It's been one year since my bypass operation

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

On July 14, 2010, one month shy of my 50th birthday, I had emergency double-bypass surgery.
I wrote about my experience in this thread: Ask the guy who just had emergency bypass surgery.
Today it’s one year later, and I thought that I would give everyone an update.

After recuperating most of the summer (prolonged because of the auto accident I was in), I went through 3 months of rehabilitation. The hospital does a very good job of this - they have classes every session, on topics such as diet, exercise, medications, depression, etc. They also have you do aerobic and strength training, while being monitored with an EKG. Since then, I have followed a consistent workout routine, doing aerobics and weightlifting in the mornings five days/week. I have been eating a very low saturated fat diet - non-fat Greek yogurt, Kashi Go-Lean Crunch and berries for breakfast, Subway (or similar Turkey or Chicken sandwich) or salads for lunch, and fish or Turkey for dinner, with roasted vegetables. Eating this way, I have lost a substantial amount of weight - I was 174 when I checked into the hospital, and I bottomed out at 143 at the end of March. Since then, I have been trying to gain some weight, while keeping my leanness. I am now up to 150 lbs, and I’m pretty happy with how I look. My goal is to put on another 15 pounds of muscle in two years. Here is a graph of my weight and body fat (note that the body fat numbers are probably pretty bogus, but the scale I use seems to be fairly precise, if not necessarily accurate). Here are photos that were taken within the last few weeks (these will go into the SD Rogue’s gallery at some point):
A casual pose
Abs and obliques
Goofing around in Maui

Overall, I feel better than I did ten years ago. I still have a numb spot on the left side of my chest (which may eventually regain some feeling), and I can feel some slight tightness around the incision, but these are pretty minor complaints.

In the last thread, someone asked me how much all this cost. That turns out not to be a simple question to answer.
I’m not sure that I’m done paying bills - I got a bill for rehab recently, which we are disputing. But, basically, the surgery cost around $150,000. The insurance company (which gets a discounted rate) paid the hospital $80,000, and I’ve paid between $5,000 - $6,000. Right now, I’m basically uninsurable. My current insurance is going to bankrupt me (I’m paying $1300/mo), and no other insurance company will accept me. I can qualify for pre-existing condition insurance, but only if I drop my current insurance for six months, which seems a little scary. Still, I may have to to do it.

I’m going to bring the nurses at the hospital some flowers and a thank-you card today.

I’d be happy to answer any follow-up questions - I’m not shy.

2

I am glad things are going well for you health-wise, and you look very fit.

3

Congratulations. I say it not to brag, but to give you something to look forward to: I had my quadruple bypass 20 years to the day before you, and if I am in rather poor health today, the things wrong with me are none of it cardiac-related (bad vision, sinus and digestion issues, etc.). Heartwise and circulation-wise I’m in good shape. Here’s hoping you can say the same (without the non-heart issues! :)) 20 years from now.

4

Based on those pictures, I’d say you should take a step back to the 143#, certainly not add 15# to the current 150#. You already have more than an inch to pinch. That added weight will not be lean. It will be heavily triglycerides, just what you don’t want with your background.

5

Well, that’s comforting - my cardiac doctor says that the lifespan of a bypass graft is “indefinite”, as long as one takes go care of it…Hopefully my diet and lifestyle changes will let it last as long as yours have!

6

Dude, you look fantastic! Congrats!

7

Bypasses must have definitely improved in recent years. It used to be that one was good for 5 - 10 years depending on individual circumstances, and that eventually they blocked up again. My father had his redone until they ran out of graftworthy blood vessels, but by then other cardiovascular issues had arisen that had nothing to do with the bypass. He lived to be almost 95.

My husband also needed a bypass just short of being 50 yrs old. He is now pushing 70. On a checkup some years back his cardiologist said that the graft had indeed closed up, but that in the meantime other blood vessels had taken up the slack. Or at least that’s what he told me she said. He’s subsequently had a couple of angioplasties and now has a stent.

8

From what I’ve read, the mean lifespan for a typical graft is 10-15 years, but that number is strongly affected by diet and exercise. At least, that’s what I’m hoping.

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From what I’ve read, that’s quite true. I think [IANAD] that there are lots of other factors.

In my husband’s case the doctor said there was just the one area of blockage – in the main coronary artery, unfortunately – and all the other cardiac vessels were quite good. I subsequently read that one suspect for starting up these blockages is inflammation from infections such as pneumonia. My husband had a near-fatal bout of pneumonia as a small child, so my hypothesis is that this might have had something to do with it.

His other blood vessels AFAIK remain reasonably clear for a man his age except for the spot that they’ve continued to monitor. Nobody else in his family AFAIK had cardiac problems despite the fact the their eastern European diet has three major food groups: salt, fat, and more salt. His mother lived to be well into her 90s and although she had some BP issues in her 80s she succumbed to another ailment that had nothing to do with cardiac problems.

My point is that IMHO/IANAD a bypass on someone with inherited tendencies to cardiac and circulatory problems might not last as long as someone for whom it was a one-off anomaly.

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Holy shit, you’re more ripped than every guy (except one) I’ve ever seen naked. And I’m only 26. Congrats on the progress!

11

The fact that you are going to do that is almost sexier than your pics. Almost.

12

rachelellogram and Nzinga, Seated - thanks for the kind words.

MLS - there was some mention of “congenital defect” in my chart, but I’m not taking any chances. If I’m susceptible to heart disease, I’m not going to tempt fate by eating poorly and becoming a couch potato.