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Death during CABG; are the doctors innocent?
My father went a bypass surgery on 8 Jan due to following reasons:
1. his left main coronary artery was heavily blocked
2. angioplasty was not possible since his arteries were too fragile
3. doctors examined him fully, and discovered he had CAD all over - his bipolar joint above pelvic region that takes blood to legs was 100% blocked
4. there were deposits of calcium and plaque that had hardened his arteries.
He died during the surgery.
Doctors said they did their best, but heart didn't pump back after the bypass was over. Ischemia was cited as reason for death to us.
Also, they had performed a thoriac cleaning of his throat veins just before the bypass to avoid any possibility of brain stroke (his throat arteries were 70% blocked that supply blood to brain)
The stated risk of his mortality was 12% before the operation.
Finally, he had no diabeties, sugar, BP, or other ailment.
At the age of 63, he was a regular smoker though.
MY QUESTION IS: IS IT REALLY POSSIBLE THAT DOCTORS ARE INNOCENT AND THEY DID NOTHING WRONG TO CAUSE HIS DEATH?
GIVEN THE FACT THAT HEART BYPASS IS CONSIDERED SUCH A SAFE PROCEDURE WITH MERE 3-5% RISK, WHAT COULD HAVE LED TO HIS DEATH DESPITE ALL INFORMATION WITH THE DOCTORS BEFORE THEY TOOK HIM TO THE OP. THEATRE?
1. his left main coronary artery was heavily blocked
2. angioplasty was not possible since his arteries were too fragile
3. doctors examined him fully, and discovered he had CAD all over - his bipolar joint above pelvic region that takes blood to legs was 100% blocked
4. there were deposits of calcium and plaque that had hardened his arteries.
He died during the surgery.
Doctors said they did their best, but heart didn't pump back after the bypass was over. Ischemia was cited as reason for death to us.
Also, they had performed a thoriac cleaning of his throat veins just before the bypass to avoid any possibility of brain stroke (his throat arteries were 70% blocked that supply blood to brain)
The stated risk of his mortality was 12% before the operation.
Finally, he had no diabeties, sugar, BP, or other ailment.
At the age of 63, he was a regular smoker though.
MY QUESTION IS: IS IT REALLY POSSIBLE THAT DOCTORS ARE INNOCENT AND THEY DID NOTHING WRONG TO CAUSE HIS DEATH?
GIVEN THE FACT THAT HEART BYPASS IS CONSIDERED SUCH A SAFE PROCEDURE WITH MERE 3-5% RISK, WHAT COULD HAVE LED TO HIS DEATH DESPITE ALL INFORMATION WITH THE DOCTORS BEFORE THEY TOOK HIM TO THE OP. THEATRE?
Yes, I didn't have anyone depending on me, so it was different for me. If you have a spouse and children, you have a whole set of other concerns.
I still remember having my bypass surgery like it was yesterday, and it was over two years ago. I wasn't scared about myself, I was afraid for my family, my wife and children that I would leave behind if I didn't survive. I said everyhing I had to say to my family the day before my surgery and then I felt so much more at peace. I didn't seem to feel any worry about myself at all.
If 10,000 people have a certain procedure, and the mortality risk is 12%, then that means that 1,200 people in that group of 10,000 don't get to come home from the hospital. That's a lot of people. We don't know which ones aren't going to make it, obviously, or we could just have those individuals skip the surgery. But hardly anyone has open-heart surgery if they have any real choice about it. People who have open-heart surgery do it because if they don't have the surgery, they are going to be terminal in the forseeable future.
I've had two open-heart surgeries. I had a 7% chance of dying in the first one and a 33% chance of dying in the second one. I knew, going in, especially for the second one, that it wasn't any sure thing that I was going to live through it. My attitude was, I was going to give myself my best chance for life by having the surgery, and if I didn't make it, then at least I would had done everything I could. I went into it scared but peaceful, if that makes any sense. If I had died, I would have died knowing that I tried my best to live.
I wouldn't call any open-heart surgery "safe." Even 3 - 5% is a very significant mortality rate. But you do what you have to do.
Don't share your thoughts about this unless you want to, but maybe it would be good to think about what your father's attitude was toward his surgery. Was he scared? Was he hopeful? Was he confident in his doctors? Did he feel supported by his family? Did he want to live? Was he ready to die? If you can try to see it from his point of view as much as you can, it might help you.
