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CABGs & climbing - a random info thread ... 11-Dec-2017 At 8:48:34 AM IdratherbeclimbingM9

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Thanks ODH, M75, gnag, Sabu and ajf.

Recovery is slow but noticeable, though I am fortunate as I'm only recovering from the surgical procedure and not a heart attack prior to it as well.

Improvement has gone from taking 5 minutes to 'walk' 250 metres around a hospital ward, to now walking 5 kms in about an hour, at a month after procedure.
Hills knock the walking times around, but this is also due the c0cktail of drugs that I'm still on, some of which lower the heart rate considerably, so on a sustained hill the lungs play catch-up trying to compensate,... not unlike gasping after an all out sprint,... an unusual feeling when one has just done the equivalent of walking up a couple of flights of stairs!
Some of the drugs finish when the supplied box/s runs out, and others will be longer term.

Artery bypass grafts are 'harvested' from your own body and my surgeon was careful to point out that if needed they would take additional arteries from forearm/s, or veins from leg/s, to do the repairs; as once inside they don't stop till all repairs that are required are done.

From a climbers perspective he said that if forearm arteries were used that I could expect a certain amount of tingling sensation and loss of feeling in fingers / hand (due reduced blood supply), but no loss of strength, of the hands - arm/s involved.
I don't think he is familiar with the climber terms of flaming out, or forearms feeling pumped...

In my case I did not require any additional harvesting, as the primary go-to arteries for this type of procedure are taken from inside the chest cavity, ie (at least for blokes), the mammary ones that supply blood to the nipples (redundant), as there are sufficient other arteries in that region to provide sufficient blood-flow to that area.
From my experience it leaves you feeling like your nipples have gravel rash and much of the central portion of your chest feeling numb and card-board-like, though I'm told that this will diminish over time.

From a statistical viewpoint, I've learnt that recent studies indicate a 20% less-successful rate for those who receive leg vein grafts, even though they are strong and sizeable enough.
I don't know but strongly suspect that the lower success rate is also aligned with the fact that by the time surgeons are using leg veins they are dealing with triple / quadruple / etc bypasses; ie the patient is likely in a category that would have less overall chance of full success (?) anyway...

Since starting a rehabilitation program at a local hospital I have also had my expectations of recovery time revised considerably.

Upon learning that part of the rehab consists of using pushbike style apparatus in a gym I was hopeful of at least riding my pushie (deadly?!), again on non-technical terrain at around Christmas time, as after all what's the difference cycling outdoors vs indoors?.
Wrong.
It isn't the exercise per se, it is any vibration or worse still, jarring, associated with it, that can undo the good work the surgeons have done.
Horror stories of patients whose chests may have remained wired together, but underlying muscle / overlying flesh, etc separating due vibration, with consequent additional recovery time and enhanced scarring, have me erring on the side of caution, ... as I'm in for the long haul!

So, for the first 8 weeks (preferably 12), the following limitations (amongst others) apply;
- no lifting anything heavier than 2 kg
- no pushing or pulling
- no placing of both arms behind ones back
- no loading of one arm above shoulder height ... (maybe not such a big deal to forgo, as I've never been great at one arm pull-ups anyway!! Heh, heh, heh.)
- no vibration or jarring (includes using ride on mowers and pushbikes!).