Mammary Artery
I picked up my records from my surgeon yesterday and he used both of my mammary arteries in my bypass. I thought they used only one side. Is using both sides common? Surgeons records are pretty inclusive, more than I wanted to know. Rus
Gee Rus, I hope you don't need any more bypass seems like they used all your veins and arteries on this one, ha!!! 5X is a lot. That's what they told me I was having but the surgeon was able to bypass two blockages with one leg artery and two with the mammary artery so I ended up with 4. He knew he could do two with the mammary artery but wasn't sure about the other artery with two blockages as he did not know what condition my leg veins would be in since I had so much blockage he was afraid the leg veins might not be too good but fortunately they were clear and in good condition. So I guess I have a mammary artery and one leg and two arms left, huh!! What a pleasant thought. Of course I will never have that surgery again. If it doesn't hold, oh well, life was great and I'm happy. Ann
Gail, I had two blockages in an artery and the mammary artery was "swung around" that's how the surgeon described it and reattached past both of the blockages in that artery. Then part of the vein was used to bypass two blockages in another artery. Then two other blockages were bypassed with the rest of the leg vein. The way it was described to me the vein was sectioned for use in the bypass. I had 4 bypasses instead of six which was the original plan. The surgeon said he was able to do it in 4 because my leg vein was in very good shape as was the mammary artery. All the blockage seemed to be in the heart arteries for some reason. The concerning part is that my nuclear stress test is the same now as it was before the surgery so the surgery might have permanently changed me and not worked. If I have just a stress test or an echo test, ekg, chest x-ray, etc. All those test look good and my circulation is excellent so maybe I just didn't need those arteries in the first place. I will not be having this surgery again unless I am unconscious and have no knowledge of it, it was and has been a horrible experience for me and I have not had nearly the problems of some on this board. I am just not any good at handling medical stuff especially my own and looking back I should have just refused the surgery. Now I have to live with my decision and it eats away at me. Ann