I've had two open-heart surgeries. I had a 7% chance of dying in the first one and a 33% chance of dying in the second one. I knew, going in, especially for the second one, that it wasn't any sure thing that I was going to live through it. My attitude was, I was going to give myself my best chance for life by having the surgery, and if I didn't make it, then at least I would had done everything I could. I went into it scared but peaceful, if that makes any sense. If I had died, I would have died knowing that I tried my best to live.
I wouldn't call any open-heart surgery "safe." Even 3 - 5% is a very significant mortality rate. But you do what you have to do.
Don't share your thoughts about this unless you want to, but maybe it would be good to think about what your father's attitude was toward his surgery. Was he scared? Was he hopeful? Was he confident in his doctors? Did he feel supported by his family? Did he want to live? Was he ready to die? If you can try to see it from his point of view as much as you can, it might help you.
"MY QUESTION IS: IS IT REALLY POSSIBLE THAT DOCTORS ARE INNOCENT AND THEY DID NOTHING WRONG TO CAUSE HIS DEATH?"
Before giving my opinion, I would like to say I am really sorry to hear about your loss. I know it's very painful to lose a parent, both mine have been gone for years and it still feels like yesterday.
It depends on how you look at your question. As it stands the obvious answer is a definite yes because he was alive when he entered the theatre, so something they did caused his death. However, it would not have been a 'deliberate' act or a 'mistake' they made. As stated by ireneo, his arteries were a mess and needed some intervention. We can always look back and wonder if the right decisions were made with anything. We could say a better decision would have been to opt for transplant, but then he may have only lived for one day with a new heart and we would be asking if a bypass would have been a better option. It is rare, but in some cases the heart will not restart even after several attempts.
With this now being in your family history, it is important you take the necessary steps to avoid this happening to you and I would talk about it with your Doctor.
Before giving my opinion, I would like to say I am really sorry to hear about your loss. I know it's very painful to lose a parent, both mine have been gone for years and it still feels like yesterday.
It depends on how you look at your question. As it stands the obvious answer is a definite yes because he was alive when he entered the theatre, so something they did caused his death. However, it would not have been a 'deliberate' act or a 'mistake' they made. As stated by ireneo, his arteries were a mess and needed some intervention. We can always look back and wonder if the right decisions were made with anything. We could say a better decision would have been to opt for transplant, but then he may have only lived for one day with a new heart and we would be asking if a bypass would have been a better option. It is rare, but in some cases the heart will not restart even after several attempts.
With this now being in your family history, it is important you take the necessary steps to avoid this happening to you and I would talk about it with your Doctor.
I'm so sorry about your Dad's death. It's hard to wrap your mind around it all. My Dad died just a year and a half ago. It still doesn't seem quite real at times.
In any surgery, large or small, there are risks of injury or death. In your Dad's case his circulatory system was in bad shape. They could have done nothing and he would have died. Or they could go in and try to repair some of the damage. They chose to make that attempt to improve his quality of life. Unfortunately he didn't snap back after the bypass.
Bypass may have a small risk factor in general but each person is different. They bring their own risks with them. Many women have ovarian cysts and the risk of it being cancer is less than 5%. But there's a message board here devoted to women with ovarian cancer because there are so many of them. That "less than 5%" adds up quickly. With heart disease there's the same problem. So many people now with heart problems so that miniscule percentage still adds up to a lot of people in the end.
In your Dad's case they figured he was around 12%. That's more than double the average. I wish the surgery had worked for him. Again, I'm sorry.
In any surgery, large or small, there are risks of injury or death. In your Dad's case his circulatory system was in bad shape. They could have done nothing and he would have died. Or they could go in and try to repair some of the damage. They chose to make that attempt to improve his quality of life. Unfortunately he didn't snap back after the bypass.
Bypass may have a small risk factor in general but each person is different. They bring their own risks with them. Many women have ovarian cysts and the risk of it being cancer is less than 5%. But there's a message board here devoted to women with ovarian cancer because there are so many of them. That "less than 5%" adds up quickly. With heart disease there's the same problem. So many people now with heart problems so that miniscule percentage still adds up to a lot of people in the end.
In your Dad's case they figured he was around 12%. That's more than double the average. I wish the surgery had worked for him. Again, I'm sorry.
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