Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Open Heart Surgery

Wasn’t going to say anything, but I’m going in Thursday to be opened up, Aortic valve, Aneurysm, and fix A-fib, just found Aneurysm last Monday, so now moving from up artery to open heart. I’m normally not afraid of anything but this is much more than having my knees replaced, My boys and three stepson’s have had the talk this week end about ranch and their mother, kinda scary! Just wondering if anyone has been there and what hints to help after , thanks

Aneurysm. Those are a really bad deal. If it bursts, one can be gone in seconds. Good luck

Not me. But dad. He said don't put it off. Do it the next day if they let you.

Beyond just hang on. It gets better after its all fixed. Slow ride for the most part but it gets better in 6 months according to him.

Would depend on your age. And lots of other factors.

Pretty dang safe surgeries these days though. That part wouldn't worry about. In the 70s when dad had his first it was a bit iffy.

Prayers. Thats the best advice I can offer. Be sure you know where you are going when you die and are happy with that. Rock on.

Prayers from this end for sure.

Prayin it works out for ya brutha👍

Good luck!

Prayers for an uneventful procedure and quick recovery.

No experience,but Best of luck.

I have a few friends that have had it done and are fine.
We some of the best Drs and medical professionals out there

My Dad had open heart surgery in 1957 when he was 12 years old. That was a major thing at that time. Grandfather had triple bypass in 1993ish no big deal.

Recovery for my grandfather was very fast, he said the leg they stripped the vein from was the worse part. He just did what they recommended and it went smoothly.

Should be fine...good luck.

Praying for you.

Good words skyward for you!

Good luck, I hope you have a quick and uneventful recovery!

April 1st will be my 8 year anniversary for an emergent open heart/tripple bypass surgery. Use the pillow when you have to cough, do the breathing exercise consistently. If you've never been on a vent for me it wasn't a big deal. TV exaggerates the effect of being tubed. When I came out of the coma I realized that my hands were tied to the bed to prevent me from trying to pull out any of the tubes/IVs. My RN walked over and made me promise that I wouldn't try to yank out the tubes, she cut my hands free right away.

Crushing depression is a common side effect of being stuck in the house pondering your mortality after surgery. It may take 6-8 months to be manageable. Be strong, it too shall pass.

I had my whole aortic root replaced January of last year, other than the mental part it's a breeze. I was walking stairs in 4 days. The hardest part for me is when the play class action medical lawsuit commercials on tv, my morbid/hypochondriac side mind fuggs me for a bit.

Thanks Men, and yes I guess I am a little depressed, I have gained 20 pounds in two months after I finally started having symptoms , don’t care about watching the waist line, and have had to stop working hard because of being short of breath, I was wondering if it was normal, again thanks for prayers, greatest power there is !!!

Prayers and good thoughts headed your way.

Best wishes, Angus 55, both for a successful procedure and a speedy and full recovery. Be thorough with whatever physical therapy the Doc's Physical Therapist assigns you.

L.W.

A friends dad had an aneurysm fixed and he was fine, my dad did not have his fixed and he died, Doc told me he was dead inside of 4 seconds and never knew what hit.

With the aneurysm you really have no choice, you go under the knife or you die.

I'll send prayers your way.

I have the aneurysm. They say I should be fine. I don't know. But I'm praying things go well for you

We are Blessed that the doctors can do the surgery.

Prayers for a full recovery.

Hoping for the best for you, my friend is having double bypass on Thursday

I had open heart 3 springs ago. Aortic and mitrial(sp?) valve job and a maze procedure for afib. The doc was a good'un, and was able to repair the leaky valves without replacing them with pig valves. The idea of being on anti-rejection drugs the rest of my life didn't much appeal to me, so I was a happy little camper when he was able to fix mine up. The maze procedure only kept the afib away for a year and then I had to go back in for an ablation. Been good since, but can't handle elevation much since that deal. Went up elk hunting the last 2 years but had to cut both of the trips short because of my ticker. Do what the docs say and don't be like me and push your recovery. I kept pushing and it really set me back. Thought I was doing good and unloaded a truck of feed, and broke it loose the first time. And then again opening a frozen barn door only to delay the heal a couple more months. If they want you to walk right after surgery tho, be tough and walk farther and more than they want so you can get home quicker. It'll hurt like a sumbish, but don't cave to the painkillers. Them things are bad fugging news on your brain.

