Heart Disease

[joy54]

I"d like to know if anyone can help me with this question. A friend of mine had triple bypass surery 2 years ago. She's in her late 70's. Since the day of her surgery she's had numbness in her arm and leg. It has been going on for the last two years. She's had some therapy, the Dr. said it might never go away and that she might have to live with the problem. She's not coping with it very well and has even had some counseling but to no avail. My other friend had triple bypass and she's fine. We think a small stoke might of happened before the heart surgery. Any info or help would be greatly appreciated. Is this a common thing for some people after heart surgery?

[joy54]

Thank you so much for the information. I will pass this on and hope we can encourage her to go on with her life..even thought she has this problem. She can move the hand and leg but has the tingling feeling all the time but can function.

[Cleveland Clinic]

It is very likely that she had a small stroke leading to those symptoms.  It does occur very infrequently with bypass surgery, but is more likely in older patients.  Assuming that she has no atrial fibrillaiton, which is also a common cause of stroke, I would have to say, based on the temporal relationship, that the stroke happened during the surgery.  If in two years she has not recovered any function, it is unlikely that she will at this point.