Heart Bypass Surgery

You need to be sure it is not a thyroid problem causing your hair to be dry. Usually the cheapest cream rinses work as well as the others, good luck !!!!__,_ha

HI, I had my surgery performed by the VA Hospital. However, this past week they de-certified me for health care because, according to them, I make too much money. (more than $26,000/yr) This is horrific news to me as I have no other way to obtain affordable health care. I am taking 19 medications a day. If I have to pay for that alone, I cannot afford it. No insurance company will take me due to my pre-existing condition. I guess that the VA hopes I will just crawl into a corner and die. I went through a life-saving surgery (I had 7 blockages) and I have been looking forward to a good life ahead (I am only 56 yrs old). Now this! I do not want to die. So, if anyone out there has any suggestions for me, I would greatly appreciate any advice. Thanks, Dave

I have a good job that needs to be done. I was asked to the the Honorary Chairman for the area's American Heart Association's Heart Walk. I hope to help spread the word to listen to your heart and your body and get help when it is needed. Don't wait for a heart attack or stroke, get something done now. I was lucky, I did something quick and came out with flying colors. Now I just want to spread the word to get off your rear ends and get to a doctor. If not for you sake at least for your families sake. Captainkodak1

I keep forgetting to tell everyone this, so I felt email was the way to go. Anyway, last Tuesday I got a letter via Fed Ex, I thought oh shoot this has got to be bad news. I opened it up and a check for 980.00 fell out!!! I was so amazed it was like "manna from heaven". Yeah right, too good to be true. This company called corporate recovery services, said I had asked about being a mystery shopper. The deal was I was to cash the check keep 120.00 for myself and money gram the rest (minus the money gram fee) to a fictitious relative in Ontario. Kelli Couture. I called Jim and right away he thought it was a fake. He said who is going to send us that kind of money out of the blue and trust you to do what they instruct you to do? That night we just happened to take a break from what we were watching to check out the weather forecast and we caught the story on the news. Apparently the check clears at first but bounces like a week later. And the person cashing it gets stuck with making good on it. I have a sheriff that lives across the way from me, and I asked him, he said that they see at least 3 or 4 of these a day. People are losing like 2600.00 So we turned it over to the cops. But I was pissed that it was a fake. There is a rip off report about them. Shoot I even called them as if I could tell from that. Some Jamaican Sounding guy answered the phone. Anyway be on the look out for this scam as it could end up costing you a ton of money. Love Deb

I have been reading with interest all of the wonderful testimonials for at least a month now. Usually I just take a quick peek to see if I can spot something that perhaps I have experienced or am about to experience. It is a good stop and am pleased that we are survivors of what surely would have killed us just a few short years ago. The lingering problem that I face is the chest pain from the incision. Every night I grunt and groan from the pain and still pull myself up in the morning by grabbing the sheets. I know or I trust that someday it won't remind me that the surgery took place. But is that a good thing. Here's my point. We all need to move forward but I find as I start to feel better (had my three way on December 11, '06)that I start to slip into those old habits more easily than a few weeks ago. I actually bought my favorite pie (lemon)over the weekend. Mmm, mmm, it sure is good. I even put sugar in my coffee. I am more active than I was a year ago and intend to stay that way. I struggle just as we all do from information overload and try to cypher out the good stuff. Isn't that the larger point? To find what works for each of us? For me, I am rather proud of my scars. They remind me of why I will not smoke again, why I don't eat red meat, why I love fish and plan on eating more, why I brought my bike home from our summer camp and plan on riding it more. You all understand. I'll add more later. Thanks for having and keeping this sight a nice place to visit.

Thank you all for your quick response. I am going to dentist later today. The girl said they would probably only take x rays and let me know options. I will definitely tell him what meds I am on and if I need to stop for a few days. BTW, If anyone needs encouragement or hints to help quit smoking, e mail me. I stopped over 40 years ago and do not miss them at all. I thank God that I no longer smoke. Good luck! Be Well!

I dont know about anyone else out there but I had no symptoms, went in for anagiogram and wound up with a 5 bagger. I now feel worse than I did before they told me I had problems. Still have numbness from left chest all the way down the side and right leg where they took the vein. Also still have chest pain. Really wondering how many still are smoking a little out there, I am not and it sucks LOLm

My last test results are the best ever in my life. Triglycerprides is 90 Cholesterol Total 111 HDL Cholesterol 31 LDL Cholesterol Calc 62 VLDL Cholesterol Cal 18 Hemoogobin Alc 5.8 I can't beleive it will be 3 years already and I feel realy good. I came a long way baby! Linda Posnick

I had open heart surgery - valve replacement, one bypass March 6, 2007. Now I need to go to the dentist as I have a toothache. Is there anything I need to know before I go? I know I need to take antibiotics. I am going to call my surgeon in a little while (when his office opens) to ask, but would like to hear from your personal experience. Please respond asap as I am kinda worried about this. Thank you. Marie

Just got my latest test back. total = 124 HDL = 36 LDL = 69 Tri = 96 I am happy and the doc is happy! Work at it folks. It can be done!

I had a triple bypass 6 months ago and still find myself very bummed out because I was only 40. Granted I only had one significant blockage in my left main,therefore bypass was the only option. Had the blockage been anywhere else It would of required waiting and watching. Anyway, I have a sense of doom that because it happened so young that I will certainly need more bypasses down the road and no matter what I do,my life will be short. I am looking for words of encouragement and success stories....please. Paul

I had a triple bypass 8 weeks ago. One of the concerns that I have is the amount of exercise that should take place. I currently do an hour in the morning ( bike and walking) and an hour in the evening 7 days a week. What is the time frame for doing activities? I am getting ready to return to work on Monday. Thank you. Ed

Hi All, I have been having some pain at my implant site. It is almost 2 1/2 months since my implant. It only happens once in a while,its not like a shock from the Defibulator, its more like a soreness. My cabg scar hurts some times. It is really smooth up top but down lower it is bumpy, and sore. I also get pain in my both of my breasts. Could this be from the harvesting of the arteries? Can anyone who has had similar symptoms or knowledge of thisplease enlighten me. Thanks Debbie C.

Sorry about all those emails hitting the list at once. Our email has been blocked for nearly a week and I forgot all that mail was piling up in my outbox. Sorry folks. I do want to ask something. I had a real bad heart attack at the end of august, went five days thinking it was chemical poisoning, the father of my children had no heart attack but warning signs said doctors dictated that he have open heart surgery asap. He waited a few days and had basically the same surgery I did. He's two years older than I am, I'm mid sixtys. We were both smokers. We both had lousy diets. He had 3 bypasses, I had four. He has no leaking valve, I still do. I was out of the hospital in 10 days (oxygen levels only problem) and am doing about what I want (within wide boundaries). His surgery was two months ago and he has not been out of his hospital bed yet. He's been on and off dialysis (sp), has a trac and a feeding tube so he doesn't eat on his own and doesn't breath on his own. He had a kidney problem but that has cleared up. Now they say he is bleeding inside somewhere but they haven't figured out the source. He's looking worse than he did right after surgery. Two days ago my daughter and his doctor had to tell him that his wife, who had just been moved from the hospital to a nursing home, made the decision to let doctors take her off life support. She died hours later. So I can see how that might throw his healing down for a bit, but have any of you experienced so many problems after surgery and still picked up and got well? His doctors say it could go either way. Oh, the only other difference I can think of is I had wonderful doctors connected with the mayo clinic. He's in the Houston VA. Doctors just act like, sorry, we can't figure out what's wrong. .

