Hi all, well at 11am today, 2 years ago I went down for my quadruple bypass following my HT and some 9 hours later I came back up. What a rollercoaster from being perfectly well pretty much to being almost dead. I want to say a big thanks to all on here for the support I’ve had both with lots of queries and the mental health side that no one expects.
For all those who are at the start of your journey or the others who still have problems hang in there, there is a light at the end of the tunnel.
I’m just so so lucky to be here to type this message. I may still have some problems but it was my 57th birthday last week and something I thought I wouldn’t get to see. I’m also away on my first long haul holiday which I was really panicking about but all’s gone well so far just my normal angina now and as I’m on a small Indian Ocean island there is nothing to do but relax and be stress free.
Thanks again all.
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Jako999
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Thank you. We are waiting to get a date for a by-pass so good to read your message. We will hang on in there. As my husband has a history of depression we know this could be something for us too. I am hoping forearmed at least means I am not surprised by the mental side of things we might have to cope with along with the rest. We will see... Enjoy relaxing and savouring what you have got.
Enjoy every moment Jako999, you surely deserve it!
it's an ongoing journey, it’s two and a half years for me. When we think about everything our body went through during and after surgery, it is small wonder our recovery can take some time and that’s the physical. For me the psychological impact has undoubtedly been greater. I think it has taken nearly two years for me to feel ‘normal’ again. However, I am grateful every day to be here and specifically enjoy my wonderful grand children.
Take good care, it is wonderful to hear you are doing well. Judi 🙏
How lovely! Enjoy the peace and relaxation. It was the first anniversary of my mitral valve replacement yesterday. This time last year I was languishing in I.C.U. - thinking ‘What on earth have I done…?!’
However, I might not still be here if I hadn’t had the surgery when I did and yesterday, I was able to take my Dad out for lunch on Father’s Day - which slipped by in a morphine induced haze a year ago.
We’re hoping to be able to travel abroad next year for our Pearl Anniversary - but currently grounded due to having a loop recorder implanted. Off to sunny Snowdonia instead!
So glad life is back on track for you and your family. Just the best outcome, you could have wished for. Long may it continue!
Well done and congratulations on landing on an Indian Ocean Island. Was that a more recent target or a long held ambition! Either way you deserve it. Each one that gets through this stuff is very special. Ain't the body a wonderful thing? So many gears of recovery we never knew we had. En j o y your 'ocean' time.
Congratulations Jako, 🎉🎉🎉. I’m nearly 11 months post surgery (4x CABG following Nstemi) and am recovering incredibly, physically . I was at an Americana festival from Friday -Monday camping with a group of great friends . I had a couple of periods walking around the festival on my own and watching smaller bands . I was overcome with emotion a couple of times , the music , musicians made me so happy I started to weep . I really couldn’t control it over the weekend . I love my rebirth ❤️🤣.
Well done Dwizza! I am one of those fortunate people that is affected greatly by music emotionally. My wife is as well but it only "got" her at a Brian Wilson concert. It changed her perception of music forever.
Congratulations 🎊, I hope you had a fantastic time on your holiday. My heart issue nowhere near as bad as yours but I'm 3 months post cardiac arrest and ICD fitted (twice), I thought I wasn't going to get better but I'm slowly getting there on most levels because of good people who have told me on this forum and nurses that said it takes a while and you do get better.
After several years of increasing exhaustion, I had an aortic valve replacement 14 months ago at the age of 64; open heart surgery was quite an experience, but I am so much better than I expected to be, busy and active in a way I had thought was gone, and my scar is a silvery line. I do get tired more quickly, but I've learned to pace myself and recognise when to stop. Your recovery is an encouragement to so many people facing Big Things, Jako999 and just shows what a difference it can make!
My story is on here somewhere not a quad but a triple in 1977 age 31, I will soon be 78 and 47 years since my op. Today I will be playing walking football, the game I had to give up after finding out my condition all those years ago.Very active and never ever thought I’d reach this age. I am also The Guinness World Record Holder as Longest Surviving Triple Heart Bypass Patient.I am on lots of drugs but THERE IS HOPE I REALLY HAVE LIVED A NORMAL LIFE OTHERWISE.
wasn’t your surgery supposed to stop your angina , and how do you know if it’s just something you live with or you have to go back to hospital ? Hope you enjoy your holiday x
I went down for the same operation a month or so earlier than you so have followed your ups and downs with interest.
As well as angina-usually under control-I was troubled by ectopics. The bisoprolol prescribed after the operation seems to have lessened them, which at the time was becoming of more concern than the angina. Some days were good and some I walked limited distances.
I got on a plane to Guernsey in October last year to see how I would cope with airports and flying. This low key experiment (highly recommended as a "first" flight following heart surgery) then encouraged me to go to Austria for Advent.
It must be a shock to go from "perfectly well" to a much less healthy state and the effects of serious operations on mental health are not well enough dealt with. I am curious that you still have angina. Mine was fixed and the consultant seemed surprised that I should even ask if I still had it.
Is your angina much less than before and why didn't the operation cure it?
yep it’s a journey for sure, march 22 for me aged 68, 70 now and enjoying life to the full still riding my Motorcycle at least couple of times a week. Enjoying Gardening ( which before my health issue i hated) paved a base for a new green house and built the green house with the aid of my beloved Wife ( the green house was bought for her as a Birthday present, the week before my massive Heart Attack and subsequent surgery.
I like my bikes as well unfortunately I am now selling my BMW 750GS as it’s to big for me to deal with but is ok because I replaced it with a Triumph 900Scrambler.
I had a Kawasaki VN900 for 14 years prior to my health issues. Was worried that my biking days might be over ( been on road bikes since i was 17) My surgeon was a biker and soon as he knew i wasn’t on a pocket rocket.( said he was sick to death of having deal with aged bikers, thinking they were still a reincarnation of Rossi). He was fantastic with extra advice about the sternum repair and the extra leverage motorcycling would exert.
Anyway long story short, with the support of family i’ve upgraded to a 21plate DCT goldwing. DCT nothing to do with health just 1st one at condition and price that made it feasible, wish i had done it when they first came out.
love this positive post, and I agree with everything you have said because I was in exactly the same boat and never thought I would be here today to tell the tale, had some ups and downs along the way and a few hairy moments too! But 6 weeks after my op I celebrated my 60th birthday.
Have a fab holiday, that’s just what I am doing now relaxing round the pool in the shade with a brolly up watching the world go by 😊
Congratulations on your 57th birthday! 🎂 That is a milestone any way that you slice it.
I had my HA two years ago in March. It seems that two years can go by quickly. My birthday was June 1st—68 years. It felt good to still be here to celebrate another year.
Best wishes on your vacation and lots more birthdays to come! ❤️
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