Has anyone gone through by-pass surgery? if so, do tell of the experience. I am going for by-pass on the 13th of this month.

Gregory -

My father had triple bypass surgery on 9/23/05. He was released yesterday from the hospital. He was in the hospital for 11 days, although I don;t think most people are in that long. He is 71 years old and has type 2 diabetes The surgery seems to have gone well, although in his case when they opened him up they said his coronary disease was very severe. His recovery went well. He developed alot of arrythmia after the surgery and because of his insistence, they kept him under watch longer. They say the arrythmia is normal after the surgery but I am not really sure. He said he never had pain. He had a brother who had complications with blood clots after open heart surgery so as a precaution, 2 days after surgery they put him on plavix, which is a blood thinner and then switched him to Coumadin. He mentioned that they were also giving him injections in his stomach to prevent clots. Besides the arrythmia and trouble controlling his blood sugar, everything else seems to have gone fine. He is recovering well. He still has a bad cough, which they claim is normal, I am not really sure but the cough seems to be a bit uncomfortable.

According to my father what bothered him the most is waking up after the surgery and still having the breathing tube in. Clearly I can understand why this was uncomfortable to him but it's important to remember that they cannot remove the tube until it's fine for you to start breathing on y our own. In my dad's case it was a few hours after the surgery, but as I understand it, everyone is different so you may have a different experience.

All I can say is to think positive, be strong and know that you will come out of it ok. Start moving as soon as you can after the surgery and ask alot of questions, my dad did !! Also, if possible, it would be best if you can have someone be by your side at the hospital. That alone made my dad feel alot more comfortable.

I hope that this information helps and you will be in our prayers. Best of luck to you and I wish you a speedy recovery.

Depends on the type of bypass and if there are other health issues to addres during and after surgery. If there is no other health issue, you will be fine. There are problems, but minor. Just be positive and the outcome will be positive. There will be tenderness in the sternum area for awhile and it will be hard to heavy lifting for a short time. You will slowly gain back strength and breathing will come back to normal in time and with exercise, preferable walking. it just take time to heal, but you will do fine. Just be positive.

trekgirl :cool:

I had bypass in Dec 99. It was done the conventional way so I woke up with a breathing tube. I asked the question you did before my surgery. A kind lady on another board explained what I would look like when my family first saw me after surgery. It was a little hard to read at the time, but I made my husband read it too. He said he would have really been scared if he had not known what to expect. So here goes and just remember, I survived and was out of the hospital in 5 days.
I had the breathing tube down my throat so of course I couldn't talk. A tube was down my nose. I had two chest tubes, a catherer, two IV's and I was naked except for the sheet. I went into surgery at 6am and it was 12 hrs later when I woke up for the first time that I remember. By early morning I was weaned off the breathing machine and they were able to take out the breathing tube. A couple of hours later the nose tube and one chest came out. I was moved out of ICU that next day into a CCU room. Two days later the other chest tube was removed and the IV's were removed the day I went home. As soon as I could get up to go the bathroom, Day 3, the catherer was removed. I was up into a chair the evening of the day after surgery and was walked around in my room. The next day I walked a ways down the hall twice. I had to take shots each day while there in my stomach for blood thinners but they really didn't hurt.
By the way I also have 8 stents-6 in a Closed RCA and 2 in the LAD I am now
56 years old.