you are luckier then he is

iPods Can Make Pacemakers Malfunction: Study iPods can cause cardiac implantable pacemakers to malfunction by interfering with the electromagnetic equipment monitoring the heart, according to a study presented by a 17-year-old high school student to a meeting of heart specialists on Thursday. The study tested the effect of the portable music devices on 100 patients, whose mean age was 77, outfitted with pacemakers. Electrical interference was detected half of the time when the iPod was held two inches from the patient's chest for five to 10 seconds. The study did not examine any portable music devices other than iPods, which are made by Apple Inc. In some cases, the iPods caused interference when held 18 inches from the chest. Interfering with the telemetry equipment caused the device to misread the heart's pacing and in one case caused the pacemaker to stop functioning altogether. The study was held at the Thoracic and Cardiovascular Institute at Michigan State University. The results were presented at the Heart Rhythm Society annual meeting in Denver. Jay Thaker, lead author of the study and a student at Okemos High School in Okemos, Mich., concluded that iPod interference can lead physicians to misdiagnose actual heart function. Thaker, whose father is an electrophysiologist and whose mother is a rheumatologist, said he asked his dad about a potential interaction between pacemakers and iPods. "We looked online but didn't see anything. Then, one of his patients asked him if there would be a problem, so [my father] put me in touch with Dr. Krit [Jongnarangsin]," Thaker said in a telephone interview. Jongnarangsin, a long-time friend of Thaker's father, is the senior author of the study and an assistant professor in the Division of Cardiovascular Medicine at the University of Michigan. "Most pacemaker patients are not iPod users," Jongnarangsin said. For that reason, he said, it is unclear how often iPods cause misdiagnosis. "This needs to be studied more," Jongnarangsin added. Thaker said he is interested in doing a similar study about how implantable cardioverter defibrillators, known as ICDs, are affected by iPods. © Reuters Newsmax Editor's Note: * These 4 Supplements Will Stop Your Migraines.

Statins May Lower Lung Cancer Risk Stain drugs may not only lower your risk of heart disease they may also radically reduce your risk of developing lung cancer. Researchers found that men who took a statin drug for at least six months slashed their risk of developing the deadly cancer by 55 percent. Those who took a statin drug for at least four years reduced their risk of developing lung cancer by a whopping 77 percent! Dr. Vikas Khurana of the department of medicine at Overton Brooks VA Medical Center in Shreveport, La., studied information on 484,000 patients between the ages of 18 and 100 collected by the VA Health Care System over a period of six years. Almost 98 percent of the patients were men. Khurana found that regardless of race, age, weight, smoking and drinking histories, or diabetes status, men who had taken statins for at least six months reduced their risk of developing lung cancer by 55 percent. The longer patients had taken statins, the lower their risk, and those taking statins for four years reduced their risk by an astonishing 77 percent. Oddly enough, taking statins for less than six months increased the risk of lung cancer. Researchers are unsure of the link between statin drugs and a lowered risk of lung cancer. Some theorize that statins hinder the development and growth of malignant cells on a molecular basis. What these researchers have done is to examine a large collection of data thats already out there to show that the use of statins is a plausible preventive treatment for patients with lung cancer, or patients who are going to develop lung cancer, said Dr. Neil Schachter, medical director of the respiratory care department at Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York City. According to the American Cancer Society, 214,000 new cases will be diagnosed this year and more than 160,000 people will die of the disease, which is the biggest cancer-related killer in the United States. Newsmax Editor's Note: * 10 Simple Steps to Lower Cholesterol in One Month Go Here. * More: 109 Things You Can Do to Prevent, Halt, and Reverse Heart Disease.

Its the Fat You Cant See That Can Kill You If it really is what's on the inside that counts, then a lot of thin people might be in trouble. Some doctors now think that the internal fat surrounding vital organs like the heart, liver, or pancreas invisible to the naked eye could be as dangerous as the more obvious external fat that bulges underneath the skin. ''Being thin doesn't automatically mean you're not fat,'' said Dr. Jimmy Bell, a professor of molecular imaging at Imperial College, London. Since 1994, Bell and his team have scanned nearly 800 people with MRI machines to create ''fat maps'' showing where people store fat. According to the data, people who maintain their weight through diet rather than exercise are likely to have major deposits of internal fat, even if they are otherwise slim. ''The whole concept of being fat needs to be redefined,'' said Bell, whose research is funded by Britain's Medical Research Council. Without a clear warning signal like a rounder middle doctors worry that thin people may be lulled into falsely assuming that because they're not overweight, they're healthy. ''Just because someone is lean doesn't make them immune to diabetes or other risk factors for heart disease,'' said Dr. Louis Teichholz, chief of cardiology at Hackensack University Medical Center in New Jersey, who was not involved in Bell's research. Even people with normal Body Mass Index scores a standard obesity measure that divides your weight by the square of your height can have surprising levels of fat deposits inside. Of the women scanned by Bell and his colleagues, as many as 45 percent of those with normal BMI scores (20 to 25) actually had excessive levels of internal fat. Among men, the percentage was nearly 60 percent. Relating the news to what Bell calls ''TOFIs'' people who are ''thin outside, fat inside'' is rarely uneventful. ''The thinner people are, the bigger the surprise,'' he said, adding that researchers even found TOFIs among people who are professional models. According to Bell, people who are fat on the inside are essentially on the threshold of being obese. They eat too many fatty, sugary foods and exercise too little to work it off but they are not eating enough to actually be fat. Scientists believe we naturally accumulate fat around the belly first, but at some point, the body may start storing it elsewhere. Still, most experts believe that being of normal weight is an indicator of good health, and that BMI is a reliable measurement. ''BMI won't give you the exact indication of where fat is, but it's a useful clinical tool,'' said Dr. Toni Steer, a nutritionist at Britain's Medical Research Council. Doctors are unsure about the exact dangers of internal fat, but some suspect it contributes to the risk of heart disease and diabetes. They theorize that internal fat disrupts the body's communication systems. The fat enveloping internal organs might be sending the body mistaken chemical signals to store fat inside organs like the liver or pancreas. This could ultimately lead to insulin resistance, Type 2 diabetes, or heart disease. Experts have long known that fat, active people can be healthier than their skinny, inactive counterparts. ''Normal-weight persons who are sedentary and unfit are at much higher risk for mortality than obese persons who are active and fit,'' said Dr. Steven Blair, an obesity expert at the University of South Carolina. For example, despite their ripples of fat, super-sized Sumo wrestlers probably have a better metabolic profile than some of their slim, sedentary spectators, Bell said. That's because the wrestlers' fat is primarily stored under the skin, not streaking throughout their vital organs and muscles. The good news is that internal fat can be easily burned off through exercise or even by improving your diet. ''Even if you don't see it on your bathroom scale, caloric restriction and physical exercise have an aggressive effect on visceral fat,'' said Dr. Bob Ross, an obesity expert at Queen's University in Canada. Because many factors contribute to heart disease, Teichholz says it's difficult to determine the precise danger of internal fat though it certainly doesn't help. ''Obesity is a risk factor, but it's lower down on the totem pole of risk factors,'' he said, explaining that whether or not people smoke, their family histories, and blood pressure and cholesterol rates are more important determinants than both external and internal fat. When it comes to being fit, experts say there is no shortcut. ''If you just want to look thin, then maybe dieting is enough,'' Bell said. ''But if you want to actually be healthy, then exercise has to be an important component of your lifestyle.'' © AP Newsmax Editor's Note: * Special Report: Hidden Fat May Mean Heart Disease, Arthritis.

Just wanted to wish all mothers a Happy and Blessed Day. It's been 3 months since my heart bypass surgery now and I thank God for everyone that helped me when I couldn't get off the couch to do chores or drive the car. I am so grateful to have a new start and be here for Mothers Day. I still get achey from statins and diabetic neuropathy but I am dealing with it. The good thing is I'm in cardiac rehab and it does get easier. I just keep looking up. Many thanks! Ann

Hi All: My fingers and ankles are starting to retain water...Im on a water pill....dont use salt.....any recommendations StannisRose Free Animations for your email - By IncrediMail! Click Here!

This weekend is Mother's Day weekend. A day where we say, Thanks Mom! I know since my cabg I have been a very bad grumpy demanding pain in the ...well you know what I mean. I think that a big Hug and a thank you and a day of their own is much deserved by the people who stood by and take care of us at home after we return from the hospital. So I will start by saying thank you to my husband Gil, who cooks for me, cleans the majority of the house for me, holds me when I just cant take it anymore and tells me it will get better..thank you thank you thank you!!! Barbara

Hi, I had triple bypass 17 months ago. Feel great, back exercising and all normal activities. I am on low dose of lipitor (statin) and 75 mg NuSeal aspirin daily but I wonder if these can cause some breathing difficulties. Anyone on these medications with similar experience?