You got this, cowboy......buck up

Praying and hoping for the best.

I had mine done 4 years ago, not fun, but you will get though it. You'll do well, waiting is the hardest part. Prayers and good luck! Hug the pillow when you cough!

This event will make a good story for you to tell for years to come.




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Hi Angus55, you are lucky they found out that you have that issue and can repair it!

My father suffered a Ruptured Aortic aneurysm. He was at his friend's home and told him to drive him to the hospital immediately because he didn't feel well, the hospital was 5 minutes away and is known as the best hospital for heart surgery where we are from.

By the time his friend got to the hospital, he was dead in the car and they brought him back to life approximately 10 minutes after he was clinically dead. After the surgery he died again, and they revived him again for a second time. My father was ONE TOUGH HOMBRE, and he lived for an additional 16 years after that experience.

I wish you all the best and know you will be ok!

Prayers sent from me for a successful surgery with a complete recovery!

Prayers for a successful surgery and speedy recovery! Just know it'll take a bit both mentally and physically, but you'll be better off in the long run. Push yourself in PT and you'll make it back quicker!

Had the chest cracked open in 1977 at the age of 27, after being in ICU for a a week; too unstable to transport to a major hospital. They seem to have in down pat -nowadays. Of course, nothing ever goes right the first time around. Had a blowout during a time of blood shortage; had to get blood from my Dad and nurse’s husband. Sometime in the midst of all this, I had an out of body experience. I was floating up above my body on the table watching one of the techs stapling up my sternum. I felt pain and winced and heard the tech tell the anesthetist “Better gas him again, he’s coming to!” I also felt complete peace like I was floating in warm water and had a chance to go to the “light” and beyond. I couldn’t because I had a 9 year old son that needed me. Hard, very hard to go back to my body. The surgical team was amazed by my story. I came down with hiccups- not fun after having your chest split open and wired back together 2X (twisted wire still shows up on x-rays. Had them for over 24 hours. Finally tech on night shift suggested packets of granulated sugar. Went to the cafeteria rounded up 2 handfuls, and after 8-12. It worked ! Do the breathing treatments and PT. Just remember , hard to overcome bad genetics tho. History of heart problems on both sides of the family. I have outlived my 3 brothers by many years. My father died at 62 and my mother at 56. I turned 73 in September. Lots of it due to marrying well the second time. We are now evenly yorked( I became a Christian like her and because of her example). I chose a different lifestyle than my family. Hard living is hard on the body. You, nor your doctors know when your time is up. They can only give you odds like Las Vagas. Your days are numbered like the hairs on your head - the Bible. This life is not the end. You have a soul that will live forever- somewhere. You have a choice as to where.

Prayers for a successful surgery and recovery.

I never thought about it until today when kids went back to their cities, had to teach two sons how to feed cattle and put out hay, and I’m making long list of stuff for them to do around here, spring time stuff we all do. I have one boy in Australia , that is coming for a month to help build fence, I wouldn’t do this every day, but at least I’m getting help now,, lol , worried about the old man I guess 🤠

Listen to your Docs and Nurses. The first couple days SUCK. Don't be afraid to request pain meds. We do open hearts at my hospital and for 3 years I was on the "recovery team". Our patients come direct from OR to ICU. Get moving as soon as you are physically capable. Your whole body will be sore the first few days, but per a couple hundred folks I've taken care of, each time getting out of bed got easier

The surgery will be fine, it's the 72 hours after.

Praying for the best possible outcome. Stay strong mentally and ask the Holy Spirit for peace and guidance to get you through this trial. It will be in your rear view mirror before long!

I agree with Jeff.

Prayers sent, God bless and may the Docs have good success with fixing your plumbing.

