This is my first post and I have been a reader for a month or so of this forum. I have to say it has given me some comfort to read that i'm not alone.
I am going into hospital late Sunday afternoon in preparation for my triple bypass Monday morning. I have to admit i'm slightly apprehensive and a little nervous. But also i am quite excited by the prospect of getting my life back. Or at least, an improvement from the steady decline in my health, that i have experienced over the past four years.
The first symptoms I had was a sharp chest pain, mostly after eating or drinking, which of course being a somewhat stoic man, then in my late fifties i totally ignored.
It wasn't until a year later that a heart attack made me realise i needed to take my condition seriously.
I do wonder if I had sought out help when my first symptoms appeared things may have been better for me. Maybe medication could have controlled my symptoms, or maybe, I could have had stents. But it's no good dwelling on ifs and buts.
I just wanted to say to anyone who is getting symptoms, or is concerned with their heart health, the sooner you get things checked out the better.
So thanks to the people that post here, it's a great source of information and support for everybody that's effected by heart disease.
i'll write again and keep you updated on my progress in the future. Maybe my experiences will help someone who is anxiously waiting for surgery find some comfort as I have from other experiences posted here.
Good luck to all.
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Greencurry
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I had a triple Bypass after 3 heart attacks and I to have thought about the what if's would have that prevented it but as you say no good dwelling on those now
Everyone feels or most do apprehensive when having these ops but I am glad you can see beyond that to a new life feeling fitter when you have had it done
Good Luck for Monday and when you start your recovery anything you want to ask just come on and we will try and help
There's no ignoring the fact that open heart surgery is a serious business, with a not insignificant risk.
However, when it goes well...it goes amazingly, wonderfully, transformationally well!
You talked about getting your life back, well I got mine back plus a lot more besides. I had bypass surgery a little over five years ago. The first few weeks afterwards are no walk in the park, but after that the recovery normally goes pretty quickly, in fact after six to eight weeks most patients are able to return to work provided their occupations aren't too physical. And after that, providing you attend Cardio Rehab, are serious about your post op breathing and walking exercises, and really get a grip on some significant life style changes, then you may well find yourself fitter, stronger, and with more zest for life than you've had for ten or even twenty years. I kid you not, the five years since bypass surgery have been some of the best years of my life, my wife and I are the first ones on the dance floor and the last to leave!
But you have to be prepared to put the work in yourself. The hospital and the medication will do their part, but for most people the real gains come from their own contribution via post operative exercises (otherwise lung recovery can take many, many months) and a root and branch review of your life style.
Here are some of the NHS booklets you'll be issued on discharge, you might find it useful to read them through in advance.
You are right about not ignoring symptoms. I ignored mine, and didn't realise that these were probably symptoms of the coming ticker problems until recently. (My heart attack was in 2019, out of the blue, as I thought.) My usually long walks had become a trial after short distances due to breathlessness; painful, heavy legs; a sense of walking through treacle as I slowly struggled home after a rest; and general weakness and fatigue. Chest-wise, there was just an ache. As a smoker and as I had and continue to have back problems, I put the issue down to that and concentrated on (mostly) careful gardening instead of walking 🙄
Please keep us updated on your progress, Greencurry. Best of luck as you step forward to a happier future 🙂
Really wish you all the best for your surgery on Monday and recovery thereafter.
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