Chest, Shoulder pain after CABG

[kp4what]

My dad had bypass surgery about 10 weeks ago.

He seemed to be recovering fine until last week.

However, he started to have shoulder pain (left) and upper back.

Also his activity level has decreased largely, having trouble sleeping, mild chest pain when exercising (although he does very light exercising).

It bothers me very much since most people are expected to perform normal activity in 3 months after surgery but he seems to be like the person who just got the surgery.

what is happening to him?

is it like a post-op acute condition? or something went bad?

[Staynpain]

He may be like me.  I have non union of the sternum. Almost 8 months after my bypass I have terrible pain in my chest when coughing . I have medium pain when sleeping  on my sides. I have paid just getting out of my recliner. I too had shoulder blade pain for about 3 months after surgery. What helped a lot with this was to get in the shower, turn the hot water on as hot as I could stand it, and let it hit the shoulder blades while moving side to side. Helps even better if you have really good water pressure. Thinking about buying a hot tub to see if will help with the chest pain . I tried a heating pad but the dry hezt doesn't seem to help.  Hope a hot shower helps his shoulder pain as much as it did mine. I don't have any now, but the chest is almost unbearable on a daily basis. The shower does make it feel better, but only for about 20 minutes.

[Terri81]

I'd be interested to learn how you father did, how long this problem lasted, and what you learned about the cause.  I'm 10 weeks post CABG/4 and I've had the same problem for the past week. The pain occurs each time I take a breath and it's traveled from one side of the chest and shoulder to the other. After a week the shoulder pain, which is very sharp and severe, had finally improved to the point that I know longer need the vicodin an ER doc gave me a couple of days ago.

ER staff contacted my cardiologist and none of them know what was causing it.  I'd been making a good recovery and was so happy to see my old strength returning, but now I'm set back a month as far and strength and endurance after just 8 days of this.  I could not do cardio rehab during this time.  Hoping I am well enough to do it Monday.

Any help would be appreciated!

[howdy2]

I am 53 and of course my Daughter worried too.
I had a triple bypass some 5 weeks ago and I have made great recovery and i will be back at work (moderate type of work) in 3 weeks. This is also due to my fitness level before the operation.
Age along with previous fitness level as well as bad habbits such as smoking and drinking previous to a bypass do impact on recovery time.
I too get some aches and pains. They are usualy of a slight sharp stabbing kind of a sensation. The only one that does bother me is the dull aching i get under my left lower rib cage. But" I had this before the op too, so I don't think this to be related.
I assume your Dad is seeing a Cardiologist for this? Or perhaps your local GP?
Might be a good idea, just to have piece of mind.
Cheers from Adelaide Down Under

[jim62]

As best I can recall, those shoulder and back pains are pretty typical following bypass surgery.  Something to do with nerves being disturbed, and how they spread open the chest to get working room.  They should go away pretty soon.

I experienced mild chest pain while exercising (walking) shortly after the surgery too.  It turned out to have been more in my head than in my chest.  Once I got past dwelling on it and worrying about it, it was gone.  After such a traumatic event as bypass surgery, we tend to interpret every little ache and pain as heart related, and BAD.  It usually just ain't the case, but that's just part of the whole deal.

Hope his problem is something easy like mine was.  The recovery time varies widely by individuals.  I was nowhere close to doing normal activities at 3 months--probably more like 8 or 9 months.

Another thing that may be coming into play is depression.  This is also quite common following bypass surgery, and would seem to explain some of his symptoms (less activity and trouble sleeping).  It would be good to run this all by his doctor and see what he or she thinks about it all.  A couple months of an antidepressant might do a world of good for him.

Happy trails !