bypass surgery

[ryse]

My grandmother is 84 now and had a quad.bypass 2months.  She's got a cough that won't go away and can't keep any food in her.  She been put back in the hospital 4 times now and they don't know why she can't eat.  She has now dropped 65 pounds and hasn't even got the strength to sit up .  She won't take but a couple of small bites of food and drink enough to swallow her pills.  She become too weak to move.  Any feedback would be greatly appreciated!  

[ed34]

I had a triple bypass when I was 46 and I wouldn't be exaggerating when I say the discomfort was terrible, it was the worse pain I have ever felt. I remember my very first thoughts when I woke up from surgery "what have I let them do to me" and I had tears through the pain. To imagine an 84 year old lady going through the same thing makes my hair stand on end. I was dosed up with a lot of pain meds and they made me lose my appetite for a few weeks. I had to lower my dosage and endure more pain to eat. Everyone experiences different things after surgery and if your Grandmother is going through the same experiences I had, then I really and truly feel for her. When I started to eat, I found sweet things made me nauseous and most things tasted of metal, quite disgusting. Savoury snacks were the best thing for me to get my appetite going, things like cheesy biscuits.

[kenkeith]

What your grandmother is experiencing is the dilemma patients over 70 years of age have to consider and that is take a risk with surgery.  I have mitral valve regurgitation (severe) for may years and feel well, but not having surgery may reduce my life expendency. And with no serious symptoms and my medication continues to serve me well...., should I risk an operation with the possibility of having many years of possible complications from a surgery?  

There is a member that has uncontrolled chest pains, etc., and It appears he has decided for a bypass.  If what you say your grandmother was not having uncontrolled pain from ischemia (coronary artery disease), it may have been better for no operation, however, since your grandmother is experiencing complications after surgery the focus should be on helping her under the currect condition now. If she didn't have an enlarged left ventricle and the ejection fraction was normal (pumping effectively) prior to surgery that is a plus.  Has your grandmother's heart functionality been evaluated? Do the doctors have an explanation?

[ryse]

She was in good health.  She had several stints put in over the years but she was up and about and out of the house everyday.  I feel she was strongest the first week after the surgery.  She ate better and was more alert then. She wasn't able to get up and around but she was able to extend her arms and legs and reach for things she needed.  At this point she is too weak to do those. I keep pushing her to eat more in hopes that that will in return build up her strength, but she'll tell me she feels nauseated. If we push her to eat more and it comes up it makes her heart beat too fast and her chest hurt.  Or sometimes she says her throat hurts and she feels she'll choke. Shes got to eat. I've tried buying the boost drinks for her but even those, she won't take more then 2 or 3 sips.  I feel better hearing there can be a quick turn around and Im hoping to see improvement soon.  Thanks for your feedback!

[kenkeith]

Was your grandmother in fairly good health prior to the operation with the exception of vessel occlusion?  It takes several months to recover with a younger individual and  2 months is not a very long time, but more importantly is your grandmother slowly improving, or deteriorating? There can be a favorable turn around of the condition very quickly, and we can hope that is the eventual outcome.

Thanks for sharing, and if you have any further quesitons or comments you are welcome to respond.  Take care,

Ken