Digest Number 1014
I'm in the process of deleting my very full mailbox and noticed some posts from this group that I hadn't read........... Most likely this has been answered before but if not.........the question of memory problems and the heart lung machine. My memory is so pitiful that I have given up and just write a million notes that are plastered all over the house.......when I go to the store I tack notes on the dashboard to remind me of all the stops I may want to make before I get home...........and no my memory was nothing like this before surgery. At first I put the blame on my taking 40 mg of lipitor and the fact that some have hazy memories while on a statin drug. But one day I overheard some doctors talking and they were using the term "pumphead"......which I couldn't figure out...........so I asked my doctor about it and he said it is a term used by the medical community who have many memory problems after surgery and that it was discovered many years ago that the longer one is on the machine the worse the memory problems are........I would like to do a survy or do research on whether this is in reality true .......if anyone on this list had the "off pump surgery" do you have any major problems with your memory?? I know that they say you should only be on the heart-lung machine for a certain amount of time but my surgery took longer because of problems and I was definitely on the machine longer than they advise.......... So many things we didn't know before surgery.......in my total haze of knowing I was having the surgery the next day I'm afraid I neglected to ask my doctor many things......... Carol in Atlanta
In a message dated 7/1/2004 4:21:15 PM US Eastern Standard Time, clowing990@... writes: So many things we didn't know before surgery.......in my total haze of knowing I was having the surgery the next day I'm afraid I neglected to ask my doctor many things......... Carol in Atlanta I never knew about the surgery until 9 days later and I never knew about the heart lung machine before i felt like a body without a soul ...I know none of you prolly know what i mean but ill think about it and try to explain it better Rose
My chest cutter had told me about the memory loss, and that because of it, and other complications, he did my bypasses with the heart beating. It is a common problem, you should have been cautioned, but I couldn't remember everything the pre op people told me.
Carol, I had lots of problems with memory and anxiety and depression after the surgery. I already had anxiety and took medication about 4 times a year for that but it was very minor compared to the feeling I had after the surgery. It has been 20 months since I had 4X bypass surgery and I just decided that my mind was never going to work the same again. I do forget what I am doing and what I need to do unless I write things done. I used to keep lists in my head and rarely had to write anything down. I have always thought the surgery caused some of my problems. My husband feels like I am just the same as I was before the surgery so its really had to know if I am different or just feel different. My husband is a little defensive about my complainig as he pushed me into have the surgery and feels like the problems I have now are his fault since I was ready to leave the hospital and not have the surgery. I do feel differnt now and have lots of aches and pains I never had before and I also have anger at having the problems in the first place. Would really like to know how long it has been since your surgery and if anyone out there gets over this surgery and feel like they are back to normal. Ann
Rose, do tell us more about how you are feeling. Think I may have some of the same feelings. Really do wonder what the heart/lung machine does to you. Guess it was necessary but may have been a high price to pay in the long run. Ann