Open Heart Surgery

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Hi Linda. I've had heart problems for 30 years including Etra Electrical Pathways that l've had Lasered out. Pooling of blood in my Ventricles. 2 major heart attacks with Cardiac Arrestc, both revived by defibrillation/ resuscitation, open heart she get with a triple heart By Pass and my main Aorta repaired as it was in a very bad state, there was a chance that it could have been replaced by a Pigs calve, as it was my Surgeon said thet in his opinion it had been leaking for 20 years , 13 months later after a lot of bad Angina Attacks I it was found that my 4th Artery which showed clear when l had the first 3 done was very clogged up and useless, they were flabbergasted as to how it had deteriorated so quickly. I went back into hospital and had the latest thing in Stents inserted, it's called a Polylactide Biodegradeable Scaffold. They are supposed to be better and last longer than the ordinary Stents.  I have had Kidney Disease for 8 years and they had a Dialsis a Team in Theatre when l had my By Passes just in case my Kidneys couldn't cope. I have very rare blood and did receive a 3 pint blood transfusion so l am grateful to blood donors. Because l have End Stage  5 Kidney  Disease l have Dialysis 3 afternoons a week. I also have Very nasty and painful Arthritis in my Spine, Hips and Knees. I have Bone Disease called Osteodystrophy which makes my bones fragile, l had a nasty fall at Christmas and rebooked my already broken arm. I also damaged my right hip and knocked my heart out of rhythm. All my life l have suffered with Bi Polar Mental Illness, and have spent times in the Psychiatric Hospital, l see Psychiatrists and Psychologists and also suffer with Borderline Personality Disorder, l suffer terribly with Paranoia and Depression. All my Renal and Coronary Nurses are fantastic, l love them all to bits !! Nothing is too much for them in looking after us !!! We are so lucky. My GP and Healthcare Nurses are excellent.  There are so many bad symptoms with the Kidney Disease, the nausea, lack of appetite, restricted to one litre of fluid a day. and a very restricted diet which limits and controls what we can each. What l am trying to say is that the Mental Illness that l have suffered all my life and which has such far reaching ramifications is worse for me than all my heart problems, 2 major heart attacks, 2 cardiac arrests, all the SVT and the AF and Angina , the open heart surgery and the Scaffold inserted, the 3 times weekly Dialysis with massive needles inserted into my Zfistula !!! All this is nothing compared o what goes on in my head, these lifelong crippling  depressions and prank as, fear, terror, worry, inferiority , worthlessness, I carry on fighting. I've still got Angina , even after all they have done to my heart so on extra meds and back on my Isosorbide Mononitrate to stop them. I'm afraid it's all too late for me. It's pointless at 70 with the state of my heart having a Cadavar Transplant if one came along and none of my children( well they're all adults , 48, 43and 37 and their spouses ) have offered me a Kidney anyway. If they did l would not take one but it would have made me feel loved if they'd offered !!!!  So after the Zby Pass operation l was ln High Dependency, completely out of it with my Zmorphine Buzzer that delivers a shot of Zmorphine when I needed it and then my Surgeon out me in his own private oom , which was like a hotel room because l was so frightened. I was told after six weeks that one of my sisters in law, a lovely girl aged only 50 had a massive brain haemorrhage the day after my operation and died very suddenly. It was a terrible time and took m a long whimple to recover. Goog luck to you

I started with heart problems in 1986 when l was 40. I was in hospital many many times with Supra Ventricular Tachycardia  ( SVT ) and Atrial Fibrillation (AF ) This continued all through my working life, l was off sick so many times until June 19th 2010 when l had my first major heart attack with Cardiac Arrest.  I recovered but my heart rhythms were always erratic and it was discovered that l had grown extra electrical pathways in my heart, l went into Manchester Hospital and the Cardiologist Lasered the rogue pathways out. I still suffered with Angina Attacks, l forgot to say that l had Angina for many years previous to my first heart attack and ongoing. On July5th my 66th Birthday l had my second major heart attack , again with Cardiac Arrest !!! I was taken to Blackpool Victoria Hospital where l had a Triple Heart By Pass, also my Main Aorta was in a very bad condition and my surgeon didn't know until he got inside if he could repair it or not !!  If not he would have put a Pigs Valve in, he couldn't put a mechanical one in me because l have Kidney Disease ( which is now at End Stage 5 and l have  Dialysis 3 days a week ) My Surgeon managed to repair my Main Aorta but he told me four days later when l came out of ICU and wax off my Morphine that in his opinion my Main Aorta had been leaking for the previous 20 years !!!  I thought that all my heart troubles were over but a few months later l started to have Angina Attacks again, l couldn't even go in the cold aisles in the Supermrkets, the cold would set my Angina off !! I would stand at the end of the cold aisle giving my husband directions as to what l wanted etc etc !!! LoL. I had some laughs. Nevertheless l was still poorly with Angina and l had another Angiogram and it showed up that my 4th Artery which was clear and clean when l had my By Passes 13 months earlier was very badly clogged up !!! The Cardiologists were flabbergasted that it could happen so quickly, l went back into Blackpool Victoria and the Suregeon put the latest thing in Stents in, it's called a Polylactide Biodegradable Scaffold !!! The latest most modern kind of Stent !!!  I began to have Angina Attacks again so l am back on my daily Anti Angina Pills, Isosorbide Mononitrate, they are very good. My heart has a mind of its own an l still get spells of Extra Systoles ( the feeling that your heart has missed a beat, actually it puts an extra beat in !!!   I could have spells of these for even days of weeks, very unnerving. When l had my Triple Zby Pass they had to have a Dialysis team in Theatre in case my Kidneys packed in, l also have very rare blood and Thankyou to the people who donated the 3 pints of transfusion that l needed !!! I also have Arthritis in my Spine, Hips and knees. I have been Bi Zpolar all my life and also have Borderline Personality Disorder !!!  I'm going to be 70 very soon and l'm planning a couple of big parties with all my wonderful Family, My Children,  Children in law and all my Grandchildren, also the best friends that l'm lucky enough to have around me to love. I said to my husband just after Christmas when he was taking me to the Fracture Clinic after l broke my right arm for the 2nd time,( l fell in the hospital on my way to Dialysis and damaged my hip, rebroke  my right arm and knocked my heart out if rhythm ) l said to him       """ If l ever lose my sense of humour will you shoot me please ??!!""" LoL. I'm so lucky , l have so much love and so many wonderful people that l love around me !!! My Dialysis Nurses are all Angels   !!!!!  I wish you luck with your health and love in your life. All the best. Mo. 