Dang, Wabi ain't got many hairs on his head.

PTL you made it. Nothing is better for the heart than a good Christian woman and a lot of loving. Cuts down immensely on the prostate cancer risk also.

Dude,

best wishes from here.

I forgot to mention, if you have a hairy chest it would be in your best interest to shave it clean before you go to the hospital. You can thank me later. 🤭 Also, if your significant other is going to be there you might want to consider that some one else be there for moral support. In my case my wife was a phlebotomist for over twenty years, spent time in the ER and OR drawing blood from people in various stages of a medical crisis. Anyways the hospital waiting room had a large tv screen in it that showed where each patient was in their surgical process. No names were used, the nurse showed the family members which patient to watch. Even with my wife's experiences she lost it when the monitor showed that I was on the pump. She knew that my heart was stopped.

Hahaha, I was told by a old guy at local gun store, he’s 80 and a hell of a man, he said get ready for the most demoralizing thing, he said they wheel you in under the bright’s butt naked, and shave you from neck to knees, with razor, every thing, then take sticky tape and pat every hair, then wash you, he said it’s freezing cold and nursing staff will be cracking jokes about how cold it is, Damn!!! I guess all you can do is wink

There is some good insight and advice in these posts, and much of it can be helpful. But then, every case is different and the experiences of others never match exactly - so emphasize the common denominators of successes. Remain calm confident and strong going in; do all of the recovery exercises as demonstrated, and regularly; take the meds, liquids and food as directed; don't be afraid to push yourself a little bit extra in the aftermath if you feel like doing so.

You are in my prayers.

My very best wishes to you Sir! I’ve had my chest cracked open twice-at 55 and again at 70. Both procedures were to take care of clogged arteries. Please do the cardiac rehab prescribed by the doctors. It’ll make your life better. Looking forward to hearing from you.

If you have a chance, develop a connection with your nurse. They will guide you through the procedure if you ask for their recommendations. Worked for me fifteen years ago and might work for you. Best wishes for a great outcome. Positive thoughts on your part are huge, IMO.

Good luck.

They have made strides doing these operations.

My father had open heart back in the years when doing bypasses gave you maybe 5 or so years.

He lived over 25 years after.

Remember your pillow is your best friend.

Here is to a speedy recovery.

I had open heart surgery April 2023

Upper Thoracic dacron graft replacement along with a mchanical aortic heart valve.

I'm nearly 55 and my new St Jude aortic valve is said to out last me.

Warfarin once a day to keep my INR at 2.3/2.5

Once a month blood test is easy

I will warn and not sugar coat that the first day post op is tough but you will gain leaps and bounds daily after that.

Remember.......you have decisions to make regarding your valve replacement.

If you are 58/60 years old insist on the Insperus Reselia Bovine
If you are under 57 go OnX or St Jude full mchanical

Find a heart surgeon that is a valve specialist

Hey, chicks dig scars!

No experience, but good luck, and don't let it get you down.

I was born with a bicuspid aortic valve. Tends to fail about 20 years before normal tricuspid.
Had major open heart, with cow pericardial valve installed...
They got this surgery down. 4 weeks after, I backpacked that seasons buck out on my 69th.
No problems in the 9 years since...

A good friend had indigestion Thursday night and got up and took a few Thumbs. Then he sat in his chair so he wouldn't keep his wife up, she found him sitting there dead at 5.
Best of luck to you.

Good luck hope all goes well.

Prayers for a successful surgery and speedy recovery.

My prayers are with you Angus!

While I've been in the heart attack and repair box, it wasn't the same extent as you are having.

Cardiology has made leaps and bounds, and I trust you'll have a better life after it's done.

If you’re in a right relationship with Eashoa, you’re ok .
90% of the time the things we worry about never happen. The other 10% we couldn’t change anyways .

You got this brother!, best of Luck!

May the force be with u amigo,its a good time to be alive if your needing this kind of procedure.Have several friends go thru this process,a couple of yrs later they r rocking.Gods speed,and good luck.

