EDIT:
I wanted to add a list of people and posts where they committed to getting tested as a result of this story. Maybe its vanity, but I take some pride in having had an influence on each of you. A few of these sound a bit scary and a lot like my own leadup to the events herein:
Hollywood_USAF: https://forum.slowtwitch.com/...ost=7182078#p7182078
manofthewoods: https://forum.slowtwitch.com/...ost=7182289#p7182289
Celerius: https://forum.slowtwitch.com/...ost=7151760#p7151760
lightheir: https://forum.slowtwitch.com/...ost=7151769#p7151769
mrtri123: https://forum.slowtwitch.com/...ost=7152055#p7152055
dewman: https://forum.slowtwitch.com/...ost=7152060#p7152060
mattsurf: https://forum.slowtwitch.com/...ost=7150903#p7150903
tristart: https://forum.slowtwitch.com/...ost=7151106#p7151106
Abergili: https://forum.slowtwitch.com/...ost=7150639#p7150639
Mark Lemmon: https://forum.slowtwitch.com/...ost=7150391#p7150391
Dr Alex Harrison: https://forum.slowtwitch.com/...ast-7150194#p7557321
WeakandPuny: https://forum.slowtwitch.com/...t_view_flat#p7556558
Buble Bee https://forum.slowtwitch.com/...t_view_flat#p7276209
Original post follows.
----------------------------
This started in the 100/100 thread. Thought I'd share my experiences....even though I'm very much still in to middle of them.
I've been running 40-60 mpw (6x frequency) continuously since last September, after taking the summer off. I spent the fall training to set a pr in the 10k. The race was on Dec 20th, I finished 3rd overall behind two 20 somethings. My intent for the race was to break 40min, but that didn't happen. I missed by 2:30. Then I entered the 100/100, to focus on another attempt in the late spring.
A month ago, I had the flu. I convalessed for 4 days, then resumed training. As usual I took it easy coming back from respiratory infecting, just doing short easy 3 miles until Friday, when I ran 6. Saturday, my long run, I planned for 8-9 based on how I felt. I still had some lingering gunk from the flu. At 4 miles I felt kinda funny. Sort of a burning sensation that I attributed to irritated bronchii from coughing and gunk. I stopped and rested, felt better but decided to cut it short and head home (6 miles). I needed to stop two more times to get back home. Hr was normal for pace, and I felt fine once I got home.
I decided to give my lungs more time to heal, and wait until my last trail of cough subsided before resuming training. On Tuesday, I woke up with what felt like acid reflux. I took some medicine for that, but its slow acting and didn't help much. By Friday, I felt good enough to try a run. So, I went out for a 3 miles at lunch. I got about 1/2 mile into the run, and felt this moderate tension and slight burning in my upper chest. I stopped, walked it off, and tried again. This time in 30s the same sensation was back. I bailed, and walked back to my office.
I called my doctor, he asked a few questions and felt we could wait the weekend... But, needed to setup a stress test for Monday. No running, or stressful activity. Any further symptoms... Go to the ER.
The weekend went fine. I worked on painting my car in the shop. We went to bed Sunday night, but I couldn't sleep. At 2am I noticed a light tightness in my chest (a more subtle version of Friday) and a thump in my ears. I took a few deep breaths hoping to clear it. No luck. I tried to decide if I should wake my wife or wait until morning. At 230, I decided I would feel safer surrounded by professionals...more than I didnt want to scare my wife... So, I woke her.
At the hospital they drew blood and took and ekg. They said that they didn't see any signs of a heart attack, but there was something subtle on the Ekg they wasn't to review. They said we needed to wait for blood tests to confirm/deny heart damage, and that I would need to do another test in 3 hours. After about two hours they did a follow up ekg...which was normal.
At the three hour mark the cardiologist came to explain all of the above to me. The abnormality on the first ekg was heart strain. But, the blood work showed no signs of damage. While he was talking I got anxious, my hr started racing, and I began experiencing some burning in my throat...kind of like a lump. He went and got the Ekg machine, and confirmed the same strain noted in my first ekg.
