Recovery after Quadruple Heart Bypass Surgery - Fluid around lungs

[Sherry Berry]

My father had quadruple heart by-pass surgery a month and 1/2 ago. He still hasn't fully recovered. He has been a diabetic since he turned 52.  He is now 67 years old. He has repeatedly had fluid around his lung that has been drained off by his heart doctor, but it keeps coming back. He has trouble breathing and every time this procedure is done, he has more and more liquid drained from his lung. The first time it was 1200 ccs. The second time 2800 ccs. He had it drained again today, and my mother told me that there was even more fluid. My father says that he has trouble breathing and feels like he is drowning in all this fluid. My father has had alot happen in a year's time. He had total right knee replacement surgery in April 06, eye surgery on his one and only eye in April 07 - the other eye is a glass eye due to an old coal mine accident 39 years ago - and a month or so ago this quadruple heart bypass surgery. My thinking is that he is too weak to get rid of this fluid on his own. The doctor said that the next time this happens, my dad will be admitted into the hospital for a couple of days for a procedure where the doctor will drain off the fluid again then put some sort of sealent around the lung so it won't fill up again? (I'm not sure if I'm wording this properly.) I guess, my question is why didn't the doctor do this before now? Is it a risky procedure? Why is the fluid amount getting larger and larger every time?  Thanks for your time, Sherry Berry!

[veronicaelizabeth]

my friend is 65 and had a quadruple bypass 4 years ago, he also has high blood pressure, is it possible and is it safe to have sex? He gets breathless when he walks uphill, and has a spray that he carries with him at all times. Hope some one can help. Thankyou

[tschneid]

My dad had a triple bypass about a year and a half ago and is still having problems to this day...he had the fluid build up and they kept a chest tub ein him the whole time he was in the hospital.....He was in the hospital for almost a month due to different complications with the bypass, they have had to open him up two more times to fix things that have gone wrong, the first time was in the hospital and the wire broke that was wrapped around the sternum to hold it together, when it broke it sent a piece of his rib into his lung and punctured it so they had to fix that....so that caused him to have a large amount of fluid to fill up in his lungs which had to comtinually be drained out with a chest tube......then he went back in about 3 weeks ago because the wire came loose again but they also found that when the wire broke the first time and they wired it back again a piece of his rib was in the wrong place so they said and caused some bone deformation to take place on his back side where the ribs comes around....he is now back in the hospital again as we speak due to a severe subclavian stenosis, which means he has to have surgery again to fix another blockage on what I am guessing is a new vein that they put in when his bypass was done......so now he has to have an angioplasty done and maybe a stent put in, not sure yet......I hope to God your dad doesn't go through what mine has and he is 65....I hope they get all that fluid taken care of and they don't cause him to go through anymore issues then he already has......for me this has been a trying year and still more to go through what makes it all worse is my parents live in AZ and I live in FL....a long way and plane tickets aren't cheap...

[Tracey172]

Hi there, never replied on anything like this before, but I would to say that your dad will be fine, I am 42 and had a quad  bypass myself in May 08, and I am fine, the only pain I know have in around my chest area.  I was advised that i would not be 100% for about 1 year as this is how long it actually takes the body to heal, as it has had major trauma and shock and the inside has to recover too, but please note that I had my bypass in May 08 and I returned to work 13 Aug 08, so it may seem forever now but just get as much rest as possible as this does help.
Good health to one an all.    Tracey

[Craig13]

My father had 4way Heart by-Pass 5mths ago now and he seems to be doing well so I just want you and everyone else some hope that they will get better but it does take time to heal and get everything going properly again.

                                                                 *Craig*

[warren62]

y 62 yr old sister-in-law had 6 bypasses two months ago. While in recovery she had a light stroke. Next her lungs or chest cavity begin to fill with fluid. Its been two months and her husband is still draining her twice daily. Is this because her heart is weak from all the bypasses?

[Pam11112]

My Dad is 66 years old, has had two heartattacks and one stroke (proven).  The first one was at the age of 40 and the second one was in 2006.  The doctors just found evidence of the stroke (alhtough we told them when we thought he had it a year ago) when he went to the hospital a month ago for his blood pressure being so high.  He had to have a  quadruple by-pass on May 22, 2008.  The surgery seemed to go good but later that night he went to sleep and they could not wake him for almost 4 days.  He stayed in the surgical ICU for 10 days and finally came home last friday June 5.  He is also a diabetic and has high blood pressure that is very hard to control.  Yesterday 6/10/08 he was taken back to the hospital because he was not breathing good.  They say there is fluid in his lungs and his heart is not beating properly.  He is really upset and depressed about his condition.  Since his 2006 heart attack, he has been working out at cardio rehab 3 times a week.  I never imagined that we would be having all of these problems.  Keep praying is all that I know to do.