Two years ago, had open heart surgury at the UAB Heart Center, top rated in the world. Had a bit of complication, 4 valves and 11 heart stints going in. The result we're great, took 6 hours and a team of eight surgeons, removed my heart and put it on the table next to me in a glass platter, removed all the heart arteries, replaced them with veins from my legs, selected pig valves, told the surgeon I had a good vegetarian. :-) They kicked my butt out at 8:00 AM on the 3rd day. 2nd day told them to stop the IV pain meds and give me two Tylenol, you are kidding, nope. Went down the road with my red pillow. You will get the red pillow joke.

Fetyndal is odd stuff, not cool at all, for anything near fun, causes crazy dreams. Had three in IC recovery that had, had strokes, so is very serious stuff.
Brest bone repairs or heals, scar remains as does the stainless steel wire under the skin. They play hell with the pectorial muscles in the chest. Do the rehab, walk, walk, walk, drink liquids and eat, even if not hungry, eat. I had no appetite and my glucose went to 32, got to meet the county EMTs, so eat and check your glucose regularly. Soft recoil for shooting for a year or more.

Follow all of the Dr's instructions judiciously. Said at 78, I now have a heart of a 30 year old. Best of luck to you.

Wife had a valve repaired. Yes, you'll have pain managed for a number of days and you'll be terrified to cough. But her worst/most nagging pain was her ribs along her spine. Your ribcage was ever intended to opened like a suitcase.

Men, y’all are incredible, the info on this thread is better than I’ve seen on any topic, I’ve been reading on here a long time, amazing how many have had some problems, this is what the Fire is all about, great info, Rapier- never dreamed about heavy kicking guns. I guess my greatest fear at almost 69 is how strong is your chest after, the day to day push and pull, especially Ranching, Huntsman is tough as a boot, doesn’t look like it slowed him down at all , again thanks for your support and prayers.

Sorry about the sudden loss of your good friend, and condolences to his wife. Obviously he was a considerate husband, and the lady might just as well have slept in until a bit later.

Cracking my chest open was a concern for me. At my first follow-up appointment after the open heart surgery I asked my cardiologist when could I return to my weight lifting workouts. I don't do crazy weights, just circuit training with aprox 90lbs for upper body stuff. He told me to take it easy for awhile. If I got stupid with it I'd crack my chest open and he'd be the one who had to fix it. I also asked how soon could I shoot again. He said that he had no idea, it would be up to me to figure that out. I shot a F-Class match four months after the surgery, .308win with heavy bullets at warp speed. 😁 Fatigue was a minor issue, no problems with my chest. Having said that a good friend of mine's brother cracked his chest open twice after open heart surgery. Arnold Schwarzenegger also did once...

Prayer dent for healing, comforting, and strength.

I had emergency surgery on Aortic aneurysm and dissection coming up on ten years ago. Recovery was the most painful and difficult thing I had ever experienced but was not as bad as I had imagined was going to be. In my case the aortic dissection went from the carotid arteries to the femoral arteries and they only replaced the aortic arch with a gortex vein, and reattached the aortic root and valve. Because of the dissection and now bulging aorta I am heavily medicated with blood pressure meds and can’t lift or strain physically, or risk popping it, hell I was even on even on laxatives because Dr was afraid of me pushing hard on a turd. I can walk but can’t run or hike uphill without almost passing out due to the meds arresting my heart rate, one flight of stairs is ok if I can rest a little bit at the top two flights and I am light headed for about ten minutes while the heart catches up. I run the family construction company and had a very physical job and that all changed, management only now, not just being able to grab tool and do it myself or load some equipment quickly by had myself has been hard to accept.
Managing meds has been a challenge and I finally found a good cardiologist who takes all the advice and prescriptions written buy the several cardiac specialist drs and surgeons I am seeing and looks at everything and sorts out what is redundant and what would work against each other and he manages all my prescriptions now.
Good luck, It’s going to kick your ass but you can do it!