At this point he explained that I'd basically just failed the stress test I was scheduled to have in a few hours. Further, he recommended an angiogram to confirm the nature and severity of my issues. He expected maybe one or two blockages... But, figured I had just one which could be resolved during the angiogram with one of several options.
I was added to the cath lab schedule late in the day on Monday. At around 7pm, I was taking into the room. The team was strikingly effecient in getting my on the table, cleaned, hooked up, and ready for the procedure. I was only sedated, still conscious. It seems like it lasted about 30s. The cardiologist came over and said, "remember those three options we discussed? Well, we are now in option 3. You need bypass surgery."
It turns out I had two 90% blockages, two 93% blockages, and one 98% blockage. The 98% blockage was in the left anterior descending artery (LAD) aka the widow maker. There were numerous other blockages, but they would all be bapassed as part of bypassing the major 5.
BTW, for the cardiologists in the audience... When briefing the family, using the term widow maker is NOT helpful. It is impactful, sure... So, if you are trying to make an impressing, ok. But, seriously, saying your husband's widow maker artery is 98% blocked... Isn't helping. I digress.
The surgery was scheduled for the Wednesday afternoon. I had a battery of preop tests to complete on Tuesday. Many remarks were made about my overall health, my low body fat, and the strength of my heart (artery occlusions notwithstanding). They did an echcardiogram of my heart, they did ultrasound of my corotid arteries, and they did an ultrasound of my leg veins. The leg veins would be harvested as donor material to replace my blocked arteries. In addition some arterial graft would be taken from inside my chest for the more critical bypasses.
Wednesday morning was final prep. They shaved me head to toe except for a landing strip---I now have a Brazilian. Then they wiped me with disinfectant wipes... Also from head to toe. I'm sure they did other things, but my mind was preoccupied with the nature of the surgery... And the low but real chance I might not wake up. This hospital does 650 cabg surgeries a year. In the last two years they have lost one patient. The national average, I've been told, is 1-1.5% fatality. Something to think about on a Wednesday morning, with little real choice in the matter.
The surgery? What the hell would I know. It was a quick 9 hours. The doctor said it went perfectly. He said as strong as my heart was on the echo before hand, he could see how the right side was not beating to full capacity when he opened me up. He also said there was clear improvement in the right side function post-graft.
I wake up at 9pm in a room with a bunch of people. No idea how many. It hurts, a lot. I'm still intubated, so now they want me to sit up and cough while they pull the tube out of my lungs. This is NOT pleasant, but it doesn't take long.
I am somewhat fortunate that I have a cardiac nurse in training and the trainer watching over me for the night. I have two nurses dedicated to me for their entire shift... They never leave my side. I have a back of ivs hooked up to me. They are making constant small adjustments to those ivs while monitoring my state, and the trainer is explain this all to the trainer. As I drift in and out I listen to their discussions, and quizzes.
Around 2am I'm pretty stable and conscious with level 4 pain. I'm able to talk. The news of my running has traveled all over the floor. My nurses are hobby runners. There are several others on the floor, some a little more serious. Everyone comes by to "see the runner" and talk. I probably chatted with 6-7 other nurses that night, including one point where there where 4 in my room at once. Note that I had four 1/2" diameter tubes inserted into my chest to drain off excess fluids from the lung and heart cavities.
Day1 post OP, Thursday, was a very bad day. Overnight I still had a bulk of the pain meds left from surgery. As the day started, those were wearing off to be replaced with other less potent ones. This time of opiod crisis is not good for the major surgery patient. I had one dose of 2mg morphine every 4 hours available to me. Everything else is non-narcotic (tylenol, etc). Those did not work for my pain. In the morning, they finally relented fot the morphine dose, after everything else had failed and I was in level 10 pain for over an hour. The 2mg brought me down to level 6 for the next 4 hours. But, by 3pm I'm back to level 7 and climbing. I get the full cocktail including the morphine, but I still climb right through level 8,then 9. My dad (a doctor) and I yell and cuss at the hospital staff and the nurse practitioner until we finally get a single dose of dilotted, and my morohine in leased to 4mg every 4.