I found a website called Dailystrength.org It is full of support groups for all kinds of things including bypass and cardiac related issues.

In a message dated 5/11/2007 2:37:54 A.M. Eastern Daylight Time, sylviam@... writes: It gives so much confidence for people to exercise in a supervised setting. Especially for people who haven't been used to doing a lot of exercise. There are so many differences between the US and UK healthcare systems that someone should write a book on it. Perhaps someone has? :-) Sorry for the late reply. Sylvia if we could put our healthcare systems together I'm sure we would be close to perfect... in the US no matter how poor if U need major medical such as bypass or kidney dialysis U will not be turned away in the UK they can choose who gets these things if U are older U will not get dialysis because there aren't enough machines and the younger go first that saddens me.. in the US U can get free med's but try to get into a Dr with no insurance or cash for that office visit ... they both have there good points and bad ... NO American should be without full coverage health care before we do it for any other country or any immigrant ... Rose

When I had my surgery they took one of the grafts from the inside of my left knee. There were two small incisions one above the knee and one below the knee. I still have some pain every once in awhile. Do any of you have the same? I walk 2 miles a day in 30 minutes. My medicines are Lipitor and Niaspan. It does'nt seem to be cramps but more of like site pain.

In a message dated 5/10/2007 7:27:53 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time, deb1125wa@... writes: Aren't we here to discuss our hearts????????? This is a little ridiculous. did i do it? I'm usually the bad one Rose

Hello to all I'm 37 had a cabg4 in 2003 on my b-day (awoken on my b-day)things have been going pretty good until now about a year i have been having a lot of PVC's... they really bother me i feel them all the time every day ..anyone have these problems I would love some opinions on this ..I take toprolxl 50mg 1x and enalipril 5mg 2x vytorin 10/40 1x basically all for the heart.. I just had a stress test with tread mill and couldn't finish legs started cramping and blood pressure was like 205/88 so they stopped me and did the nuclear injection..anyways went for result and was told things look good well see you in 6 months..well i guess i will request a transcript to see what really is going on .. but the pvc are really really bothing me i do get angina too unstable but not to often been worried and i know stress is the worst thing..so i just need some different opinions good or bad i would rather be prepared it makes me understand ...the truth shall set you free... thank you and God Bless all Karen

In a message dated 5/10/2007 4:00:05 A.M. Eastern Daylight Time, teisha-reifel706@... writes: People judge your dick size by your shoes size. oh geez what ever will i do they dont make size 0 shoes where is barb when i need her Rose

I just had a triple bypass in march and My insurance does not pay for my cardo rehab.Is there a book or does someone have good work out routine to get going quicker and when can I start lifting weights again and has anybody done this yet.And any good diet suggestions ..I am open to anything.I am walking twice a day my sex drive is back and I just expiernce chest sourness. any help would be greatly apperciated......

Hi, I am Captainkodak1. I am a 46 year old male who had quad bypass in April of 2006. I was lucky that I didn't have a heart attack before my surgery. I am doing well now and I am pleased to find this group. Looking forward to participating.

In a message dated 5/8/2007 11:33:33 A.M. Eastern Daylight Time, bnewman12@... writes: I will have my 3 year anniversary of my triple in June. At this time, I am opting to "live with it" unless it gets worse. this feeling can happen to people who have wires removed as well because of damaged nerves so sometimes after the surgery to remove them it doesn't do any good...I notice when its going to rain or snow i feel them more lol maybe i have arthritis in my wires Rose

My friend, an 80 year old woman who had valve surgery two years ago, asked me to ask if anyone has had steel wires becoming exposed through their swternumj scar, as this has happened to her on multiple occasions now, requiring minor surgery for repair.

In a message dated 5/8/2007 11:09:07 A.M. Eastern Daylight Time, deweyclyd@... writes: i still faint and they will not give me nothing for pain, what they don't give any thing for pain for heart patients? i have three stents in me also. i am only 53. i just need some feed back. can anyone help?? the doctors just make me upset I am on pain meds Im guessing its your Dr some dont like to give people pain meds Rose

Has anyone experienced post surgical pain or problems with the xiphoid process warranting further treatment??? This is the bone like structure right below the sternum in the area we all call the solar plexus??

I am six months post surgery and am pretty much back to normal except for one thing. I have resumed my exercise regimen which consists of jogging and weight training. When jogging, I have been experiencing discomfort from what I thought was the sternal incision but I realize it is coming from the area right below my sternum- I believe it is called the xiphoid process. Has anyone had problems with this? When jogging and sometimes at the end of the day when doing normal activities, I feel a pressure right in the area. It makes jogging very uncomfortable. At rest, it is no big deal. Yesterday, after a light jog, it was painful for the rest of the day. Is this something which will eventually disappear?

DNA Mutation Causes Heart Disease in Whites A treasure hunt for genes has found that up to three-quarters of people of European descent have DNA that raises their risk for heart disease and these genes are close to a stretch of DNA linked to diabetes. The findings, made by two independent groups of researchers, may help explain why so many people have heart disease even if they do not have clear risk factors such as smoking, high cholesterol, or high blood pressure. And they could lead to a test to predict the risk of heart disease, the biggest cause of death across the globe. "I think this is a stunner," Dr. Francis Collins, director of the National Human Genome Research Institute, told reporters. "It seems like this one place carries all of that weight for two very common and very dangerous diseases." Both teams used a new method of combing the genome for disease genes called a genome-wide association study, which was not possible until the full human genome was published in 2003. Now scientists can map the DNA of people with a disease, compare them to this template genome or to people without a disease, and find what is different. The two studies, using 40,000 people, found the same thing a stretch of DNA called 9q21 carried certain mutations in people with heart disease. It is an area that had not previously been identified as a gene, which may make it more difficult to determine how it causes disease, scientists said. Dr. Ruth McPherson of the University of Ottawa Heart Institute and colleagues scanned blood samples from 23,000 people. Anna Helgadottir of Iceland-based deCODE Genetics Inc. in Reykjavik and U.S. colleagues at Emory University in Atlanta, the University of Pennsylvania and Duke University in North Carolina tested 17,000 people. Heart Attack Risk The deCODE team found that about 21 percent of the people they tested had mutations in both copies of this DNA stretch, giving them a 64 percent higher risk of a heart attack than people who carried no copies of the mutation. McPherson's team said 20 percent to 25 percent of Caucasians they tested carrying two mutated copies of 9q21 and had a 30 percent to 40 percent higher risk of coronary heart disease than people without the mutation. Half the people had one copy and they had a 15 percent to 20 percent higher risk of heart disease. Africans did not appear to carry the mutations, and in African-Americans, the mutations were not associated with heart disease risk, McPherson's team wrote. The region is not associated with inherited tendencies to have high cholesterol or high blood pressure. But 9q21 is found near two genes called CDKN2A and CDKN2B, which four international teams of researchers last week reported they had identified in their own genome-wide association study looking for diabetes. Collins said the coincidence was astonishing. "We are in the same place in the genome. Here is CDKN2B and 2A, their signal, exactly in the same place as where we found an association for Type-2 diabetes," Collins told reporters. While diabetes raises the risk of heart disease, the heart disease researchers made sure that the patients they scanned did not have diabetes. Collins said researchers will now have to look for a mechanism that explains why a single stretch of DNA could cause both conditions. In the meantime, deCODE plans to find practical uses. "DeCODE plans to bundle this discovery with other genetic variants it has linked to risk of heart attack into a DNA-based test for gauging inherited risk of (heart attack)," the company said in a statement. © Reuters 2006. Editor's Note: * Cholesterol Shocker The Diabetes Link.

