smeighan
Dedicated elf
Well today is the 3 week anniversary of my quad bypass. The nurses called it CABG ( coronary artery bypass graft) x4.
If you remember I did not have any definite signs or symptoms of blocked arteries other than i was getting out of breath while on a boy scout hike with my sons. It turned out I had two arteries that were 100% blocked and two that were 80-90% blocked. My heart grew additional arteries around the blockages keeping the heart healthy and also masking how badly the main arteries were blocked.
My operation was Sep 27th, about 5 hours long. During the operation, they stop your heart for 2 hours while they stitch in the new bypasses.
My operation was very successful. Most people stay in the hospital 6-9 days after the operation, i was discharged on day 4. In the hospital they want you to inhale deeply. I started at 500ml and within a week i was inhaling 3000ml. The cardiac nurse on my 2 week checkup said i am healing faster than almost any other patient she has seen. Since her office does near 1000 CABG operations / year, i am doing good.
I have started cardiac rehab. This is where you walk on a tread mill, ellyptical or stationary bike for 45 minutes. The whole time you wired to an ekg and they watch how you get stronger over a few months.
I still find i get tired. Some days i sleep to 11am. Most days, i am up by 7:30am.
The biggest pain is that i cant drive for 6-8 weeks. The process of steering a car puts stress on the sternum. I cant raise my elbows above my shoulders, i cant lift more than 8lbs, i cant drive. All of this to give time for the break in the chest wall to heal.
I did not have bad stats before my operation
BP 140/70
Cholesterl 180mg
Weight: 210lb
They dont give you medicine to lower cholesterol until you get over 210mg.
slightly elevated BP, nothing that stood out. No chest pains, just out of breath.
My blood work this week
BP 116/65
Cholesterol: 125mg
Weight: 193lbs. I am 5'8" so 193 looks like i am overweight but i was captain of the gymnastic team in college, i have dense muscles. I weighed 182lbs in college (when i could do 100 hand stand pushups). So i feel i am still about 10lbs overweight. we will see if i can get to the weight i had in 1974.
I am able to play the flute and piccolo with more energy than i have in many years.
I am getting some insights to what I will feel like with a fully profused heart. I cant wait to go hiking with my boys.
My wife and I are completely redoing our kitchen. We are doing the work ourselves. The kitchen cabinets arrived two days before my surgery. After the surgery I have about a 2-3 month recovery period where i cant lift anything heavy. I was getting somewhat depressed about how the 3 month kitchen project was going turn into a 6 month kitchen project.
And then, I got calls from 3 different people. I want to give a special nod to Dan Demoli, Andy Rau and Burke Benton. All 3 are scout leaders. While I went in for my operation , the three of them came and installed all my kitchen cabinets. This took two 12 hour days on a Saturday and a Sunday. They demonstrated the true meaning of what scouting is about. To them, I can only say Thanks!
So, i am doing great! I am lucky this was found. I feel sorry whomever is sitting next to me when i am playing the piccolo.
thanks everyone for your support
sean
If you remember I did not have any definite signs or symptoms of blocked arteries other than i was getting out of breath while on a boy scout hike with my sons. It turned out I had two arteries that were 100% blocked and two that were 80-90% blocked. My heart grew additional arteries around the blockages keeping the heart healthy and also masking how badly the main arteries were blocked.
My operation was Sep 27th, about 5 hours long. During the operation, they stop your heart for 2 hours while they stitch in the new bypasses.
My operation was very successful. Most people stay in the hospital 6-9 days after the operation, i was discharged on day 4. In the hospital they want you to inhale deeply. I started at 500ml and within a week i was inhaling 3000ml. The cardiac nurse on my 2 week checkup said i am healing faster than almost any other patient she has seen. Since her office does near 1000 CABG operations / year, i am doing good.
I have started cardiac rehab. This is where you walk on a tread mill, ellyptical or stationary bike for 45 minutes. The whole time you wired to an ekg and they watch how you get stronger over a few months.
I still find i get tired. Some days i sleep to 11am. Most days, i am up by 7:30am.
The biggest pain is that i cant drive for 6-8 weeks. The process of steering a car puts stress on the sternum. I cant raise my elbows above my shoulders, i cant lift more than 8lbs, i cant drive. All of this to give time for the break in the chest wall to heal.
I did not have bad stats before my operation
BP 140/70
Cholesterl 180mg
Weight: 210lb
They dont give you medicine to lower cholesterol until you get over 210mg.
slightly elevated BP, nothing that stood out. No chest pains, just out of breath.
My blood work this week
BP 116/65
Cholesterol: 125mg
Weight: 193lbs. I am 5'8" so 193 looks like i am overweight but i was captain of the gymnastic team in college, i have dense muscles. I weighed 182lbs in college (when i could do 100 hand stand pushups). So i feel i am still about 10lbs overweight. we will see if i can get to the weight i had in 1974.
I am able to play the flute and piccolo with more energy than i have in many years.
I am getting some insights to what I will feel like with a fully profused heart. I cant wait to go hiking with my boys.
My wife and I are completely redoing our kitchen. We are doing the work ourselves. The kitchen cabinets arrived two days before my surgery. After the surgery I have about a 2-3 month recovery period where i cant lift anything heavy. I was getting somewhat depressed about how the 3 month kitchen project was going turn into a 6 month kitchen project.
And then, I got calls from 3 different people. I want to give a special nod to Dan Demoli, Andy Rau and Burke Benton. All 3 are scout leaders. While I went in for my operation , the three of them came and installed all my kitchen cabinets. This took two 12 hour days on a Saturday and a Sunday. They demonstrated the true meaning of what scouting is about. To them, I can only say Thanks!
So, i am doing great! I am lucky this was found. I feel sorry whomever is sitting next to me when i am playing the piccolo.
thanks everyone for your support
sean