The doctor also decided to remove my chest tubes. They had been mostly clear since 10am, and I wasnt draining much new fluid. But, I had to getup and walk for 5 minutes then see how much new fluid was collected.
Once that was done the doc agreed to remove them. An odd experience. First they remove all the dressings and cut the stitches holding my tubes to my skin. Then they told me to take a deep breath and exhale. As I exhale they pull these tubes out of my chest. My wife said they were like 18" long. It didn't hurt, but I could feel them sliding along my insides... Or so I think.
Removing the tubes didn't have an immediate effect but by morning, I was feeling much better. Friday was a good day. My pain was well controlled. Various therapists came by to work with me. Respiratory... To work on expanding my lungs and working my breathing muscles. Physical... To get me up and walking around the floor. Occupational... To work on how to do basic care tasks with a cracked chest. My fluids were still up, and I still had a couple ivs to ween off of. But, mast on the floor felt like I would go home on Saturday.
Day 2 post OP (Saturday). Also a good day. More of the same, really. I had breif hopes of being discharged. But, those were dashed by an in accurate weight record. The morning tech had misrecorded my morning weight. So the nurse in charge thought that I'd gained weight instead of losing two kgs. Oh well... One more relaxing day in the hospital wasn't that big of a deal. I had several friends and family come to Visit. One friend I hadn't seen in over 30 years.
Day 3 post-op (Sunday). I woke up today ready to go home. My morning weight was 1.5 kg below my admission weight. I was more sore, but I walked a ton the day before. So it want a surprise that my donation sites on my left leg were more tender. Also, the nerve block in my chest was starting to retract. The nurse came in and said she saw discharge orders on my chart. Yay! The hospital doctor came by and said I looked great and would be home soon. Then I went to the restroom for a difficult poo.
When I came back I felt woosy,and my heart beat felt really weird. Almost like it was backwards or something. The nurse came in immediately, because she'd seen it on the heart monitor. They took an ekg to find that I'm in 2:1 / 3:1 atrial flutter. Discharge cancelled. New iv drugs ordered. They make me feel horrible (week and lethargic). Monitor for another day, and ween down to an oral dose that I'll take for the next month.
Apparently, this is pretty common, occurring in up to 30-50% of cabg surgeries according to my doc. The heart is irritated from the surgery and sensitive to setting Up alternal rhythms like atrial flutter. Not serious, treatable, but not fun. Great. Still sucks.
Next I have to pee again. I call the nurse and she takes me into the bathroom. As I start to pee (standing) I feel the world start to spin. I reach for the commode and sit down. I have a movement while sitting... And the world just starts whirling like a top. I push to door open and tell the nurse. She helps me out, and I sit on the bed pullinup my pants. I'm sweating like I'm running during the summer in Kona. I'm drenched. Now I'm surrounded by 4-5 nurses. Helping me into bed, putting montionrs on me, and getting the Ekg... While others ask what happened.
They conclude it was likely a vagal syncopy which is frequently caused by urinating and/or pooping. It is also exacerbated by low BP, and low blood volume. I was weighed at 4am, while still on iv diuretics. I was given oral diuretics at 7am. I peed 2 liters of fluid and pooped in the intervening hours. So, I was probably down to 68-69 kg...3-4 kg below admission.
Scarriest experience of my life. Also, left me wiped out like I'd just run a half marathon.
I've spent the rest of the day suffering through the effects of the amiodarone... The drug for my arythmia. I'm tapering off of it now and just took my first oral dose. Today is another chance to leave this place... Assuming nothing else happens.
