stents after bypass surgery

[Marcie]

My father is 49 years old and had a quad. bypass in May.  He began having chest and arm pain afterwards, and had never regained his strength back.  He questioned this to his doctor, finally they did another cath on him 3 weeks ago.  They found that 3 of the 4 (the 4th being the one that, they said was the most important artery, they replaced out of his chest wall, kills you instantly, the other 3 only cause you to have a heat attack) totally closed off, they were the ones that came out of his leg.This is all on the right side of his heart.  So they went back into the 2nd most important one that had been 100% blocked in the beginning and put 2 stents in it.  One week ago he began having chest and arm pain again, he went to the doctor and they made him wait while they took other patients around him, now I understand if it was a emergency he needed to go to the hospital but, he doesn't know if it is and the doctor told him to come in to her office.  So as of now he hasn't been seen for this.
     Is this normal to go back a put 2 stents into the one? And will he not need the other arterys that remain blocked (20% blood flow).  Could the stent be blocked already? NOTE:  He has no high blood pressure and all of the blood work is perfect, never another problem, and does not smoke.  His father had a bypass when he was exactly 49 there at Cleveland Clinic, and had never had a problem.  My dad just can't seem to get back into his daily habits, what could be wrong?  We are so worried about him and we are considering bringing him there. And also his heart is strong, the doctors said, he has no heart damage, they could not believe it when they  found the 4 arterys completely closed ( flat like spaghetti ).  You comments could save his life, he's just waitng to see another doctor at this point

[Mac250]

A related discussion, Heart Cath after bypass was started.

[CCF CARDIO MD - DLB]

You are welcome - I am glad you find this site useful. In general, though, I do agree with your doctor - I think most medical information on the internet is misleading and often dangerous. Unfortunately, the fact that it is on the internet may make it seem as if the information is authoritative, when in fact it could be written by someone with no real knowledge. Even though information on this site is reliable, it is often given out of context, and I would not want to ever impede the relationship between a doctor and patient.

[Marcie]

I fully agree, but at the same time it is always good to get all the info you can about your condition.  Anyone who would go to the internet for medical help over their own doctors is completly wrong.  My point was that their was nothing wrong with peoples opions and suggestions, they always help.  I felt as though maybe the doctor was discouraging him from looking into his medical condition and being able to ask questions, that he might not have on his own.
I am sorry, maybe I didnt fully explain my thoughts.
Thank you and I still think you guys are great!!!

[Marcie]

Thank you for your comment.  He went to the doctor finally yesterday and the doctor told him that he was going to try him on some medications for 2 months and if he did not improve then he would refer him to the Cleveland Clinic if that was what he wanted.  (he also told him that it is not good to get on the internet to find info because he would never trust his own doctor, ha ha.  I have found all the information I have found here and given to me very helpful, and always keeping in mind that not every procedure explained may not be right for his type of case, but again I believe it was the questions I had given him from your site to ask his doctor that the doctor may have not appreciated.  I think that it is wonderful that you can be able to access this much info on your condition and maybe sometimes put your mind at ease, and most importantly understand what the doctor is talking about when he/she explains your problems to you, and 9 out of 10 times you wonder what the heck they are talking about. he he he).
I believe this site is GREAT!  Just having a little insite on what is going on makes all the  difference in the world!  After all, we should have the right to know what may or may not be going on with our bodies.  THANKS AGAIN!!!!

[Marcie]

Yes they have him on aspirin.  It is so hard to understand that there is no cure for this or maybe just hard to accept.  I just hope that he get this fixed and not always have to worry about having a heart attack after every procedure is done on him, and that he can go on without having chest and arm pain.  Thank you  for your comment.

[CCF CARDIO MD - DLB]

Coronary artery disease is just something that he will need to learn to cope with. While there are no cures, fortunately there are a variety of good medications and procedures, as well as lots of ongoing research.

[CCF CARDIO MD - DLB]

Hopefully your doctors have you on aspirin and cholesterol lowering medications to try and slow down the progression of your disease.

[dottie]

I am a 41 year old woman who has undergone a quad bypass at the age of 39. Since then I have had numerous problems mine being the left side(LAD) The first angioplasty(6 months after bypass) they put in 2 stents, as when they inserted the first the artery collapsed. The second angioplasty done 5 months later another stent was put in. the third angioplasty was just last month, he just did the balloon.My problem is not plaque but in scar tissue growing at a rapid pace. I am told that the only thing that can add years to my life is another bypass but this time inside the heart but they need a mammary artery for the LAD and mine was used in the first bypass. I am now awaiting for the radiation cath. your father needs to not question whether its his heart or not, but just check with his doctor to be on the safe side. I denied it for awhile too.

[CCF CARDIO MD - DLB]

If he has a recurrence of symptoms as he had before, likely he needs yet another catheterization. This evaluation should be done sooner rather than later. It is possible that the stents have blocked up, or that one of the other areas of the heart supplied by the now blocked up vein grafts is in need of more blood. He must have very aggressive coronary artery disease to be affected at such a young age and to already have failure of his vein grafts. We would be happy to see him here if he likes. He should realize, though, that he will likely need several procedures over the coming years and that no single procedure is likely to provide a permanent "cure."