Post cabg.2- 16wk recovery review

[bagsypartime]

I recovered well, no issues, but my cardio was very slow, and this annoyed me because pre op i was quite fit.I didn't want the op and didn't believe i needed it.Plus i was scared.The surgeon wanted a four way and i definitely wasn't having that.I said i don't want it to to fail, not two years in or ten years in.In the end he said my legs were vari-cous and my arms rubbish and some of the sites too thin.He also mentioned in my notes that i had done my own "research" - his speech marks.

At my 8 wk check i asked why i still became breathless walking up a hill?This might seem ungrateful but i thought these things were supposed to make us better.

Anyway i'm starting to think now that the surgeon didn't do such a bad job after all as i continue to make improvements.In fact i feel fantastic, most of my atrophied muscle is back.Just done two weeks on an egypt sunlounger and because my wife tells everyone about my op i was constantly having to put my finger on the scar to point it out.Immediatly after the op i looked like frankenstein with a huge jagged mid chest scar and three inch circle drain holes beneath my ribs.The drain holes are probably more prominent than the scar now, three indents.My wife put bio oil on me every day and says this is why the scars disappeared.I did wonder early in my recovery if i might have to wear a modesty tee shirt on the beach to avoid frightening/offending other holidaymakers but now think now think my torso sporty looking.

Went on treadmill and weights everyday.45min 3.4mph at 6%.Didn't try to run because i have something loose and sore that flaps about in my chest, although this is improving and i am doing a couple of minutes at 6mph before rest.

I looked up what the surgeon did on the internet.-left mammary art graft to LAD, RMA to right-.

On the angiabram what was actually wrong with me was narrowed left main, and distill narrowing Lad.They did a pressure test which i have to say hurt like hell and i failed which means greater than 70%, and thats why they were so keen on a bypass and said they couldn't stent.

So as i was saying i looked up the op,The bit i objected to/puzzled me was LMA to mid LAD when my problem was distal.In other words this was upstream before the blockage so what good was it? And also i couldn't see how my left main was helped in anyway.I'm not saying my thoughts are correct i,'m just saying those were my thoughts.

On looking into this i was very pleasantly surprised.Get this the left and right mammary arteries are not just any arteries, they are the marks and spenders arteries and are very special.They are artery superstars.They feed female breasts during lactation and even though i am a 68 year old male these things work for men too.They are resistant-unlike other arteries to athercosrosis and not only that but pump out some juice that clears any connected arteries.So there is a chance given diet and exercise that they could heal my LAD.

It makes me wonder this stuff the mammary's pump out (Long word begins with P) couldn't they just give us that instead of statins.The link between cholesterol and heart disease won the Nobel as did the work to find a drug to lower it (Statin found in fungus of all places).Bearing in mind that the promise was heart disease would no longer exist after the year 2000, it isn't like we've all been let down before, but this stuff out of the mammary arteries could be the answer.If someone else wants to do the science i don't mind sharing the prize and i'm surprised the duffers haven't thought of it before it seems so obvious.

In conclusion after 16wks i continue to get better and i'm really pleased because i thought at 8 or 10 weeks that was it and i was often breathless and dizzy.But if i need something new to moan about it's probably the meds, i'm on loads.I especially don't like ace inhibitor and beta blocker and going to ask GP (he's in charge now) if i can come off them, and maybe lower my 80mg atovastatin to 40mg.

[BeKind28-]

Hello

It sounds like your Consultant /Surgeon knew best which they do and as time has gone on you are now starting to feel the benefits but we have to be patient

The oil does help with the scars but as well as so many said to me wear it with pride shows you are a Survivor

Sounds like a lovely Holiday and glad you are feeling so much better now x

[bagsypartime in reply to BeKind28-]

agreed.I am a bit argumentative but realise i am not always on the right side.One thing does surprise me and that is that i thought it was a fairly honest post of my experience and thoughts etc and a bit of a stab at the science but yours is thus far the only reply.Another post fred has left the building announcing his departure has ten replies.Not saying i'm jealous or anything.

[BeKind28- in reply to bagsypartime]

Hello

I replied last night and I can see now you have some more replies sometimes I think it is just by chance when people log on and see posts x

[Cee-Cee1]

Thank you for writing to let us know how you're recovering post-op. It all sounds very positive - I also wear my scar with pride! Every best wish for your further successful recovery. 👍

[sampaloc0624]

be patient… it will be better soon. Take it slow. Stay safe

[Rogo23]

Give it some time, the breathlessness does pass. Don't pay too much attention to it, and suddenly you realise that it's been five or six hours since it last happened. But I know from my experience after the bypass I became hyper aware of anything vaugely off in my chest or arms.The Beata blocker is normally stopped after a year, cardiac surgeons rather like the 365 days of artificial low Hart beats.

16 weeks is still early days and it's piece of string time, some people are up kilamanjaro the day after leaving the hospital, others take a year to get to Aldi.

3.6 mile's per hour on a incline is good going add in the running ÷ man rooting around in your chest not long ago and you are well on the way.

We tend to want to get back to normal straight away, but try looking at your recovery as a period of reassessment.

Although I totally understand about the statins, and the Beata blocker's, asprin probably clopidog and anything else that they could write on the perscription, taking the meds is another reminder that we are not the same person.

It gets better, although I did find that the occasional burst of profanity helped.

Just keep putting one foot in front of the other, you are heading in the right direction.

Dan