Strokes: Not Just for the Elderly Johns Hopkins Childrens Center neurologists are sounding the alarm for parents about a common myth: that children dont suffer strokes. In fact, nearly 3,200 children have so-called brain attacks each year, and half of them end up with permanent neurological damage, according to Lori Jordan, M.D. Strokes in children may occur even more often than brain tumors, says Jordan, but unlike cancer, sadly, strokes in children are sometimes not recognized and treated, or at least not as early as they should be. While some childhood strokes are linked to congenital and genetically caused heart and blood vessel abnormalities, as well as to blood disorders and viral infections such as chicken pox, an important and largely unrecognized risk factor is a tear or other traumatic injury to arteries in the neck or spine. Carotid or vertebral artery injury can lead to small tears, which generate blood clots that travel to the brain and cause a fourth of all strokes in children, Jordan says. A common cause of such stroke-inducing neck trauma is whiplash sustained during a car accident. Other causes include injuries from high-contact sports. Symptoms of neck trauma are neck pain on one side, accompanied by a one-sided headache, possibly with numbness and weakness on that side of the body. Contraceptives and other hormones also increase the risk of blood clots that can break off and get to the brain. Jordan asks parents, coaches, and other caregivers to watch out for the following symptoms of stroke, which, in addition to blood clots, can be caused by bleeding in the brain after a blood vessel ruptures: * Sudden severe headache followed by confusion. * Sudden weakness on one side of the body. * Sudden drooping of the face on one side. * Mental confusion. * Slurred speech or absence of speech. * Seizures affecting one side of the body followed by weakness in the affected side. * Unexplained change in the level of alertness with weakness in one side of the body. If symptoms occur, consider it a medical emergency, Jordan warns, and get the child to an emergency room to reduce the likelihood of permanent brain damage. Editor's Note: * Your Belly Fat May Mean Heart Disease.

my hubby had a quad bypass on March 11th, and yesterday he asked me if I had heard any discussion about having sex after bypass....like how long after, and what could be the hazards, and what to expect. anyone have any info? Jean

In a message dated 5/3/2007 2:59:45 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time, daytoncc@... writes: What should I fear from statins? I have knee problems that I did not have pre 4X CABG 1.5 years ago. Thanks, Dayton if the knee problems started with lipitor then ask your Dr if U can try another statin.. I cant take lipitor but I take zocor with no problem.. all statin's don't have the same side effects for each person Rose

Hi All Hoping you are all fine and dandy. I know its been a while since I posted but I do read all the time. Just don't have a great deal to say for myself ! brian has been doing ok and the last 18months since his op have flown by. He did go for a check up at the docs this week and mentioned that he is getting puffed now and then when exerting himself and has been told he has fluid on his lungs and will have to go for a chest x ray to see why. Is this common so long after surgery ? He hasn't had a cold recently that we can put it down to. I am more than a little concerned now and just wondered if anyone else had suffered from this. Thanks for listening. Love light and twinkles Beth UK x

Ok, so I saw my dr today for my 1st post op check up. He says Im healing very well but couldnt tell me if he thought I should drive or not (that made my hubby happy) nor was he specific about a couple of other questions I had regarding being around people who are MERSA carriers or like my daughter who is now suffering from Mono and wants to visit for a weekend. He did refer me to what Ive heard mentioned here as Cardio Rehab. Did not tell me what it was just that it would speed up the recovery time for me. Anything to get me up and going faster says I, but, what is cardio rehab? What can I expect and what do you usually do during these appointments? Is it going to hurt? Did you enjoy your cardio rehab experience? Any answers will be greatly appreciated. Thank you so much!!! Barbara

This is my first visit back to the site in some time. I am somewhat relieved to know that others have had some of the same symtoms to bypass as myself being depression, numbness, ect. I am 52 now had six bypasses a little over two years ago. I also have the numbness in my left breast and left arm down to thumb where they also took a vein. I went back to work about 8 weeks after the surgery. Went through rehab very well and still try to exercise 5 days a week. Support from the family is so important and my wife is incredible and could not have gone through it without her. It was nice seeing some of the other messages. I think I will try to check back with this site more often. I wish everyone well!

Women and heart attacks (Myocardial infarction) Did you know that women rarely have the same dramatic symptoms that men have when experiencing heart attack...you know, the sudden stabbing pain in the chest, the cold sweat, grabbing the chest & dropping to the floor that we see in the movies. Below is the story of one woman's experience with a heart attack. Mine was much different but I did feel the squeezing motions up my spine after all the vomiting, sweating, pain and diarrhea passed, but instead of going to my jaws, they spread to my limbs causing them to spasm too. I also tasted/smelled a distinctly chemical substance, which doctors later told me the body releases during heart attack but only the occational person can distinguish. This article is verified by www.snopes.com. Please go to their website for additional important information by the American Heart Association concerning this article. In the search box, type in "women heart attacks", click on the 1st link, "Heart Attack Symptoms". I had a completely unexpected heart attack at about 10:30 pm with NO prior exertion, NO prior emotional trauma that one would suspect might've brought it on. I was sitting all snugly & warm on a cold evening, with my purring cat in my lap, reading an interesting story my friend had sent me, and actually thinking, "A-A-h, this is the life, all cozy and warm in my soft, cushy Lazy Boy with my feet propped up." A moment later, I felt that awful sensation of indigestion, when you've been in a hurry and grabbed a bite of sandwich and washed it down with a dash of water, and that hurried bite seems to feel like you've swallowed a golf ball going down the esophagus in slow motion and it is most uncomfortable. You realize you shouldn't have gulped it down so fast and needed to chew it more thoroughly and this time drink a glass of water to hasten its progress down to the stomach. This was my initial sensation---the only trouble was that I hadn't taken a bite of anything since about 5:00 p.m. After that had seemed to subside, the next sensation was like little squeezing motions that seemed to be racing up my SPINE (hind-sight, it was probably my aorta spasming), gaining speed as they continued racing up and under my sternum (breast bone, where one presses rhythmically when administering CPR). This fascinating process continued on into my throat and branched out into both jaws. AHA!! NOW I stopped puzzling about what was happening--we all have read and/or heard about pain in the jaws being one of the signals of an MI happening, haven't we? I said aloud to myself and the cat, "Dear God, I think I'm having a heart attack !" I lowered the foot rest, dumping the cat from my lap, started to take a step and fell on the floor instead. I thought to myself, "If this is a heart attack, I shouldn't be walking into the next room where the phone is or anywhere else.......but, on the other hand, if I don't, nobody will know that I need help, and if I wait any longer I may not be able to get up in moment." I pulled myself up with the arms of the chair, walked slowly into the next room and dialed the Paramedics... I told her I thought I was having a heart attack due to the pressure building under the sternum and radiating into my jaws. I didn't feel hysterical or afraid, just stating the facts. She said she was sending the Paramedics over immediately, asked if the front door was near to me, and if so, to unbolt the door and then lie down on the floor where they could see me when they came in. I then laid down on the floor as instructed and lost consciousness, as I don't remember the medics coming in, their examination, lifting me onto a gurney or getting me into their ambulance, or hearing the call they made to St. Jude ER on the way, but I did briefly awaken when we arrived and saw that the Cardiologist was already there in his surgical blues and cap, helping the medics pull my stretcher out of the ambulance. He was bending over me asking questions (probably something like "Have you taken any medications?") but I couldn't make my mind interpret what he was saying, or form an answer, and nodded off again, not waking up until the Cardiologist and partner had already threaded the teeny angiogram balloon up my femoral artery into the aorta and into my heart where they installed 2 side by side stents to hold open my right coronary artery. I know it sounds like all my thinking and actions at home must have taken at least 20-30 minutes before calling the Paramedics, but actually it took perhaps 4-5 minutes before the call, and both the fire station and St. Jude are only minutes away from my home, and my Cardiologist was already to go to the OR in his scrubs and get going on restarting my heart (which had stopped somewhere between my arrival and the procedure) and installing the stents. Why have I written all of this to you with so much detail? Because I want all of you who are so important in my life to know what I learned first hand. 1. Be aware that something very different is happening in your body not the usual men's symptoms, but inexplicable things happening (until my sternum and jaws got into the act ). It is said that many more women than men die of their first (and last) MI because they didn't know they were having one, and commonly mistake it as indigestion, take some Maalox or other anti-heartburn preparation, and go to bed, hoping they'll feel better in the morning when they wake up....which doesn't happen. My female friends, your symptoms might not be exactly like mine, so I advise you to call the Paramedics if ANYTHING is unpleasantly happening that you've not felt before. It is better to have a "false alarm" visitation than to risk your life guessing what it might be! 2. Note that I said "Call the Paramedics". Ladies, TIME IS OF THE ESSENCE! Do NOT try to drive yourself to the ER--you're a hazard to others on the road, and so is your panicked husband who will be speeding and looking anxiously at what's happening with you instead of the road. Do NOT call your doctor--he doesn't know where you live and if it's at night you won't reach him anyway, and if it's daytime, his assistants (or answering service) will tell you to call the Paramedics. He doesn't carry the equipment in his car that you need to be saved! The Paramedics do, principally OXYGEN that you need ASAP. Your Dr. will be notified later. 3. Don't assume it couldn't be a heart attack because you have a normal cholesterol count. Research has discovered that a cholesterol elevated reading is rarely the cause of an MI (unless it's unbelievably high, and/or accompanied by high blood pressure.) MI's are usually caused by long-term stress and inflammation in the body, which dumps all sorts of deadly hormones into your system to sludge things up in there. Pain in the jaw can wake you from a sound sleep. Let's be careful and be aware. The more we know, the better chance we could survive... A cardiologist says if everyone who gets this mail sends it to 10 people, you can be sure that we'll save at least one life. **Please be a true friend and share this article with the people you care about**

