks after being home. The rehab nurses are unbelievable and without them it would not have been so quick a recovery. Obviously due to the pandemic rehab clinics are not open but I would encourage people to go to BHF rehab website.
Good luck with your journey
Gil
I had 5 heart bypasses in 1995, after 2 heart attacks, I'm still here, no problems since there, went back to work 3 months later, worked 5/7 days a week till I retired in 2016, it worked for me, so dont worry it worked for me.
25 years ago ? Wow it’s unusual, since then you have never put a stent or had any problem with it ?
No, got a/f about 3 year ago, they located the problem doing an ablation, stopped it now everything is fine again.
What is a/f ? And do you have a big hearth ? Or your hearth is in normal size ?
Hi jammymax what have you done to live for 25 years with by pass ? Do you take any vitamins ? Exercises ? What’s is your lifestyle? Please
HiI had my Bypass 5 years ago. No problems at all.I had a TIA last year and got a dead leg but that cleared up in 4 days.
So I am fine as well no Heart Problems at all. 5 years later
Great
Thank You for all your replies and stories and experiences. I posted this last night to and the replies have been fantastic. Everyone’s experience to having a HA and respective treatment is so individual. So thank you all for responding.Like I said in my post HA followed by Triple Bypass Surgery. My recovery was going really good until 3 months after surgery I suffered with Pericarditis and went into hospital for a night followed by medication, thinking I had recovered I started walking again only to suffer again. In total in the space of 3 months I had 4 episodes of pericarditis. I have had no symptoms for 6-7 weeks now so hopefully I’ve seen the back of it! Since my last episode I feel something isn’t right.
Would be good to hear from anyone with similar?
Hi Jono. Sorry to hear this, have you spoken to your cardiologist about this?Have you had your follow up appointment yet?
Had follow up appointment a few weeks ago, told them what I was experiencing, they told me to keep a eye on it and if I’m concerned or it doesn’t stop to contact my GP and they discharged me because my ecg and chest X-ray were all good.I have also been discharged from cardiac rehab, I wasn’t due to have another exercise tolerance test two weeks ago which was cancelled because no face to face appointments.
Hi Jono, what are you experiencing that makes it not feel right?Didn’t they do a heart scan (echocardiogram)
I live in Norfolk and they don’t do the tolerance test here, due to covid we haven’t had any face to face appointments but weekly phone calls and i can contact them with any concerns, probably more worried that they misdiagnosed the problem for 7 weeks and nearly killed me but the team i have now are brilliant.
Do go to your GP if you are concerned that something isnt right, they can refer you back to cardiology or you can go to A&E where you get an assessment.
Heart bypass surgery 
Blockages After Bypass Surgery 
Post bypass surgery exercise 
Quadruple bypass surgery 
