Today she will have the viability test. At this point, two arteries are partially occluded, one is completely occluded. They’re trying to decide if doing a bypass on the fully occluded artery is worth it. So, I’ll know more later today.
She’s still on the fence if she would even want to have surgery. Almost forty years ago, when she had surgery for something else, she had problems with anesthesia, was dead for a few minutes. While logically she knows medicine has advanced, emotionally she’s still freaking out. She’s still saying she’s too old for all this - despite knowing a frailer family friend had a triple bypass 6 months ago, at age 87.
The decision her cardiologist made was skip the viability test, a bypass on the main artery is useless, as she has major scarring from the previous unknown heart attack. They want to place two stents on the partially occluded arteries. Mom was dithering (she’s an EXPERT ditherer). Doctor told me to call her, explain the situation, he would be in 10 minutes later for her to consent and they would roll her down. No waiting until tomorrow (as she had requested)? Nope. Now.
She’ll never run a marathon, but at least she won’t be a ticking time bomb.
So, she ended up with three stents. She was already sounding stronger last night, had color back in her face, and life in her eyes. Her blood pressure was a disgustingly beautiful 114/68 when I was there. It sounds like she will be sprung Friday, wherein she will be babysat for the first 24 hours either by me or her “not a boyfriend”.
I am so thankful. No one is usually ready to lose a parent, and I’ve already lost one. If I had lost her, I don’t know what I would’ve done.
I know two people who had bypasses and didn’t recover completely ever. In the first case, he had a bypass maybe 30 years ago in his late 50s. He was in the middle of writing a book based on his life’s research. They had trouble restarting the heart and, when they did, he’d suffered some brain damage. He was not able to finish the book; he could not effectively teach his classes; he was forced into early retirement. He did recover the ability for normal living and is now in his late 80s, still kicking.
The second was involved an early collaborator and good friend of mine. He had a bypass around 1990, when he would have been 54. One result was that he got very nasty to me, for inexplicable reasons. He was also unable to work after that. About ten years later, he entered a nursing home and died there around 2005.
Nobody gets a bypass unless they are seriously in need of one.
It’s generally not “elective surgery” - you get it because you will die without it. I know I would have.
Ditto. When they diagnosed my husband’s need for the bypass, his main coronary artery was something like 90% blocked. He had been having serious symptoms for some time, which of course he told no one about. Without the intervention he would have simply dropped dead with a massive attack fairly soon. The surgery was performed the same day as the diagnosis.
Plus, bypass surgery has come a long way in the last couple of decades. And no surgery is without risk. My bypass surgery has kept me alive these past 5 years, hopefully many more.
As I mentioned, my brother went in for two valve replacements and a possible bypass for a 70%-blocked vessel. The two stories we got were
once they saw what was available to bypass into, they realized the vessels there were too small and the bypass wouldn’t have improved function
they tried to harvest a vein from his leg but there was too much bleeding
I tend to believe the first one because it was from someone close to the surgery, in the recovery area. The other was a nurse in the hall the next day.
They haven’t suggested if anything can be done about the vessel. They give him at least ten more years, but it’s hard to realize that he won’t have a normal life span (he’s 49). Then again he’s been through other health issues and I’m surprised he’s made it this long!
Her doctor took bypass off the table - if they had done that, the new vein would’ve gone into dead/scarred tissue.
Yesterday she was having lots of issues with fluid in her lungs. They have been giving her medication to rid the fluid, hopefully last night was her last dose.
They also had her in the coronary exercise room, but she only lasted about 30 minutes before being completely exhausted. They tried to get her back in there last night, but she declined.
And yet, they want to release her today. I’m thinking she will decline that, too. She doesn’t think she’s strong enough to maneuver at home, alone (she doesn’t want to be babysat).
On the positive side, she has ALWAYS sworn she does not snore. It’s a long running family joke. I got a good recording of her whistling away yesterday afternoon. When I played it for her, she accused me of recording someone else and blaming her.
Is the issue fluid IN her lungs or outside?
When I had my operation, I had a lot of bleeding, because I was still on blood thinners from the Angiogram (they took me to the OR, do not pass Go, do not collect $200, directly from the Angiogram). I ended up having almost a liter of fluid drained from the Plura a few weeks after the operation.
In, as I understand it. She was flat on her back pretty much since Thursday, yet drinking a lot of water. I just spoke with her and she sounds much clearer - not gasping as she was yesterday.
She’s going home tonight. I’ll stay with her for a while, but not overnight (I have dialysis super early) and then will be with her tomorrow.
Keep a close watch on the fluid in her lungs; it could be very serious. If it’s still an issue, she should not be going home. My mom had that, and it affected her heart. She didn’t make it.