Mended Hearts Open Forum

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  • 1.  Not feeling good

    Posted 07-02-2018 19:43
    Hi Everyone
    I am 81 years old and had a triple by pass in January 2016 and have experienced a pulling in my chest since the surgery.It is not painful but the feeling is more pronounced when I am active like bike riding,playing tennis,chores around the house etc.I had a stress test,ekg’s,echo cardio gram and last week a ct scan which all were fine.In addition to the feeling in my chest I just don’t feel right.My doctor says my heart is strong and I should continue being active.Im starting to believe everyone thinks I’m making this up.Maybe I need a therapist.I would appreciate your thoughts.
    Thank you
    Frank Liantonio


    Sent from my iPad


  • 2.  RE: Not feeling good

    Posted 07-03-2018 07:56
    Greetings Frank,
    I have underwent a couple of bypass
    surgeries and I also have realized pulling around my sternum for the first 5 or 6 months. Once the sternum gets solid the pulling sensation went away.
    It sounds like you are on track with staying active. I find myself looking for things to do, and I hate to sit down for over an hour. 
    I am not a doctor; however, it sounds like yours took a prudent approach by ordering a CT scan.
    Keep Stepping!
    John Sherrick





  • 3.  RE: Not feeling good

    Posted 07-03-2018 09:40
    I understand the situation and the feeling of tightness in your chest is completely normal. I feel like our sternum will never completely feel the same, this fact along with the fear the comes with CABG, is all it is. Your heart is very strong live life to fullest.





  • 4.  RE: Not feeling good

    Posted 07-03-2018 13:21
    Frank, I'm pretty much in the same boat. I had my triple bypass in 2002 and I've got 5 years on you. At 86 I'm still playing golf and keep very active. I had the same exact feeling during the initial healing time and still do. I've also noticed that it's a good weather predictor. A couple of days before it rains my chest seem to tighten up. Doctors explained it to me as muscular contraction. My interpretation of that was, " okay if that's what has to happen as a result of the bypass surgery I'll take it any day."

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    Dr Bill
    Ryan. PhD.
    Elkton MD. USA
    443 485 6266[
    Mended Hearts Chapter 179. Past Pres.
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  • 5.  RE: Not feeling good

    Posted 07-04-2018 13:49
    Hello Frank

    The pulling feeling may be from the chest muscles and nerves that were cut during the surgery. Beside the numbness I felt sharp needle sensations at times in and around the scar. It also takes months for the sternum to heal. There is not much blood flow to that area, hence the slower healing. Remember it is not just the heart that needs to heal. Keep doing what you are doing and the ache and pain will slowly fade.

    Take care
    RichardShort 



    Sent from my Samsung Galaxy smartphone.





  • 6.  RE: Not feeling good

    Posted 07-05-2018 08:31
    Go with your feelings about your body. After my heart stopping led to a quintuple bypass, I reviewed my past to see if there were warning signs that I had discounted because my G.P and cardiologist kept saying I was fine: there were. Lying in Intensive Care I voweled to take charge of my own rehab. I interpreted an objective of the clinic's rehab program was to teach us how to understand, and manage, the messages our body sends us. I carried that into what I describe as "rehabbing-to-recovry." www.OneHeartTwoLivescom.wordpress.com

    Empowering yourself has made the 11 years, and counting, since my surgery, simply fabulous.

     


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    Brent Zepke
    Santa Barbara CA
    (805) 698-4651
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  • 7.  RE: Not feeling good

    Posted 07-06-2018 04:46
    Reading this discussion is positively inspiring. Being only six weeks into my life after 5xCABG I have experienced good days where I thought I was fine, and days that I felt tired, and wrecked. Thank God for this blog.

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    Paul Benoit
    CABGx5 Guy
    Apopka Florida
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  • 8.  RE: Not feeling good

    Posted 07-06-2018 10:26
    Frank and All,

    What a powerful and true statement by Richard :  "Remember it is not just the heart that needs to heal."  In fact, it is our very souls that need to heal.  What we all have gone through is the trauma of having our sternum split in half, our chests spread open, our hearts stopped while we were placed on ventilators and other body parts cut and grafted to our coronary arteries (or valves replaced for others).  When you think about it, it is extraordinary that any of us are still alive to tell the tale.  Four months after quintuple bypass and a two week intubation/sedation for pneumonia, I still feel numbness around parts of my sternum and left breast, occasional tinges of pain and/or an itching around the scar.  It comes and goes.  What remains constant for me, however, is this remarkable wonder and joy that I feel for every moment that I have now.  Just to breathe, to feel the sunshine or a breeze against my skin, to hear my wife and daughter speak, and even to go into the office and work, it is such a blessing and I am grateful for it all and to all who saved my life.

    All the best, friends,

    Ira   ​

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    Ira Reid
    Hoboken, NJ
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  • 9.  RE: Not feeling good

    Posted 07-05-2018 10:50
    I remember well when I first started this adventure being released from the hospital and immediately experiencing a lot of issues. We called my Cardiologist who blew me off and told me to wait until my appointment a month hence. My wife got so worried she took me to out General Practionioner who to make a long story short called the Cardiologist after examining me and demanded he see me the next day. The first words out of his mouth when I saw him the next day were I can't hold your hand all the time. The second words were OMG, I went back into surgery the next morning.

    Yes absolutely this could just be the normal healing process, and you will get to the point where you can distinguish what's important and what's not with time, but, be persistent and if you find a doctor is ignoring you, find another. They are your employees, without patients there'd be no need for doctors. You said something that really caught my attention...I have a chart on my refrigerator with a list of symptoms to watch for. One is the feeling something is just not right (known as Malaise) , feeling uneasy. Point taken?

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    Warren
    TucsonAZ
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