I wanted to add a list of people and posts where they committed to getting tested as a result of this story. Maybe its vanity, but I take some pride in having had an influence on each of you. A few of these sound a bit scary and a lot like my own leadup to the events herein:
Hollywood_USAF: https://forum.slowtwitch.com/...ost=7182078#p7182078
manofthewoods: https://forum.slowtwitch.com/...ost=7182289#p7182289
Celerius: https://forum.slowtwitch.com/...ost=7151760#p7151760
lightheir: https://forum.slowtwitch.com/...ost=7151769#p7151769
mrtri123: https://forum.slowtwitch.com/...ost=7152055#p7152055
dewman: https://forum.slowtwitch.com/...ost=7152060#p7152060
mattsurf: https://forum.slowtwitch.com/...ost=7150903#p7150903
tristart: https://forum.slowtwitch.com/...ost=7151106#p7151106
Abergili: https://forum.slowtwitch.com/...ost=7150639#p7150639
Mark Lemmon: https://forum.slowtwitch.com/...ost=7150391#p7150391
Dr Alex Harrison: https://forum.slowtwitch.com/...ast-7150194#p7557321
WeakandPuny: https://forum.slowtwitch.com/...t_view_flat#p7556558
Buble Bee https://forum.slowtwitch.com/...t_view_flat#p7276209
Original post follows.
----------------------------
This started in the 100/100 thread. Thought I'd share my experiences....even though I'm very much still in to middle of them.
I've been running 40-60 mpw (6x frequency) continuously since last September, after taking the summer off. I spent the fall training to set a pr in the 10k. The race was on Dec 20th, I finished 3rd overall behind two 20 somethings. My intent for the race was to break 40min, but that didn't happen. I missed by 2:30. Then I entered the 100/100, to focus on another attempt in the late spring.
A month ago, I had the flu. I convalessed for 4 days, then resumed training. As usual I took it easy coming back from respiratory infecting, just doing short easy 3 miles until Friday, when I ran 6. Saturday, my long run, I planned for 8-9 based on how I felt. I still had some lingering gunk from the flu. At 4 miles I felt kinda funny. Sort of a burning sensation that I attributed to irritated bronchii from coughing and gunk. I stopped and rested, felt better but decided to cut it short and head home (6 miles). I needed to stop two more times to get back home. Hr was normal for pace, and I felt fine once I got home.
I decided to give my lungs more time to heal, and wait until my last trail of cough subsided before resuming training. On Tuesday, I woke up with what felt like acid reflux. I took some medicine for that, but its slow acting and didn't help much. By Friday, I felt good enough to try a run. So, I went out for a 3 miles at lunch. I got about 1/2 mile into the run, and felt this moderate tension and slight burning in my upper chest. I stopped, walked it off, and tried again. This time in 30s the same sensation was back. I bailed, and walked back to my office.
I called my doctor, he asked a few questions and felt we could wait the weekend... But, needed to setup a stress test for Monday. No running, or stressful activity. Any further symptoms... Go to the ER.
The weekend went fine. I worked on painting my car in the shop. We went to bed Sunday night, but I couldn't sleep. At 2am I noticed a light tightness in my chest (a more subtle version of Friday) and a thump in my ears. I took a few deep breaths hoping to clear it. No luck. I tried to decide if I should wake my wife or wait until morning. At 230, I decided I would feel safer surrounded by professionals...more than I didnt want to scare my wife... So, I woke her.
At the hospital they drew blood and took and ekg. They said that they didn't see any signs of a heart attack, but there was something subtle on the Ekg they wasn't to review. They said we needed to wait for blood tests to confirm/deny heart damage, and that I would need to do another test in 3 hours. After about two hours they did a follow up ekg...which was normal.
At the three hour mark the cardiologist came to explain all of the above to me. The abnormality on the first ekg was heart strain. But, the blood work showed no signs of damage. While he was talking I got anxious, my hr started racing, and I began experiencing some burning in my throat...kind of like a lump. He went and got the Ekg machine, and confirmed the same strain noted in my first ekg.