Quite a thread with regard to what some guys have encountered and dealt with - not easy to contemplate. Very difficult challenges in many cases.

Now fairly old, I am grateful to be here enjoying family, friends and rewarding activities after such issues suddenly became huge at about 75, and a couple of medical mistakes complicated things. Attitude, perseverance with the program and a strong sense of hope can make big differences. Wishing all good outcomes for you.

I had a triple @ 42, 67 now. Keep the pillow close by, to hug when you feel a cough or sneeze coming. Pay special attention to not using your arms for anything like getting up from a chair or toilet, get help if needed, you don’t want to damage the sternum while it’s trying to heal. I was on the shooting bench about 2 months after, shooting a .338 win mag. It’s no fun, but you can do it.

Well, today was the big day! Hoping everything went well!

Good Luck Angus....................speedy recoveery.

MM

Thinking about you and hoping you do well.

Hope to hear a good report

Prayers and good thoughts for a success. Positive attitude always helps.We have both been on this forum a long time and I am sure we will be here for a lot longer.

I have my fingers crossed for you! I hope everything went well!

Praying foy you, and the Doctors.

Nice news is your only gonna have an anniversary of your surgery every four years. Hope it went well for you.

Good luck Angus. I had some weird pains on my left collarbone area when doing hard work. Went to the Dr and he did an EKG and said good to go. I said no and they did a stress test and I flunked. Had a heart cath and when I woke up they said I had 2 blockages and one was at a branch point so they didn't fix with stents. I had a double bypass at age 67 and have to say it wasn't that bad. I spent 4 days in the hospital and enjoyed a full cardio rehab 3 month session so I recapped and bought another 3 months. I'm 75 now and feel great

Not like it was when we were kids. It has almost become routine these days. Here's hoping for a quick recovery.

Good luck👍

Angus, I have to double up on what huntsman is telling you. I also had aortic valve surgery after being diagnosed with aortic valves stenosis. They gave me a choice of valve types and I chose the pig valve. My friend's wife was complaining about his mechanical valve clickety clacking away all night while they lay in bed. I also had the afib and they did ablation right after valve replacement. First ablation didn't hold, so I had to have another one done a few months later. That one held.

And also as huntsman said, you will get thru this, my friend. Get up and get walking as soon as possible. It will help your rehab tremendously.

Mine was seven years ago and it's probably the least of my worries.

Wishing you the best, brother.

Just saw this, Angus.
Prayers and encouragement sent from here!
Please update as soon as you can.

Here's hoping it went well. Inform when ya can. Rest well & take care.

And eyescrew a nurse or two.

Well Angus I guess I'll give my 2 cents. I had open heart surgery in July 1964 at Children's Hospital in Pittsburgh, PA. I had an extra piece of skin growing just before my aortic valve. Doctors took it out. They weren't sure if it would ever grow back again. When I got home after surgery I was told not to do anything. Yeah, sure 14 year old boys don't listen well. For the rest of my school years there was no sports except baseball. According to some of the doctors, if I had to run more then from home plate to 2nd base then I couldn't be on the high school team. I just smiled. Didn't say one word. Wouldn't tell them about running 4 laps around the football field then all the running drills, fielding and batting practice. Some how I lived.
The problems from the surgery started once I stopped growing. Seems every time it rained my back started killing me. Seemed my back was trying to pull itself apart. That went on for 44 years. Didn't help I was living in NW PA or NE OH. Rains quite a bit here.
Finally one night I was laying on my left side in bed. I took a breath and my back cracked right at the spot it always hurt. Seems a muscle got put out of place along my spine when I had the surgery. As long as I was rested, no problem. But if I was tired I was in a lot of pain.
So long story short, the surgery/recovery will probably go well. Just be aware that not everything gets put back in place where it should be. That causes lots of problems and no one will believe you. It's all in your head.

Well, today is your day two post surgery. I'm hoping that your recovery is progressing well and that you'll be heading to the step-down unit soon if you're not already there. I know I couldn't wait to be able to take a hot shower. Be nice to the nurses, welcome to the zipper club!