Cherries May Help Your Heart Tart cherries may be good for more than just making pie, according to new data from an animal study conducted by University of Michigan Health System researchers and presented recently at a major scientific meeting. In a study involving rats, the researchers report that animals that received powdered tart cherries in their diet had lower total cholesterol, lower blood sugar, less fat storage in the liver, lower oxidative stress, and increased production of a molecule that helps the body handle fat and sugar, compared with rats that didnt receive cherries as part of an otherwise similar diet. All of the rats had a predisposition toward high cholesterol and pre-diabetes, but not obesity. All the measures on which the two groups of animals differed are linked to metabolic syndrome, a collection of risk factors linked to high rates of heart disease and Type 2 diabetes. Tens of millions of Americans have metabolic syndrome; most dont know it. The researchers say the correlation between cherry intake and significant changes in metabolic measurements suggest a positive effect from the high concentrations of antioxidant compounds called anthocyanins that are found in tart cherries. The results were presented orally at the Experimental Biology 2007 meeting in Washington, D.C. Its not yet known if cherry-rich diets might have a similar impact in humans, but a U-M team will soon launch a small clinical trial to start to find out. Meanwhile, additional research is being carried out in animals prone to both obesity and diabetes. The studys lead author is E. Mitchell Seymour, M.S., a U-M research associate and supervisor of the U-M Cardioprotection Research Laboratory, which studies the potential preventive benefits of antioxidant-rich foods. Support for the new study comes from an unrestricted grant from the Cherry Marketing Institute, a trade association for the cherry industry. CMI has no influence on the design, conduct, or analysis of any U-M research it funds. Seymour and the laboratorys director, U-M cardiac surgeon Steven Bolling, M.D., caution that their results cannot be directly translated into humans. But they are encouraged by the positive signs seen in the new data. Rats fed tart cherries as 1 percent of their total diet had reduced markers of metabolic syndrome, says Seymour. Previous research by other groups studied pure anthocyanin compounds rather than anthocyanin-containing whole foods, and they used concentrations of anthocyanins that would be very difficult if not impossible to obtain in the diet. He continues, We are interested in a whole-foods approach, using amounts of fruit that are relevant to human diets. We are enthusiastic about the findings that tart cherries conferred these beneficial effects at such a modest daily intake. The potential for protective effects from antioxidant-rich foods and food extracts is a promising area of research, says Bolling, who is the Gayle Halperin Kahn Professor of Integrative Medicine, a professor of cardiac surgery, co-director of U-M Integrative Medicine, and member of the U-M Cardiovascular Center. These data from whole tart cherries join other findings that suggest a correlation between anthocyanin intake and reductions in cardiovascular and metabolic risk factors, he says. But there is still a long way to go before we can advocate any course of action for humans. Still, the growing body of knowledge is encouraging. Bolling and Seymour performed the study using 48 male Dahl Salt-Sensitive rats, which are bred for their susceptibility to salt-linked high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and impaired glucose tolerance. For 90 days beginning in their sixth week of life, the rats were fed either a carbohydrate-enriched diet or a diet that, by weight, included 1 percent cherries or 10 percent cherries. The higher cherry dose was used to look for any toxic effects; none were seen. The cherries were Montmorency tart cherries grown in northern Michigan, frozen, and powdered. Michigan is the nations largest producer of tart cherries, which are used in pies and jams as well as juice. They are different from the sweet Bing cherries that are often eaten raw, and have higher concentrations of antioxidant anthocyanins than sweet cherries. By the end of the study, the rats that received the 1-percent cherry diet had total cholesterol, triglyceride, glucose, and insulin levels that were significantly lower than those of the rats that did not receive cherries. The same was true for those on the 10-percent cherry diet, compared with rats that received a diet with an equivalently high level of carbohydrates not from cherries. The researchers also measured plasma TEAC, a measure of antioxidant capacity in the blood on which a higher reading means better ability to neutralize damaging free-radical molecules produced in the body during metabolism. The rats that received cherries had higher antioxidant capacity, indicating lower oxidative stress in their bodies, than those that did not. In addition to blood measures, the researchers measured the level of fat in the livers of the rats, and the genetic expression of PPARs (peroxisome proliferator-activating receptors) in the liver. The fatty liver measure is important because the storage of excess energy as fat in the liver is a common effect in metabolic syndrome and because it feeds the vicious cycle of increased cholesterol and decreased response to insulin that can lead to cardiovascular disease and Type 2 diabetes. Meanwhile, the measure of PPAR messenger RNA in the liver reflects the readiness of the liver tissue to express functional PPAR. PPAR is important to the process by which the body burns fat instead of storing it, and it is important in the formation of blood lipids like LDL, typically known as the bad cholesterol." Drugs in the classes known as thiazolidinediones and glitazars activate PPAR and are often used to manage high cholesterol and risk for Type 2 diabetes. In the current study, the rats that received cherries had both a lower level of fat in their livers, and a higher expression of the PPAR gene, than those that did not and the correlation between the two was dose-dependent. Now, the Cardioprotection Laboratory team has embarked on a new study in rats that have Type 2 diabetes, both with and without obesity and in the presence of low-fat and high-fat diets. They will look at whether tart cherries have an impact on the storage of fat in fat tissue and in muscle, and on the production of specific blood lipids like LDL and HDL. In addition, they will characterize cherries chemically, to assess the levels of phytochemicals in whole cherries, cherry juice, and dry cherries. Meanwhile, U-M Integrative Medicine co-Director Sara Warber, M.D., an assistant professor of family medicine at the U-M Medical School, will lead a pilot clinical trial of whole tart cherries in humans. The study will enroll healthy individuals who will spend a night at the U-M General Clinical Research Center, and have their blood tested multiple times to look for the breakdown products of cherries. Newsmax Editor's Note: * Special: Heart Attacks Caused By Inflammation, Not Cholesterol.

Hi I am just about 3 months post opt from 4x bypass. I started rehab and everything seems like it going ok. Today during rehab I had a slight pain in my leg arm under my arm pit. The team took my vital and everything appears normal blood pressure a little elevated. To be on the safe side; they called my dr. I went into the office and had an EKG was showed some abnormal patterns. Has anyone experienced this? I will see her next week to follow-up. She is thinking about putting me in the hospital for another catherazation to look at my heart and make sure there is no blockage. She also said there may be a leak in the graft.