At this point he explained that I'd basically just failed the stress test I was scheduled to have in a few hours. Further, he recommended an angiogram to confirm the nature and severity of my issues. He expected maybe one or two blockages... But, figured I had just one which could be resolved during the angiogram with one of several options.
I was added to the cath lab schedule late in the day on Monday. At around 7pm, I was taking into the room. The team was strikingly effecient in getting my on the table, cleaned, hooked up, and ready for the procedure. I was only sedated, still conscious. It seems like it lasted about 30s. The cardiologist came over and said, "remember those three options we discussed? Well, we are now in option 3. You need bypass surgery."
It turns out I had two 90% blockages, two 93% blockages, and one 98% blockage. The 98% blockage was in the left anterior descending artery (LAD) aka the widow maker. There were numerous other blockages, but they would all be bapassed as part of bypassing the major 5.
BTW, for the cardiologists in the audience... When briefing the family, using the term widow maker is NOT helpful. It is impactful, sure... So, if you are trying to make an impressing, ok. But, seriously, saying your husband's widow maker artery is 98% blocked... Isn't helping. I digress.
The surgery was scheduled for the Wednesday afternoon. I had a battery of preop tests to complete on Tuesday. Many remarks were made about my overall health, my low body fat, and the strength of my heart (artery occlusions notwithstanding). They did an echcardiogram of my heart, they did ultrasound of my corotid arteries, and they did an ultrasound of my leg veins. The leg veins would be harvested as donor material to replace my blocked arteries. In addition some arterial graft would be taken from inside my chest for the more critical bypasses.
Wednesday morning was final prep. They shaved me head to toe except for a landing strip---I now have a Brazilian. Then they wiped me with disinfectant wipes... Also from head to toe. I'm sure they did other things, but my mind was preoccupied with the nature of the surgery... And the low but real chance I might not wake up. This hospital does 650 cabg surgeries a year. In the last two years they have lost one patient. The national average, I've been told, is 1-1.5% fatality. Something to think about on a Wednesday morning, with little real choice in the matter.
The surgery? What the hell would I know. It was a quick 9 hours. The doctor said it went perfectly. He said as strong as my heart was on the echo before hand, he could see how the right side was not beating to full capacity when he opened me up. He also said there was clear improvement in the right side function post-graft.
I wake up at 9pm in a room with a bunch of people. No idea how many. It hurts, a lot. I'm still intubated, so now they want me to sit up and cough while they pull the tube out of my lungs. This is NOT pleasant, but it doesn't take long.
I am somewhat fortunate that I have a cardiac nurse in training and the trainer watching over me for the night. I have two nurses dedicated to me for their entire shift... They never leave my side. I have a back of ivs hooked up to me. They are making constant small adjustments to those ivs while monitoring my state, and the trainer is explain this all to the trainer. As I drift in and out I listen to their discussions, and quizzes.
Around 2am I'm pretty stable and conscious with level 4 pain. I'm able to talk. The news of my running has traveled all over the floor. My nurses are hobby runners. There are several others on the floor, some a little more serious. Everyone comes by to "see the runner" and talk. I probably chatted with 6-7 other nurses that night, including one point where there where 4 in my room at once. Note that I had four 1/2" diameter tubes inserted into my chest to drain off excess fluids from the lung and heart cavities.
Day1 post OP, Thursday, was a very bad day. Overnight I still had a bulk of the pain meds left from surgery. As the day started, those were wearing off to be replaced with other less potent ones. This time of opiod crisis is not good for the major surgery patient. I had one dose of 2mg morphine every 4 hours available to me. Everything else is non-narcotic (tylenol, etc). Those did not work for my pain. In the morning, they finally relented fot the morphine dose, after everything else had failed and I was in level 10 pain for over an hour. The 2mg brought me down to level 6 for the next 4 hours. But, by 3pm I'm back to level 7 and climbing. I get the full cocktail including the morphine, but I still climb right through level 8,then 9. My dad (a doctor) and I yell and cuss at the hospital staff and the nurse practitioner until we finally get a single dose of dilotted, and my morohine in leased to 4mg every 4.
