hi all, wait till ya here this one. Some of you know, some of you dont know, but I thought Id fill u all in at once rather than type out a bunch of individual messages. I know many of you will have questions so Im going give details as best as I can, so I apologize for the lengthy post. I know how u all just love love to hear me talk...lol soooooo here goes: I just got home from Tufts med center in Boston yesterday(sat). I had quadruple bypass surgery on July 6. It all started on thursday July 3rd at about 10:00 pm. I started having chest pains that wasnt sure if it was angina or indigestion or what. Most of u know I had a stent placed about 8 years ago to clear a blockage in my heart and would have occassional discomfort so it wasnt the first time Ive had it, but this was different. This was pain, like stabbing in the chest. I laid down to rest and took some nitro glycerin and managed to fall asleep. Woke up about 3 am and pain was back. So I drove myself to the hospital, in hindsight not a smart thing to do but at that point wasnt yet convinced what was goin on. Once I got their it was immediately apparent from all the doctors and nurses and ppl swarming on me like bees that there was some concern. It was official: minor heart attack. I was admitted to Lowell General in the wee hours of friday July 4th. The plan was to have an angiogram on monday to determine what was causing it, being that it was a holiday weekend and there was no staff on duty, only on call. While I was at LGH I had my second, third, and fourth cardiac episodes, hospital code for heart attacks. They called in the troops and did my angiogram on sat. nite/sun result of which was not good. All 3 of my coronary arteries were blocked at pretty much 95% or more. No stent was gonna fix this so it was off to Tufts for bypass surgery. The cardiologist did not expect the extent of the blockage since I managed to get myself there and walked into the hospital. Said that I shoulda been layin flat on the floor and was fotrunate to have gotten there when I did. So they sawed me in half on sunday nite and replumbed my heart, using 2 veins from my legs and two from my chest wall. As it turns out I had the 3 major blockages and then one minor in a secondary blood vessel that he fixed while he was in there. I cannot describe to u the pain that is associated with this procedure. Suffice it to say that it feels like you are getting repeatedly run over by a bus. I had a 12 incision in my chest, 4 drainage tubes in my lungs to prevent pneumonia, and sutures all over my legs from the angiogram and the harvesting of the veins in my legs. The first 2 days were the worst, starting with the removal of the breathing tube down your throat. They actually wake u up fr this and it is absolute torture. You cant talk, you fell like you cant breathe because your lungs are numb and you cant feel them expanding and contracting. Once they pull it out you get some relief but then comes the pain of breathing because of the tubes in the lungs. They tell you to take slow deep breaths, sure....easy for you to say....lol Can barely take a breath without pain let alone deep breathes. Plus u are flat on your back split wide open and cant move around so all around a very bad bad situation. The good news is that they give ya lots of pain meds to help(never takes it away entirely) and each day that passed you notice improvement. The second major hurdle is when they take out the chest tubes. As much as it sucked when they pulled them out it was a relief when they were done. First significant sign of improvement. I have been fortunate that I had no ther major med problems, have good lungs, good kidneys, good liver, so my recovery is going as good as can be expected. No setbacks(yet) and feelin better every day. Whats amazing is that just 6 days later I am home sitting here typing this message to you. No restrictions other than no driving for 5 weeks post op(air bag risk) and no lifting more than 10 lbs. Free to get up and move around, go for a walk, go to the store(with driver of course), etc. Its all based on how you feel and they encourage this. Of course not feelin like doin much at this point other than talking short walks outside but every day seems better. And Ive got my Mommy here with me takin care of me and givin me lots of hugs and kisses so thats not so bad! So barring any setbacks Ill be back to work first or second week of August and they tell me I should feel 110% better after 3 to 6 months. While this surgery is far more invasive and traumatizing than having a stent put in it is also far more successful and a more long term solution. I look forward to feeling better and this explains a lot of issues I have been having previously:easily fatigued, shortness of breath, lack of stamina, etc. All of those they tel me will be noticibly improved and Im gonna feel great, a new man! Cant wait. So thats about it, now just focusing on long term recovery and major lifestyle changes so that what I have left of my life is lived to the fullest. If any of you have a history of this in your family do yoursef a favor and have yourself checked out even if you feel great. This can sneak up on you and take my word for it. Its not something you want to experience. Thanx for your attention and God Bless you all.. - scott
Posted on: Sun, 13 Jul 2014 14:22:02 +0000
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