Heart Bypass Surgery

[Mehriel]

Good day!
My father had heart bypass surgery last December 2010. He was recovering well. After a month he was able to drive and on his 8th week he was feeling no pain. However, he carried a heavy load on his 9th week (more than the normal weight I think) and he started to feel the pain in his wounds again. He has no difficulty breathing though. He described the pain as similar after the operation procedure. Are there any complications that we should be concerned about. Thanks...

[ed34]

Please let us know how he gets on.

[Mehriel]

hi ed34!yes my father will be having his chest xray this week to see if there's anything wrong because of the pain he's experiencing. Thank you so much!

[Mehriel]

Thank you so much for your response...It has been a week that the doctor has advised my father to rest but he still feels the pain.Hopefully he will be able to recover though. Thanks again!

[ed34]

oops, sorry, didnt answer the main question. Due to the discomfort I would visit the Doctor who may want to take an x-ray, to ensure that the sternum is still aligned and none of the wires have been broken. It's very likely to be fine, but you don't want to be taking any unnecessary risks at this stage.

[ed34]

After bypass surgery then tell you (or should tell you), it takes around 2 months for the sternum to heal, fuse together. They also should tell you no lifting of anything very heavy for three months. For the first two months I was told never to lift anything heavier than a kettle. Then I was allowed to do slightly heavier tasks such as push/pull a vacuum cleaner. After three months I was allowed to do anything. However, after 3 months I was in a LOT of discomfort still. As Vienna states, it takes some people a long time and it took my chest a year to fully recover.

[vienna13]

In my understanding after operation he can consider about one year as a healing time. I did not have operation, but was recovering from my heart failure. 1 YEAR I needed to feel well and no pain or very occasional pain. He must be sure NOT lifting heavy things.  When I had lift or was letting stress in my life, all turned out of some sort of pain. Those are the 2 mayor things he should watch for. Change all stress for love,(easier to say, but must try :)) and …do the heavy lifting for him!!
It seems he is a strong man from what you said, and that pain was normal because he did got it by doing what he shouldn’t.
Take care of each other!
Best wishes!