Anyone Do The Big Bypass? Not Talking Bike Ride

[Hawker]

Two weeks ago felt neck and shoulder pain, went to ER ended up with quintuple bypass. I'm 63 and 130 lbs but with very high inherited cholesterol.


The docs and nurses told me they seldom see someone in as good a shape as me; made me smile through the pain. I think I'm progressing but combing my hair and brushing my teeth still leaves me gasping for breath. I'm aiming for a forty mile group ride in May and did a half mile walk today. Very weird to be riding twenty five miles one day and can't make it to the mailbox a week later.

God has extended my time, I hope to make it count and get in a few good rides as well. Three of my arteries were over ninty percent closed so the docs tell me I should feel even better once I get back to "normal".

Watch your numbers guys, you don't want this surgery.

[MattTuck]

Wow. Good luck with your recovery. I don't have anything to add in terms of experience, but I'm pulling for you.


Hope you knock that 40 miler out at a personal best.

[firerescuefin]

Two weeks ago felt neck and shoulder pain, went to ER ended up with quintuple bypass. I'm 63 and 130 lbs but with very high inherited cholesterol.


The docs and nurses told me they seldom see someone in as good a shape as me; made me smile through the pain. I think I'm progressing but combing my hair and brushing my teeth still leaves me gasping for breath. I'm aiming for a forty mile group ride in May and did a half mile walk today. Very weird to be riding twenty five miles one day and can't make it to the mailbox a week later.

God has extended my time, I hope to make it count and get in a few good rides as well. Three of my arteries were over ninty percent closed so the docs tell me I should feel even better once I get back to "normal".

Watch your numbers guys, you don't want this surgery.

My Father-in-law has a very (earily) similar story...Lifelong runner, collapsed in a road race (running). Less than 24 hours later...Quad bypass....he's back to running road races...with his MD's blessing.

[dekindy]

My Father-in-law has a very (earily) similar story...Lifelong runner, collapsed in a road race (running). Less than 24 hours later...Quad bypass....he's back to running road races...with his MD's blessing.

My father-in-law inherited the same thing. Luckily he got warning signs without the big one, approximately the same blockage as you quote. He was not a cyclist but not overweight either. Lived a long time afterward; cancer was the killer.

[weisan]

Hawker-pal, you got a free pass, good for another century ride, use it well.:banana:

[biker72]

Your heart needs some time to heal so take it easy.
It will take months for your breastbone to heal if was cracked for the surgery.

Get that cholesterol taken care of soon or you may have t0 go through this again in a few years.

[Hawker]

Yesterday was the five week anniversary of my operation. I walked a mile and a half and then rode the same....no hills. Hey, it's a start. I saw my surgeon a few days ago and asked if EPO might help my recovery. He said, " I can prescribe it, but in your case I'm not sure it will help". No harm in asking. :)

[Ralph]

It's good to hear you are doing well. Keep working at progressing.

[OtayBW]

Two weeks ago felt neck and shoulder pain, went to ER ended up with quintuple bypass.
WHOA!
Good luck on the mend....

[cmbicycles]

Certainly not on par with quintuple bypass, though I had a small tumor removed today. I so want to go out and ride tomorrow... hate not being able to be active, but at least i can keep browsing the forum for that ever elusive "perfect" bike/part for once I am able to ride again.

Hawker, Good luck with your continued recovery, sounds like you are well on your way.

[Bud_E]

Thanks for your story and congratulations on getting it in time. I'm amazed what's possible with modern surgery. Good luck with your recovery.

[buddybikes]

Here I am complaining to my wife about needing carpal tunnel surgery and probably meniscus surgery later in the season...so will lose good month and half. Guess I will keep my complaining to myself!

Good luck, listen to your doctors and nurses!

[saab2000]

What sort of tests can be done to determine blockage?

[Louis]

I walked a mile and a half and then rode the same....

Keep that up and you'll be riding and walking 200 miles a week ;)

Best of luck with the rehab.

[Louis]

What sort of tests can be done to determine blockage?

I looked in Wikipedia and found Angiography (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angiography)

Angiography or arteriography is a medical imaging technique used to visualize the inside, or lumen, of blood vessels and organs of the body, with particular interest in the arteries, veins and the heart chambers. This is traditionally done by injecting a radio-opaque contrast agent into the blood vessel and imaging using X-ray based techniques such as fluoroscopy.