I am a 58 old male

I had a small heart attack on May 1st once in hospital I had 3 stents fitted to the LAD 1 to the RCA and 1 to the LMS

I find that I can walk for two mile day and go the the gym to use most of the equipment. Unfortunately the past 5 months I have been getting a lot more angina

And found that bending low and stretch high during decorating causes my heart rate to decrease to approx 40 bpm and lying in bed at night it only lasts about 20 minutes , the consultant is saying it's an erratic heart beat , after further test s which were aimed at the erratic heart beat investigation . I attended Sunderland hospital to re investigate the stents and to see if they had missed anything , after the procedure I'm now being informed that the 3 stents are working ok but the cardiologist is say the artery just before the stent is starting to narrow and the other two arteries are working fine. My concern now, I have been told I have 2 options

Option 1 is to have another stent fitted in same artery or have a bypass

I was not expecting anything of that nature at all with no mention of AF , I am concerned that the narrowing of the arteries is normally over a life time and this time around its 10 months, I am really scared of going in for major operation for bypass

And have been researching on new op technology as this would benefit me as I do need to work if I can otherwise it gets really complicated for me

I've found out on the net there is Minimally invasive key hole surgery available for selected patients if the criteria fits is this true? Can someone help me at all

Basically I would like to go as long as I can with out major surgery and feel the other stents will

Last a lot longer? ?

 I had open heart surgery in 1958 at six years old to patch a hole between the two chambers of the heart  it was pretty much a new thing back then  I spent months in the hospital now days you're lucky to spend a week 

Hi,

I am 23 years old and have a CHD called Shones Complex. I have had 12 hearts surgeries (6 or 7 of them were open heart surgery)

I have a mechanical aortic and mechanical mitral valve, and a leaking aortic valve, as well as other problems.

I am awaiting another open heart surgery to replace both valves again.

I am looking for someone who has had as many open heart surgeries as me, to get advice of how it was. The risks are much higher the more surgeries you have.feel free tonaks me anything if you wish

Hello dear Linda, soory to read this, its so scarry. Yesterday they told me in the hospital that I also need soon an open heart operation for very simmilar ilness. I feel devistated and very sad and so scary. But we both have to be and stay strong and we cannot give up, such operation are coducted daly and with the todays technology I am convinced that we both will survive. We talk more to each other if you like. Please contact me anytime. For now I wish you and your family Merry Christmas and a good Happy New Year 2017. Dont forget many people on this plante need you and God is with us. Sincerely, Gilbert from sunny Malta. 

 

I just had my second one on my mistral valve and my body needs to adjust cause I have

Irregular heartbeat so they put a heart monitor on me to see if I have AFIB I'm still having chest pains

And shortness of breath. Im so sorry you had to go through so many surgery's that has to be so hard.

Im hoping Im done with surgery after this one. Will be praying for you Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! Maria💝

Linda - I am 69 and had a AV replaced and 2 bypasses the day after thanksgiving and today (today is my 4th home from home from hospital I walked 1.25 miles (35 Minutes)

In 2012 I found out through an angiogram that I had complete blockage of my LAD. The cardiologist tried to stent it but couldn't get through the blockage. He also found two other arteries that were significantly blocked so I needed bypass surgery. I'm still not sure how I survived the LAD (widowmaker) blockage other than I had quite a few collateral arteries that had formed making something of a natural bypass. Before the surgery I did research and found that the mortality rate is only about 1-2% I was 58 at the time so relatively young I found an excellent surgeon who I had complete faith in I really wasn't that nervous. They used the left internal mammary artery to by pass the LAD and the saphanous vein for the other 2 bypasses. 5 days after the operation I was scheduled to go home but that morning I went into atrial fibrillation Finally after 2 days on IV amiodorone I went back into sinus rhythm. Then there were other complications including fluid around my heart that required another surgery to reinsert drainage tubes Finally, after 12 days I went home. I've been doing good up until last week when a nuclear stress test found some ischemia in the apex of my heart. I'm scheduled for an angiogram tomorrow