The [Russell L., MD] Blaylock Wellness Report Why Haven't You Been Told about the REAL Cause of Heart Attacks? The Sordid Story of Statistics & Spin . . . Is your ticker a ticking time bomb? Forgive me my bluntness. The truth is scary, so I must come to the point quickly. Heart attacks kill nearly a million Americans a year rich and poor, the famous and the forgotten... Strokes kill over 160,000 a year . . . and often without warning . . . In fact, cardiovascular disease is so common that 64 million Americans suffer from some form of it (and 39 million of these folks are age 65 or younger) . . . So if you're worried, you should be. And if you're not, you really should be. After all, you've only got one heart. Fact is, heart disease is the #1 killer in the United States. So if you're not feeling entirely comforted by the ministrations of modern medicine a prescription for side effect-laden statin drugs, an aspirin every day, the gloomy prospect of heart bypass surgery I don't blame you one bit. And neither does Dr. Russell Blaylock, the editor of the NewsMax monthly newsletter The Blaylock Wellness Report. I'll tell you more about our "medical maverick" shortly, but for your health's sake, please keep reading... Dr. Blaylock knows that informed people can prepare for potential health problems, and plan a successful strategy to prevent them. This is why he so desperately wants you to know the truth, the real truth not just what you read in the mainstream press or see on TV. In fact, in this month's Blaylock Wellness Report "Prevent a Heart Attack: The Truth about Coronary Disease, Cholesterol Medication and How to Truly Protect Yourself", Dr. Blaylock will lay it all out for you. And frankly, it won't be pretty... The Ugly Truth about Cholesterol and Cardiovascular Disease You may have heard the old saying that Mark Twain attributed to British Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli: "There are three kinds of lies: lies, damn lies and statistics . . ." Nowhere is this truer than in the field of medical and scientific research. In this month's Blaylock Wellness Report, Dr. Blaylock will show you how medical research and statistics can be misleading even deliberately used to distort the truth. Grab your OWN Blaylock Wellness Report right now CLICK HERE! Here's the deal: statistics are commonly used to lie to the public. Why? Because so few people actually understand how statistics work.... For one thing, most people do not really understand the concept that: Correlation Does NOT Equal Causation And unfortunately, the mere correlation between elevated cholesterol levels and the risk of heart attack and stroke has been the primary "evidence" to support the dietary cholesterol theory (despite many solid findings to the contrary that Dr. Blaylock will show you). In fact, in this issue of The Blaylock Wellness Report, you'll discover: * Why, in a country ravaged by heart disease, no one is telling you that 50% of those who have heart attacks do NOT have elevated cholesterol... * How atherosclerosis is not really "hardening of the arteries" as you've been lead to believe...but something potentially far worse. * Why it's foolish for your doctor to insist that you take a dangerous statin drug if you have elevated cholesterol even elevated LDL cholesterol... * How the true cause of atherosclerosis was discovered in 1850, rediscovered in 1950, and yet is still hidden from the majority of the population even most doctors. * Why African-Americans have the highest heart attack and stroke risks in the U.S. despite their surprisingly lower cholesterol and triglyceride levels... And that's just the start. How about media spin... Just forget about truth in mainstream journalism... Spinning a Media Web of Epidemic Heart Disease & Death Although you may think of spin as outright bias, it's often more subtle and insidious. Sometimes inadvertent...other times downright deliberate. It's this combination of fatally flawed research and negative media spin that have made the phrase "high cholesterol" synonymous with heart disease. At least in the court of public opinion, where there is no defense attorney for cholesterol to argue "assuming facts not in evidence". Cholesterol, while not entirely without blame in the formation of atherosclerosis and heart disease, is merely a bit player while the main culprits go unrecognized and unpunished. Dr. Blaylock wants to change that. He wants you to know who those heart disease "villains" really are... What this means is: * You won't have to destroy your liver or muscle tissue, or suppress your immune system with a lifetime of cholesterol-lowering drugs... * You won't live under the threat of the surgeon's knife... * You (and your loved ones) won't be high on the "risk list" for the disability and death that routinely tags along with heart disease and stroke... So let's face facts. You've Been Sold a "Bill of Goods" Where Cholesterol is Concerned In this issue of The Blaylock Wellness Report, you'll see how a number of heart disease studies touted by so-called "experts" like the WOSCOPS, CARE and LIPID studies when examined closely, do not support the traditional cholesterol theory. And you'll discover the answer to questions like these: * Since the authors of one of these statin studies reported that there were "no clear overall benefits" from the drug, why are they still prescribing it? * Which factors are actually closely-linked to heart disease far more than cholesterol levels? * What is an "unstable plaque"...and how can making your blood vessel plaque stronger reduce your risk of heart attack and stroke? * Is it true that even small children can be affected by atherosclerosis? * Do "heart-healthy" vegetable oils actually promote heart disease rather than reducing your risk? * Can you have too much disease-causing visceral or belly fat even if you aren't overweight? And that's just the beginning... With that in mind, how do you know you can trust Dr. Blaylock? After all, what you've just heard is apt to make anyone skeptical of health information. Dr. Blaylock is a Different Breed of Doctor We brought Dr. Blaylock on board NewsMax not just because of his history as a top neurosurgeon and nutritional expert. And not just because he doesn't want you to waste your money on useless and expensive potions and pills. But because, over his 26 years of treating patients, he became fed up with the greed, the politics, the lies, and the unnecessary deaths. He's made it his mission to unearth crucial health information buried deep in the stacks of medical literature and research data that has remained hidden, even from your own doctor. And in the monthly Blaylock Wellness Report, he'll * Provide you with accurate information about foods, drugs, health remedies and nutritional supplements (he has NO financial interest in any of his recommendations)... * Give you advice, tips and strategies to prevent and treat disease... * Save you time and "lend you" his own expertise in researching the major health issues threatening you and your family... You see, he thinks there are simpler, cheaper and safer ways to prevent and manage disease and you have the right to know about them. Plus, you'll be glad to know that Dr. Blaylock doesn't just give you the cold, hard facts and then leave you hanging there with the same old ineffective or even harmful recommendations that you've been getting. Of course not. Most important of all, now you can... Fight Back Against Misinformation With Safe, Effective & Natural Health Options You can kiss those dangerous statin drugs goodbye when you discover these natural solutions Dr. Blaylock shares with you to prevent heart attacks, strokes and cardiovascular disease: * A combination of these 2 vitamins has been shown to reduce heart attack and stroke risk almost twice as much as statin drugs do... * The root cause of atherosclerosis points to a deficiency of this simple mineral (this is a major heart disease bombshell)... * Using this safe plant extract can lower "bad" cholesterol, raise "good" cholesterol and reduce the actual inflammation of atherosclerosis... * This powerful flavonoid from certain fruits and nuts not only shows a dramatic reduction of atherosclerosis in animal studies, but is also a powerful inhibitor of several cancers... * A special oil that may not only reverse pre-existing atherosclerosis, but also reduces your belly fat and aids in weight reduction ... * And many more safe and natural alternatives... But that's not all. Here's even more insider information you'll gain in just this single exciting report: * How living in an area with "soft water" impacts the incidence of heart attacks and strokes... * The link between cholesterol and oxidation that determines whether your blood vessels will or won't become damaged... * Why you should drink this tasty tea twice daily... * How statin drugs could be legitimately marketed to reduce heart disease risk...and why this will never happen... * Two conditions you must resist to head off rampant atherosclerosis... * Four lab tests you should ask your doctor to run to determine your risk of heart attack and stroke (hint: your cholesterol level is not one of them)... * Why your children are being targeted for lifetime statin drug use... * A recent vitamin research study so poorly designed, it scared people away from using a nutritional approach to prevent heart disease... * The only reason so many people are taking statin drugs (hint: it's not really to lower their risk of heart disease)... * Seven dangerous health conditions that are all related to an excess of belly fat... * 14 natural atherosclerosis fighters (how many of them could you be using?)... * The one mineral to avoid taking (because it ignites atherosclerosis)... * How to lower your CRP level if you already have a history of stroke or heart disease... Find out even more of the surprising truth about Coronary Disease, Strokes and Cholesterol and many other issues affecting your health... Go Here Now For Instant Access Meet Dr. Blaylock Dr. Russell Blaylock edits the NewsMax.com Blaylock Wellness Report. He is a nationally recognized board-certified neurosurgeon, health practitioner, author and lecturer. He attended the Louisiana State University School of Medicine in New Orleans and completed his internship and neurosurgical residency at the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston, S.C. For the past 26 years, he has practiced neurosurgery in addition to having a nutritional practice. He recently retired from his neurosurgical duties to devote his full attention to nutritional studies and research. Dr. Blaylock has authored three books on nutrition and wellness, including Excitotoxins: The Taste That Kills, Health and Nutrition Secrets That Can Save Your Life and his most recent work, Natural Strategies for The Cancer Patient. An in-demand guest for radio and television programs, he lectures extensively to both lay and professional medical audiences on a variety of nutrition-related subjects. Dr. Blaylock is a member of the international board of the World Natural Health Organization. He is the 2004 recipient of the Integrity in Science Award granted by the Weston A. Price Foundation. He serves on the editorial staff of the Journal of the American Nutraceutical Association and is the associate editor of the Journal of American Physicians and Surgeons, official publication of the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons. He previously served as Clinical Assistant Professor of Neurosurgery at the University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson, MS, and is currently a visiting professor of biology at the Belhaven College, also in Jackson.

