John's Story

Hi, my name is John and I had a Bypass Christmas week. Not exactly how I wanted to spend the holidays. Christmas Eve I had trouble breathing so I went to the ER at the local hospital. They informed me I had a heart attack and would transfer me to a hospital that deals with heart problems. So the next day I went to the other hospital where they did an angioplasty right away. While on the table I heard the Doctor say my veins were too blocked and he could not do it. After being sent up to a room to recover from that the surgeon came in and said I needed a bypass. He said 2 of my veins were 100% blocked and the two others were 90% blocked. After much trepidation I said to go ahead. So on Monday morning at 8:00am they were ready. A few minutes before the surgeon came back in to tell me things could go wrong and I could die. Just what I wanted to hear! I told him I better see a ceiling when I wake up! I did wake up at 6:00PM and was put in a regular room. By that night I was up and walking, not far or fast but walking none the less. After 5 days in the hospital I went home. I got almost no sleep while in the hospital or at home for at least a month. After being home about a month I had to go back to the hospital to have fluid taken out of my lung. That was another 5 day stay. I am still fighting the fluid problem with meds. I still have not slept all night through. I wonder why my arteries blocked up in the first place since I never smoked, drank or abused food. I think in my case it was the Diabetes and heredity. This operation is no piece of cake but better than the alternative.

If any one has more questions you can E-Mail me at John

Update:
Since it’s been almost one year since my bypass I wanted to update my original posting. When I last left off I had fluid in my left lung. After being in the hospital to remove fluid twice my lung collapsed. I spent 7 days in that time with a tube in my chest to drain it. Not a very nice experience since I could hardly move. After they put something in to seal my lung they said I could go home. But when I tried to walk around my oxygen level dropped. They said I would need oxygen to go home. Without it I could hardly more. So I have been home waiting to get rid of the oxygen which gets to be a real pain after six month. When talking to the Doctors they said I developed scar tissue and might never get off oxygen without another operation. I said no to that. I said I would wait and see what happens. Well only a few days ago I was able to go without oxygen all day and even walk around a store. I still use a small amount at night. It’s the best Christmas present I could get. But I think losing weight also helped a lot too. I was never heavy but the lighter the better. It’s been a very long year and I want to thank Susan Reynolds for the encouragement to get through it all.

The best to everyone.
John

Update:
John is now off oxygen!

You are here: Home >> Your Stories >> John's Story

John's Story

Copyright ©Heart2Hearts 2003. All rights reserved.