Breathless after CABG

[LikeFuji]

My husband had a By pass x 2 on pump . His recovery was 'perfect'! It is 3 months now and the cardiologist says it is great. However walking up stairs at home or having to get up fat and walk 5 steps to get the phone or go to the front door he id extremely Breathless. Slow walking a distance no problem. He had a lung test and was told he had 68% capacity for his age etc. He is getting very depressed and down about the breathing not getting any better. What could have caused this. I see other people talking of exercises, we were not given any. We are in NZ. Any ideas would be great. Thanks


This discussion is related to Issues with breathing after bypass surgery.

[ed34]

did they not perform any tests? even a nuclear scan? Don't they know that a bypass can shut down after just 2 weeks? I would go back to a cardiologist and tell them you don't feel right and haven't felt right since surgery. Tell them surgery doesn't mean it's fixed, many things can go wrong. Then ask them to run more tests because you struggle so much in life.

[Davidiam]

I had a double by-pass 2 years ago.   I still suffer from breathlessness.  I spoke to 3 different cardiologists and they all say the same thing: "you just need to get back the in shape" but if is more than that. I often feel like I am suffocating from lack of oxygen. I sometimes need to take in a very deep breath just to be able to finish a sentence.

[ed34]

I would go see the Doctor again. Immediately after my bypass, I was not breathless. It is difficult to fully expand your lungs for months after bypass surgery but I don't know if this is the problem with his lungs? Have they indicated other flaws with his lungs?