Ive got a couple of questions please. Im 40 and had a quintuple bypass on the 4th of this month. My skin is drying out like the Saraha desert, is this common? Also, where my stitches are feel like pins and needles especially if I bump them against something, anyone feel that??? Im tired all the time and want to get up and walk but loose all energy at the end of the driveway, is this normal? I have my 1st appt with my cardiologist on the 3rd and Im hoping he will let me drive again because I feel really isolated and almost like a post partum depression where I just burst into tears for no reason at all. Anyone have the or have had the same or similar issue? Thanks Barb

Hi - had a "triple" over six (6) years ago at Swedish Heart Center in Seattle. No negative side affects whatsoever from my drug regimen..Felt someone might want to refer to a 74 yr. old "by-pass survivor.."

am david i had open heart last october 10th 2006 had to go threw this my self with out any andswers and questions but was back to work in 8 weeks ts only been a short while still get light head3ed and dont feel like my self am a supervisor painter at kentucky horse park and i stil do work i use too

Well, here I am again with another complaint....for those who had that weird taste in your mouth or food didn't taste good.......how long did this last?? It was 8 weeks since sugery this past week and I still have difficulty eating.............I'm hungry as all get out but find everything tastes the same (sort of metallic) and it's just difficult to eat when everything tastes the same. I'm eating because I know I have to but so far have lost 15 pounds (okay I needed to)but really don't want to go any lower. Have tried rinsing mouth a few times a day with listerine but it doesn't help.......I remember having this after my CABGx4 8 years ago but just don't remember how long it lasted. Have tried pizza and other yummy foods I shouldn't be eating just to find something that tastes normal. Help somebody......I"m withering away!!! :) Carol

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Hi all, Last night around 2:30 I woke up with a strange feeling and soon discovered lots of palpitations. I have a pulse oximeter so was able to monitor my heartrate. It was all over the place ranging from a high of 140 to a low in the 40's........it never stayed low or high for very long but was constantly moving up and down. And I could feel it and knew when it was going to go up as it seemed to be a skipped beat etc. Anyway wasn't sure what to do and after about 45 minutes my husband decided to call 9-11 and they showed up within 5 minutes. They did a ekg and determined it wasn't a-fib which I was afraid it might be (had in the hospital and they had to shock back to normal rate) Within a minute or too it seemed to be all over and the ems guys decided I was doing okay. I have put in a call to my cardiologists office to get some answers. I realize a lot of us have palpitations (irregular heartbeat) after heart surgery but last night I couldn't determine if it was okay to just wait it out or to call 9-11........no-one has ever given me an instructions on this.\ This was a valve replacement and one by-pass almost 8 weeks ago......had CABGx4 8 years ago and never experienced anything like this. Just wondering if others have experienced this.....I still intend to talk to someone from my drs. office just to find out if there is anytime to call 9-11 etc. Have a great day..... Carol/Atlanta clowing990@...

I had a quad bypass 2/15/07 and I'm 52. I am nervous about returning to work in May. I'm moody and I will fall asleep at the drop of a hat. It's kinda weird but sometimes I find myself taking a deep breath or gasp of air and then I breathe normally. Anybody else like that? Thanks

My wonderful Mom just found herself in the middle of a 98 percent blockage and had a quad....no heart attack...It has only been one week she was moved from the hospital to rehab. Is this normal ? Are there any books anyone can suggest ? She feels lost and is very emotional, even with our close knit family be her side. She asks frequently what she should expect around the next corner.

Im not usually bothered by much these days I also had the massive heart attack ..a trip to the other side... and a emergency bypass ... i didn't wake for 9 days ... spent almost 3 weeks on a vent although my memories arent as vivid as my familys... I just dont like the pounding heart feeling or the cant get a breath one.... I went through enough of that i still dont breathe as good as i did during my heart attack .. and I also stayed home thinking I had muscle spasms women really dont have the same feelings during a heart attack as men do usually and diabetics often feel no pain during one.. thanks for answering me I am still giving thought to it I dont fear death as much as some of the tests lol death was a peace i dont have words for Rose

In a message dated 4/22/2007 10:39:32 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time, ehghflyr64@... writes: If you have any other questions or want to talk feel free to Im or Email me how do they slow it down or does the med where off ..I hate the feeling of my heart pounding i didn't get that with 5the stress test but i did get out of breath but perhaps that's because I have ventilator induced COPD Rose

has anyone ever had the tread mill test where u dont go on the tread mill they give u a med that makes it like u did and what is it like? they want me to have it but im not sure if i want to.. i am alergic to the dyes and adrenalin also i dont do well with so it kind of spooks me... just wondering how it works and how that drug makes u feel like pounding heart out of breath? Rose

Hello, My name is Dave and I had a CABG surgery on March 6, 2007. I am doing fine except for a very tight feeling across my chest area. This started 3 weeks after my surgery and has not let up. I am on anti - inflammatory medicine and it does help some. Has anyone else experienced this? It feels like my chest muscles are pulled too tight across my chest between my nipples. I have pain to touch in the entire area. Most of the feedback that I have gotten from the doctors is that it is all of the stitches in this area. My concern is that I have felt this pressure for the last four weeks without it getting better. I just completed my seventh week of recovery. Any comments would be appreciated. It just does not seem right. Thank you.....

just had my 5th and my wife is approching her 3rd next month.Eating descent,excercise decent,stress test ok.Will never get on "the" table again.Good luck to all newcomers.

Thank you for the info on meloxicam, I looked into it further, and it is advised NOT to take meloxicam before or after heart surgery, so you can bet i'll be calling my family doctor that perscribed it to me, and looking for a new doctor. Bev.

Hi, my name's Bev, im 47 and i had double bypass on feb 4th/07. I've had tons of problems since surgery, im sure like everyone has, but the last 2 days ive been having palpatations that take my breath away. Has anyone else had this, as late as 10 weeks past surgery? I just went to my family doctor 3 days ago, and she gave me some Meloxicam for muscle spasms , and the palpatations started last night. I dont know if it could be caused by the meloxicam, but the nurse i spoke to said probably not. I dont want to go to the er to have all the tests done again, if its normal, so thats why i wanted to post this question. Thank you. Bev.

