Wait a minute? Quad bypass? I knew you were having an aorta replaced but when did the bypass surgery come in?
Either way all the best. Look at the bright side., reduced chance of a heart attack.
Pre-Op consists of we are going to place this line in your vein. They place the line in your vein. They then ask you to count backwards from 10 to 1 slowly. You start doing that. The next thing you know, you are in ICU and they tell you it went well.
When they are planning a valve replacement or repair, they check the coronary arteries in the catheter lab, which they give you a gentle general anesthetic for. As long as they are going to cut through the sternum and put you on a heart lung machine, they do the only real effective check to see if your arteries are blocked, which is thread a catheter up from your groin and take a looksie. Our beloved Panache has some blocked arteries and they will fix both at the same time, thus sparing two operations.
One thing I did not mention about the recovery, is that the first couple of days in recovery the heart may pound quite a bit, and this can be disconcerting. However, I am told that this was because it had spent many hours not pumping and would get its rhythm back. Think of it as a heart that is so happy that it can do its job so much better.
Best wishes Panache. We are all praying for you.
My dad had a quadruple by pass almost 5 years ago. He is more healthy today than he was then, and has lost weight, gained muscle, lowered his cholesterol and blood pressure considerably. Just follow the doctors orders, rest, then ease into excercise.
And don’t be surprised if the first few weeks home are confusing and you feel a bit weepy. That is entirely normal.
I am thinking about you.
Sending positive recovery thoughts your way.
Best of luck, Panache!
/Your supersecretfan
Cleveland Clinic is an outstanding place. 15 years ago when my dad was having chest pains and every local doctor said he was completely unblocked, we went to CC and they reviewed every angiogram he priviously had done and by process of elimination determined the block must be in one particular vessel they determined was never visualized.
Sure enough it was, he had surgery and did great! They are clever and talented folks.
Oh, and my good friend’s brother is chief of thoracic surgery over there!
UPDATE:
I had my surgery on the 20th, was in the hospital 9 days, was home a few days, went back for a few days, and now home again.
I totally underestimated how this surgery would affect me. I was prepared for the pain, but not all the many side effects of the surgery and medications. Especially the pain killer percoset, which caused me to become paranoid. I had some very strange conversations with people before being switched to another medication.
The good news is that I’ve lost 18 pounds so far, and am no longer taking any meds for high blood pressure (previously, I was taking four). But I am taking 12 meds for other things. I could open my own pharmacy between the meds I’m taking and the ones I’ve discontinued.
For the bypasses, they harvested veins from my chest, wrist and both thighs. It’s amazing how they can remove a section of blood vessel by making only one small incision. They have to burrow under the skin to reach and snip the other end.
I now have a bovine aortic valve, and it seems to be working perfectly. I will always be grateful to the cow who made the donation, though I suspect not willingly.
Beware if you find yourself having unfamiliar urges to chew your cud! 
I’m glad you’re back on your feet, so to speak! I hope the rest of your recovery goes smoothly and you’re back to leading your life with panache as quickly as possible.
This is very timely – my Dad is scheduled to have a valve replacement at the end of October and I’m planning on flying over to stay with him for the first week after he’s home to help out. Could you tell me how I can make myself useful to a freshly-operated-upon heart patient? Can you give me any pointers from your own experience?
Yay! Panache is back!
Sending out a wish for a speedy recovery.
(The pain meds are a blessing and a curse! I hated what they did to my brain.)
I missed this thread the first time around. Glad to hear you’re on the mend!
Good to see you back! My dad had double bypass, he recovered quickly.
Glad to see you got off the percoset. That can be strange stuff.
Good show!
Thanks, guys, for all the good vibes! My recovery is going a lot better than I had expected, and the only problems seem to be fairly benign.
Shanti: If you really want to help your dad, go over the instructions he brought home with him. Be sure he understands his medications and exercise schedule, and that he sticks with it. I know this is very vague, but everyone is different, and I don’t want to mislead you with advice that may not be applicable with him.
Thanks! I appreciate it!
Good luck. I had my mitral valve repaired back in June. Recovery was pretty easy but beware, there will be setbacks. I was too cocky about recovering so quickly till one day I felt like crap and was told that these days could be expected so deal with it! Hang in there!
So glad to hear you’re doing well. It’s amazing the things they can do these days.
Welcome back.
Glad you’re back. 