The doctor also decided to remove my chest tubes. They had been mostly clear since 10am, and I wasnt draining much new fluid. But, I had to getup and walk for 5 minutes then see how much new fluid was collected.
Once that was done the doc agreed to remove them. An odd experience. First they remove all the dressings and cut the stitches holding my tubes to my skin. Then they told me to take a deep breath and exhale. As I exhale they pull these tubes out of my chest. My wife said they were like 18" long. It didn't hurt, but I could feel them sliding along my insides... Or so I think.
Removing the tubes didn't have an immediate effect but by morning, I was feeling much better. Friday was a good day. My pain was well controlled. Various therapists came by to work with me. Respiratory... To work on expanding my lungs and working my breathing muscles. Physical... To get me up and walking around the floor. Occupational... To work on how to do basic care tasks with a cracked chest. My fluids were still up, and I still had a couple ivs to ween off of. But, mast on the floor felt like I would go home on Saturday.
Day 2 post OP (Saturday). Also a good day. More of the same, really. I had breif hopes of being discharged. But, those were dashed by an in accurate weight record. The morning tech had misrecorded my morning weight. So the nurse in charge thought that I'd gained weight instead of losing two kgs. Oh well... One more relaxing day in the hospital wasn't that big of a deal. I had several friends and family come to Visit. One friend I hadn't seen in over 30 years.
Day 3 post-op (Sunday). I woke up today ready to go home. My morning weight was 1.5 kg below my admission weight. I was more sore, but I walked a ton the day before. So it want a surprise that my donation sites on my left leg were more tender. Also, the nerve block in my chest was starting to retract. The nurse came in and said she saw discharge orders on my chart. Yay! The hospital doctor came by and said I looked great and would be home soon. Then I went to the restroom for a difficult poo.
When I came back I felt woosy,and my heart beat felt really weird. Almost like it was backwards or something. The nurse came in immediately, because she'd seen it on the heart monitor. They took an ekg to find that I'm in 2:1 / 3:1 atrial flutter. Discharge cancelled. New iv drugs ordered. They make me feel horrible (week and lethargic). Monitor for another day, and ween down to an oral dose that I'll take for the next month.
Apparently, this is pretty common, occurring in up to 30-50% of cabg surgeries according to my doc. The heart is irritated from the surgery and sensitive to setting Up alternal rhythms like atrial flutter. Not serious, treatable, but not fun. Great. Still sucks.
Next I have to pee again. I call the nurse and she takes me into the bathroom. As I start to pee (standing) I feel the world start to spin. I reach for the commode and sit down. I have a movement while sitting... And the world just starts whirling like a top. I push to door open and tell the nurse. She helps me out, and I sit on the bed pullinup my pants. I'm sweating like I'm running during the summer in Kona. I'm drenched. Now I'm surrounded by 4-5 nurses. Helping me into bed, putting montionrs on me, and getting the Ekg... While others ask what happened.
They conclude it was likely a vagal syncopy which is frequently caused by urinating and/or pooping. It is also exacerbated by low BP, and low blood volume. I was weighed at 4am, while still on iv diuretics. I was given oral diuretics at 7am. I peed 2 liters of fluid and pooped in the intervening hours. So, I was probably down to 68-69 kg...3-4 kg below admission.
Scarriest experience of my life. Also, left me wiped out like I'd just run a half marathon.
I've spent the rest of the day suffering through the effects of the amiodarone... The drug for my arythmia. I'm tapering off of it now and just took my first oral dose. Today is another chance to leave this place... Assuming nothing else happens.
Last edited by:
Tom_hampton: Jul 23, 21 14:42