Blood Pressure Aid When your blood pressure (BP) creeps up, help knock it down with this simple change in diet. Get 20 percent of your daily calories from . . . Read more. Blood Pressure Aid When your blood pressure (BP) creeps up, help knock it down with this simple change in diet. Get 20 percent of your daily calories from whole-grain, high-fiber foods instead of refined "white" carbs. It could drop your systolic BP 4 to 8 points and your diastolic BP another 6 to 8 points. Start with fiber-rich recipes. Double Trouble High blood pressure and high cholesterol are double trouble. Both put you at risk for cardiovascular disease, and they frequently occur together. If you have borderline high cholesterol (200-239 mg/dL) and prehypertension (120-139/80-89 mm Hg), it's time to take action. Here's How Fiber Helps Both soluble and insoluble fiber (what are those, you say?) were shown to lower blood pressure in middle-aged people with the unfortunate combo of borderline high cholesterol and prehypertension. Soluble fiber does double duty by lowering cholesterol, too. Help yourself to both kinds of fiber with these tasty recipes from EatingWell.com. Recipe Corner Southwestern Corn and Black Bean Salad (13 grams of fiber per serving) Butternut and Barley Pilaf (8 grams of fiber per serving) White Beans, Spinach, and Tomatoes Over Parmesan Toasts (15 grams of fiber per serving) Trio of Peas (5 grams of fiber per serving)

geez ed it sounds like we cant trust ourselves and we need you to spank our hands well i have barb for that ....Ü U are moderating the people who don't want the spam lmao not the spammers talk about control freaks.... now sit down for i beat ya myself Rose

Cayenne Pepper The greatest benefit of using cayenne pepper in natural medicine comes from cayenne's ability to rapidly stimulate the circulatory system and deliver fresh blood and nutrients to the heart and other organs in the body. When used properly, cayenne "opens up" capillaries allowing vitalised blood to reach areas that it may not normally reach due to poor circulation. Clinical and anecdotal evidence strongly suggests that cayenne pepper can be utilised to carry other substances, such as herbs and other nutrients, into the bloodstream - and sometimes within seconds. Extensive clinical studies conducted with cayenne pepper and Ginko Biloba demonstrate that Ginko is effective in 75% more cases than if the herb were used alone. This is significant since in order for Ginko Biloba to be effective it must be carried directly to the brain. Extensive reports by Dr. Christopher show the vast benefit cayenne pepper can have both with emergency heart conditions and the health of the entire circulatory system. Dr. Christopher, after extensive experience, believed that cayenne pepper delivers vital nutrients directly to the heart within seconds of proper use. He utilised the stimulating effects of cayenne to restore proper function to the heart in heart attack cases. In order to maximise the benefits associated with cayenne pepper, a high quality product must be used, with a true rating of between 90,000 and 150,000 HU (heat units). A link is provided to purchase cayenne pepper in our colloidal silver products section. Although it's much more convenient to use capsules, the full benefit cannot be achieved with this method. A tincture or a powder (added to water) should be used. A full strength dose is one teaspoon of powder mixed into a glass of warm water. Despite the initial discomfort, it is critical that the cayenne comes in contact with the tongue as the cayenne acts as a metabolic catalyst. Cayenne and Colloidal Silver It is unknown exactly how effective cayenne pepper is in delivering colloidal silver to the bloodstream or organs of the body. Our experiments centred around utilising cayenne pepper orally for use with stubborn lung infections that were resistant to other treatment. In addition to stimulating the circulatory system, cayenne loosens the mucus in the lungs associated with infections. Within only a few minutes of using cayenne orally, the mucus begins to break up, and the lungs begin a process of clearing. This treatment is ideal when nebulizing with colloidal silver. Since any colloidal silver is only effective in areas it can directly reach, utilising cayenne in this manner can greatly increase the infection fighting properties of colloidal silver as used in the lungs. We have always chosen to use the nebulizer first to deliver colloidal silver into the lung tissues ( see the section on oxygen nebulizer use ). Then, having mixed one teaspoon of cayenne powder in a glass of warm water, one takes a partial mouthful of the mixture, and holds it under the tongue for as long as possible before swallowing ( at least 30 seconds ). The discomfort is temporary, and is best done when the stomach is not empty. One waits three to five minutes ( or until comfortable ) before using the nebulizer again. This treatment should be tailored according to the situation and the tolerance/condition of the person in question. Definitive results should become quite evident within 72 hours even with chronic conditions. It is always wise to use cayenne pepper sparingly when the body is not adjusted to use (the same can be said of colloidal silver). To do so, adjust the frequency of use and not the individual dose level. The critical part of the treatment is delivering as much of cayenne's "heat" to the body at one time as is safely possible.

My children's dad is not doing well 3 weeks after surgery. He has not left hospital yet. He's been on dialysis for two days, extremely tired. Scheduled for trach today. Tube in throat right now. He is looking forward to drinking after he gets the trach...he won't be able to will he? Here's the question my daughter asks that I'm most concerned about: "About every thirty minutes or so, Dad's muscles seem to contract in his whole body and he shakes while his eyes roll up in his head - this lasts for about five seconds at a time and afterward, he seems just fine but is sometimes chilled. Is this a normal thing? I haven't seen the doc today, of course, so I just thought I'd see if you went through it or have heard of it." Does this sound like a seizure to you? and what would cause it? The doctors at his hospital are not as attentive as mine were and the nurses are not as cheerful. I'm afraid none of them are paying real close attention or they should have already seen this. Thank you, Kay Lee

Has anyone heard of Cardio Renew? It is said to clean arteries all over the body, including heart valves. It supposedly lowers blood pressure. People are also saying it relieves pain associated with PAD. I'm told Cardio Renew has been in business for about 1 year vs. Similar to Angioprim that's been available for 12 years. I'm told that Cardio Renew is owned by a previous employee of Angioprim, that's why it looks very similar to Angioprim. I think my friend said it is close to $100 for a 1 ounce bottle. Someone just gave me a bottle. I'm in the research stage. I'm reading lots of raves and testimonials on blogs etc. Does anyone know if it is safe for people recovering from surgery? Would it have any negative effects on a leaky valve?

How come we are getting so much SPam in messages. Is there anything we can do about it? I get messages condensed, so I cannot send individual Spams to Y.

Hi, I had bypass surgery 9 weeks ago, and since the surgery i have had a lot of trouble digesting my food. I am also type 2 diabetic. Seems like after i eat, i get a feeling like having a lump right in the middle of my chest. It doesnt go away with pain medication. It only goes away after i've burped a lot, and almost throw-up. Once i actually did throw up. I was just wondering if anyone else has had this problem, and if so is there a solution. I am already taking prevacid and have been taking it for about 5 years.

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My ex-husband just had heart surgery 3 weeks ago. He hasn't even left the hospital yet. Now they say his kidneys are failing and he must go on temporary dialisis. Does anyone here have experience or knowledge of this? How often it works etc.

The more I'm reading about statins and their potental harmfulness, the more depressed I get. Although I may be depressed from the statin itself! When I try to research anything about statins and their potential harmfulness, I end up on page after page that lists side effects and cases of all kinds of problems allegedly steming from the statin use. Yet to trust any website that may have a reason for posting only the bad stuff is foolish. I know I have to be on some medication because that is standard practice after surgery, yet I wonder if this therapy is more harmful than what it is supposed to fix. It's 7 months post-op for me and I seem to be feeling worse overall than I did prior to the statin. Sorry, I just needed to vent. Scott

I had coronary bypass surgery last week. I started experiencing hiccups the day following surgery and it has continued for a week. Any suggestions on how to control/stop the hiccups?

poor near-fatal CABG surgery has left me with severe leg and foot pain and swelling. Docs say they're stumpted. Not only that, but i blocked two stents within two months of receiving them. I,m only 34 with no family history.i,m 9 mths post and very upset with everything or should i say nothing which is what they are doing to find out anything.also right arteries blocked two mths after cabg and stented. prior to surgery, the said right side lokked great.Has any one else had such trouble as this? Please respond as I am getting nowhere with my docs! thanks michelle

Since surgery a year ago, for my heart, I have trouble expanding my rib cage completely, and i am always short of breath. It feels like it is not expanding completely. Does anyone have this problem?

Hi, some other board I was on had the same problem. Where the moderator seemed to not be around, and the spam go so bad, they started a new board, and everyone went to the new one, where at least two moderators were to keep off spam. Joan

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Is acid reflux/ sour stomach a side effect that any of you have experienced from taking