scars
I call them victory wounds. Yes people do stare. Especially since I had the caroid artery done also. It looks like someone slit my throat. The teens I work with are the best. They just come out and ask what happened. I think the adults get a bit scared, kinda like a reminder. Anyway Im off to the Snow in Pennsylvania to see my grandkids. I made sure I have a current list of all the meds and vit. I take...A second chance at life...we are the lucky ones..I wish you all more good days.
Just as happens inside of me........so it does on the outside of me too. I have a "normal" looking center cut scar till about an inch from the bottom. Thats where it gets ulgy. It's wide and raised(the scar) that is!!! The Doc said many ppl get that keloid type scar. Mine is a bit too big. He said thats what has happened inside my veins too. My body produces way to much scartissue. That is what slowly blocks my viens and grafts(2 of the 4 bypass grafts are 100% blocked). That is my curse. We went on a family vacation just last month. It took me a good half day to get used to having my shirt of for swimming. Oh well.....at least I'm ALIVE. Please and Thanx, Bogie
I always went without a shirt on but now when people see my zipper they treat me like a baby. They make me stop what I am doing and do it for me. They will not let me partisapate in any event. I am told to sit down and relax. This makes me feel all alone and I am not a member of sociaty any more. This lonelyness is killing me. Now I always keep my scar covered when I meet new people. I can`t enjoy myself any more. I can`t play guitar or piano anymore (my fingers do not work anymore). That bypass did a number on me. I have a lot of nerve damage. I used to be a skilled tradesman and EMT first responder, now I can`t do any of that anymore. The thing that hurts the most is that when I see a naked woman, there is nothing there anymore. NO desire. This is not rite for a man. I had many scars as a child that disapeared as I grew up but after my surgery they all came back very apperant. I find this weard. My mind is blank this morning and I am having a hard time thinking so I will see you later. Steve
Steve, I think you really need to see if there is something your doctor can give you for depression. There has to be something that can help! I can tell that your soul is in the utmost form of despair, and this is not good for your heart! Please make an appointment. Maybe there is something he hasn't yet tried, or something new he can do. You need to talk to him/her the way you tell us. EVERYTHING! Connie "Steven A. Young" <say309@... I always went without a shirt on but now when people see my zipper they treat me like a baby. They make me stop what I am doing and do it for me. They will not let me partisapate in any event. I am told to sit down and relax. This makes me feel all alone and I am not a member of sociaty any more. This lonelyness is killing me. Now I always keep my scar covered when I meet new people. I can`t enjoy myself any more. I can`t play guitar or piano anymore (my fingers do not work anymore). That bypass did a number on me. I have a lot of nerve damage. I used to be a skilled tradesman and EMT first responder, now I can`t do any of that anymore. The thing that hurts the most is that when I see a naked woman, there is nothing there anymore. NO desire. This is not rite for a man. I had many scars as a child that disapeared as I grew up but after my surgery they all came back very apperant. I find this weard. My mind is blank this morning and I am having a hard time thinking so I will see you later. Steve Connie Turner
My Syke has told me that since I have had a heart bypass That therer Is a whole list of meds that I cannot take. There are only a few that are safe for me to take and I have tryied them all. The ones that I have tryied give me a violent temper. I punch people out and gp into a rage. I was born with ADD and took amphedimines for over 35 years to keep me calm. Now I cant take them . My doctor says that I need the stimulint but my heart won`t take it. Steve connie Turner <connieque@... Steve, I think you really need to see if there is something your doctor can give you for depression. There has to be something that can help! I can tell that your soul is in the utmost form of despair, and this is not good for your heart! Please make an appointment. Maybe there is something he hasn't yet tried, or something new he can do. You need to talk to him/her the way you tell us. EVERYTHING! Connie "Steven A. Young" <say309@... I always went without a shirt on but now when people see my zipper they treat me like a baby. They make me stop what I am doing and do it for me. They will not let me partisapate in any event. I am told to sit down and relax. This makes me feel all alone and I am not a member of sociaty any more. This lonelyness is killing me. Now I always keep my scar covered when I meet new people. I can`t enjoy myself any more. I can`t play guitar or piano anymore (my fingers do not work anymore). That bypass did a number on me. I have a lot of nerve damage. I used to be a skilled tradesman and EMT first responder, now I can`t do any of that anymore. The thing that hurts the most is that when I see a naked woman, there is nothing there anymore. NO desire. This is not rite for a man. I had many scars as a child that disapeared as I grew up but after my surgery they all came back very apperant. I find this weard. My mind is blank this morning and I am having a hard time thinking so I will see you later. Steve Connie Turner
