Heart Bypass - what is involved and what are the risks?

[wotulookinat]

My mum has rung me this evening to say that, following a hospital appointment this afternoon, my dad is being taken into hospital on Monday for a heart bypass.
Please can someone tell me what this entails and what the risks are? How long is he likely to be in hospital?
I feel so bad because I live 200 miles away from them.

Hi, I am afraid I can't tell you too much, but 'googled' for you so your question didn't go unanswered. I think these two links will give you the gist of the operation...
patient info1
patient info2
Hope all goes well for your dad on Monday.

My mum had a triple heart bypass 2.5yrs ago at 58. She was in intensive care for 3 days and hospital for about 7 days after op but she did have complication with atriol fibrilations (sp?) where her heart kept racing too fast.

She was then at home but really couldn't do much or leave the house for about 8wks. Couldn't drive for a v.long time de to the scar and seatbelt.

She still attends cardiac rehab exercise classes now but is now fully recovered and leading an absolutely normal life. She says its the best thing she ever did as she can now go back to playing tennis and swimming which she'd had to give up before the op.

The only problem she has been left with as a result of the op is that where they took a vein from her leg to construct the new artery she suffers with a lot of swelling in that leg and foot as a result of poor blood circulation.

The recovery process is quite long but my mum was given extremely strict guidelines to follow when she could start doing thing like gentle exercises at home working up to a 5 min walk, then 7 mins etc. She was quite pleased that she wasn't allowed to do any hoovering for a long time after because of the pressure on the chest scar!!

It is a scary operation but actually fairly routine these days and as I said her quality of life has dramatically improved since. She does have to take some tablets still.

Hope that helps - good luck to your Dad and thinking of you xx

my father had a triple bypass.

he had an experience similar to loolop's mother.

he had had an angioplasty in the past and then needed bypass.

Thanks for the replies - they are much appreciated. It has all come about after a check up for his work - he is driver so I guess that he'll be retiring now, and not before time as he is 64 in a couple of weeks.
I had a longer chat with my mum and she said he'll be in hospital for about a week, depending on how it goes.
Thanks again. Sometimes it helps to get it off your chest, IYKWIM.