The word itself comes from the Greek words angeion, "vessel", and graphein, "to write" or "record". The film or image of the blood vessels is called an angiograph, or more commonly, an angiogram. Though the word itself can describe both an arteriogram and a venogram, in its everyday usage, the terms angiogram and arteriogram are often used synonymously, whereas the term venogram is used more precisely.[1]

The term angiography is strictly defined as based on projectional radiography; however, the term has been applied to newer vascular imaging techniques such as CT angiography and MR angiography. The term isotope angiography has also been used, although this more correctly is referred to as isotope perfusion scanning.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/30/Cerebral_angiography%2C_arteria_vertebralis_sinist er_injection.JPG/556px-Cerebral_angiography%2C_arteria_vertebralis_sinist er_injection.JPG

[slidey]

Wishing both you guys (Hawker + cmbicycles) a speedy, and complete recovery.

Just remember, the roads will always be there...they got nowhere to go :)

[saab2000]

I looked in Wikipedia and found Angiography (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angiography)



http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/30/Cerebral_angiography%2C_arteria_vertebralis_sinist er_injection.JPG/556px-Cerebral_angiography%2C_arteria_vertebralis_sinist er_injection.JPG

Good info. Thanks. I'm getting to the age where I probably ought to take this stuff a bit more seriously.

My father had bypass surgery about 25 months ago and it seemed successful at the time but a few complications, and probably general old age, meant it was just some borrowed time. We were all thankful for that but he left us in May of last year. He was in good shape before his initial cardiac event but had been slowing down for years.

I should probably take my own heart health more seriously even though I work out a fair amount. It's nothing like it used to be and I don't eat as well as I used to either and I'm 46 now. :eek:

[thwart]

What sort of tests can be done to determine blockage?No great answers for that. You can have a cardiac scan done (looking for calcium deposits at the blockage sites)... but not a terribly accurate test, unfortunately. A stress test (treadmill test) is notoriously inaccurate if you don't have any symptoms.

So... be aware of the symptoms... unusual shortness of breath with exercise, unusual fatigue with exercise, unusual sweating, pain or pressure in the chest, jaw, or left arm, especially with activities or excitement.

Cycling certainly helps prevent hardening of the arteries, but by no means makes you bulletproof. Google Jim Fixx.

Someone I work with, avid cyclist, 3-5 K miles per year, just had a heart attack. He was bike commuting home and recognized the symptoms. Luckily got to the ER before any major heart damage.

[metalheart]

This was number one for me ... a couple of stents opened the blockage. The photos show before and after, so I made it. I did fine until 2010 when I had a second event about a month after I had what my cardiologist called a "spectacular" result from a stress test (18+ minutes). Later he told me, "after you get off the treadmill, you start over, all bets are off."

I ride 100-200 miles a week, depending on weather, my knees, and life stuff. The bike has definitely helped me to improve cardiovascular conditioning and I keep working at it. After the second set of stents, the surgeon said, " I will probably see you again, a bypass is in your future." So, I have incentive to keep working on the bike.

There is one annoyance.... folks who know I have had a couple heart attacks seem to get around to asking about my "bucket list." Given, that things can go sour any moment for any of us, the whole idea is strange to me, so I just say: Item (1)-- live today as if it is your last; (2) hope to see tomorrow; and (3) repeat items one and two ...

Best of luck in your recovery and keep cycling!



http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8249/8575738151_558f65c5d1_z.jpg

[ClutchCargo]

Keep that up and you'll be riding and walking 200 miles a week ;)

Best of luck with the rehab.

+1 ! Nice to hear your back on the road. Keep a positive attitude and take it one step (pedal stroke!) at a time. Ride on!

[pitonpat]

For your recovery Hawker. I received a stent last June, so, not nearly as invasive as your surgery, but life changing nontheless. My experience was well documented here on the forum, and I received kind responses and valuable info from fellow Forumites. I'm convinced that my biking gave me the necessary healthy conditioning to survive the warning signs before being hit with the "big one", so keep on cyclin' as you recover. Pat