Had to measure them. Chest 9" Left leg, 8" Right leg, 14" (4) misc. scars 3/4" long from the restart cables, and gallbladder removal. The gallbladder originally left 4 additional scars, two are totally gone. My memory is flat out wierd. When I first got home, I thought I had no memory loss. However, you don't realize what you forgot if you don't remember. I had total blocks of time missing. There were a couple of months in 2000 that were totally gone from recall, and some of 1999. If I worked really hard, with some clues, I could eventually remember some of it. The strangest memory event I have occured about 4-5 months after surgery. We had a salesman that we always referred to as Henry. Henry was Henry. No last name, no company name, everyone knew Henry as Henry. That one day, I couldn't remember his name. I tried to remember it, but instead remembered the company where he worked, and then his last name (which I hadn't thought of for years, at least that I remember), and finally came his first name. My memory's retrival system used the back door. Basically, it found a different path to the memories. Linear, but backwards. Yet, there are things from way back that I think I can recall better than before. Like, my organic textbook "Morrison & Boyd" from 1974. But don't ask me what movie I saw last week. "We rented that movie before? Really? Are you sure? What was it about? Oh yeah, I think I remember now......" Cognitive functions are off, not a lot, but definitely off. Concentration is WAY off. When the two are combined, it really can be a noticeable problem. And hearing the spousal "you're beginning to worry me" comments don't help. What really worries me most is I find myself covering up my memory or thinking mistakes, and then ponder how bad it's really become and hope people don't notice. But then again, I keep waking up every morning. Fred
Question? If a friend passes away, and they have an ICD, is it insensitive to ask for it? (humor) At five weeks, I was so happy to hear "YOU CAN DRIVE" that I didn't feel anything else. But about the ribs, I don't recall mine ever popping or any other joints for that matter. I did have the pain inside the rib cage from the artery being removed from the chest wall that most people report. Sounds like some fluid is building up? They sent me home with all kinds of fluid and I know others here have reported the same thing. Fred
Debbie, here is what they told me about the ribs hurting. They have to pull your ribs apart after they cut your chest in half in order to get to your heart and women are smaller and require more pulling to get enough room to do the bypass. Sounds awful, huh!! At 5 weeks I hurt all the time. I did everything I could not to cough or sneeze. The sneeze was a real killer. I had that little heart pillow but it couldn't help much with the sneeze. It took about six months to feel like I wasn't going to break in half. I still think something is wrong with my rib cage on the left side and it sounds like you may have a problem there also. They always ask if I have chest pains and it is not really chest pains its pain in my rib cage and they feel bruised. When I ask if it will go away, I get the "I don't know", answer from both my doctors. Same thing with my left leg. I knew when I first woke up that something was wrong with my leg and I said so only to be told that a vein was removed and that was all. My leg still feels numb, aches and sometimes just hurts and I still get the, "oh, its just where the vein was removed". I wear a support stocking most days and it helps some I guess. At least it keeps the swelling down. I still believe that like my ribs, there is something wrong with my leg. At cardiac rehab, the person assigned to me told me that your neck is hyper-extended during bypass surgery and that may cause neck pain the rest of your life. My neck never hurt before this surgery except when I was really stressed and got a headache at the back of my head. The neck pain after the surgery was nothing like the stress headache. So, Debbie I think you are very normal assuming there is such a thing as normal. You are certainly are as normal as the rest of us who have undergone bypass surgery so don't worry. Try to be good to yourself and work on getting better. A little pity trip is ok once in awhile also. You have been through a lot and deserve to cry about it sometimes. Ann
Debbie, I'd like to know what the ICD is also. Ann
Rus, that's great. Sure hope you get someone you feel comfortable talking to and get better real quick. Yes, you are lucky to have family members in the medical field. I have a daughter-in-law that is a registered nurse and is going to school now to become a nurse practitioner and I know its nice to get her opinion sometimes. She works in ICU now and likes it as they only have two patients to take care of and she really gets to know them and their families even though they usually only stay a couple of days. Remember that you know yourself better than the doctors so don't be reluctant to let them know if your medications are not working or you do not like the results. They sometimes forget to ask you so you have to just tell them how you are feeling. I sometimes write down problems I have so I will remember to tell my doctor as now I only see them every 6 months. I don't go to the psychiatrist anymore but I can go if I decide I need to and believe me I would not hesitate if I thought I needed it. Family just can't deal with you like a professional can. Let me know how it goes. Ann
woulda thunk it huh??? I was given a small pillow to hold tightly on my chest when I coughed or sneezed and that thing REALLY helped. I figured everyone got one. No?
I got one also....but, it still hurt! Seemed the pillow was never near enough when a yawn, snub, cough, or sneeze came on! Connie Fred Rolls <hrtworms@... woulda thunk it huh??? I was given a small pillow to hold tightly on my chest when I coughed or sneezed and that thing REALLY helped. I figured everyone got one. No? Connie Turner
Yes I got one of those red heart shaped pillows also. I only had to use mine about 2 weeks. Now it sets in the corner of my bedroom and is a reminder of what I went through. Steve Fred Rolls <hrtworms@... woulda thunk it huh??? I was given a small pillow to hold tightly on my chest when I coughed or sneezed and that thing REALLY helped. I figured everyone got one. No?
Thanks for the story about your parents. What strong people and to have gone through that bypass surgery at 70 and 77 wow!! My father-in-law had triple bypass at 80 and he does not complain and did really good after the surgery. We stayed with him about six weeks and he was ready for us to go and told us he didn't need any help. He says today that he regrets having the bypass and would not have done it except the doctor in ER (he was having a heart attack) told him he might be bed ridden the rest of his life and be in a home. He did not want that so he agreed to the bypass. He had an emergency one and then they had to go back in as he was a bleeder and started bleeding into his chest cavity so it was like 2 bypass surgeries in two days. He is 88 now and still says he wishes he had not had the surgery and is very sorry that I had to go through that and my mother-in-law who had bypass at 61 and passed away at 75 with congestive heart failure and internal bleeding that they never could figure out where it was coming from and kept giving her transfusions until she refused to take them. She also told me she wished she had never had that surgery as all those years she never really felt like herself again. She was a very outgoing, funny person and usually made light of it but the I regret doing that always came through so I just hoped I would die in surgery. No one on either side of my family had heart problems, a heart attack or bypass surgery so even today I am the only one with this disease. Two of my younger brothers take statin drugs because of me. They had elevated cholesterol and low hdl and their doctors put them on statins as a preventative thing because of the family history. I am the family history and that makes me feel bad. To be honest, today, I do feel pretty good most days and I am glad to be here and my husband tells me several times a week how happy he is to be sharing his life with me and how proud he is that I had the surgery and I'm still here and can go and do things with him. So for that, it was worth it even if I never fully recover. I do think our parents were stronger than we are and faced adversity as just a part of the life cycle instead of getting all worked up about every little pain or problem they had so I do try not to dwell on it but sometimes my mind just gets flooded with defeating thoughts and I just can't stop them. Ann
Hi Ann and fellow zippers... My father had bypass back in 1968...when it first came to pass they could do this...the doctors then replaced 2 heart valves and bypassed on the what my doctor calls the widowmaker...he lived until July of 1983...but it was not his heart that gave out...he ended up with canser...He never regrets he had this done...and back in those days was the beggining of bypass surgery... So you se where l got this from...my father...he had heart trouble 4 yrs..before they finaly did this on him...he suffered so l am happy they did it..after the bypass he was like a new man...but it took him almost 1 yr..to fully recover...back then...This was done in Oslo..Norway...and a heart surgeon all the way from Munich..Germany came to do it..not many heart surgeons around then.. just a little story about my Daddy.... Hugzz Rita Thanks for the story about your parents. What strong people and to have gone through that bypass surgery at 70 and 77 wow!! My father-in-law had triple bypass at 80 and he does not complain and did really good after the surgery. We stayed with him about six weeks and he was ready for us to go and told us he didn't need any help. He says today that he regrets having the bypass and would not have done it except the doctor in ER (he was having a heart attack) told him he might be bed ridden the rest of his life and be in a home. He did not want that so he agreed to the bypass. He had an emergency one and then they had to go back in as he was a bleeder and started bleeding into his chest cavity so it was like 2 bypass surgeries in two days. He is 88 now and still says he wishes he had not had the surgery and is very sorry that I had to go through that and my mother-in-law who had bypass at 61 and passed away at 75 with congestive heart failure and internal bleeding that they never could figure out where it was coming from and kept giving her transfusions until she refused to take them. She also told me she wished she had never had that surgery as all those years she never really felt like herself again. She was a very outgoing, funny person and usually made light of it but the I regret doing that always came through so I just hoped I would die in surgery. No one on either side of my family had heart problems, a heart attack or bypass surgery so even today I am the only one with this disease. Two of my younger brothers take statin drugs because of me. They had elevated cholesterol and low hdl and their doctors put them on statins as a preventative thing because of the family history. I am the family history and that makes me feel bad. To be honest, today, I do feel pretty good most days and I am glad to be here and my husband tells me several times a week how happy he is to be sharing his life with me and how proud he is that I had the surgery and I'm still here and can go and do things with him. So for that, it was worth it even if I never fully recover. I do think our parents were stronger than we are and faced adversity as just a part of the life cycle instead of getting all worked up about every little pain or problem they had so I do try not to dwell on it but sometimes my mind just gets flooded with defeating thoughts and I just can't stop them. Ann
I just had my bypass done about a month and halg ago and I want my scares to lighten up a bit ...will sun help or hurt and is there any cream someone can give me a idea that works well with scares ..Thanks