chest pain

[maheshbatra]

My mom had bypass surgery about 10 weeks ago.

she seemed to be recovering fine until last week.

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

Also her 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 she seems to be like the person who just got the surgery.

what is happening to her?

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

[neurotic]

Did your mom tell her doctor all this...the cardiologist....as soon as possible so that you and her can rest easy.  it could be post-op.  Wish your mom well...keep us posted.

[kenkeith]

Different hospitals, surgeons, cardiologists may have different protocol procedures post cabg but there should be a rehabilation program and followup.  The followup should be stress testing after about 6 weeks.  The stress test will provide an insight to the exercise tolerance for your mother and that would be the beginning of a cardiac rehabilitation program.  

My relative (2 bypass emergency surgeries for acute heart attacks) was told and then given written instructions prior to hospital discharge and there was information given outling a rehabilitation procedure for his recovery program. Your mom should have a followup visit with her doctor to rule out any serious medical condition...to recovery fine and then go into medical distress should not be overlooked.

Ken

[ed34]

It's a totally ridiculous statement that surgeons make when they say 3 months. It's about time they reviewed the statements they give. I too was told "you will be back to normal in 3 months" which turned out to be total rubbish. In fact, when I started rehab, I found nobody who recovered in that amount of time. I was still sleeping on my back after 6 months, and after a whole year the discomforts were finally gone. I think you would have to be super human to recover fully in three months from such traumatic surgery.
Back to your Mother, if she is doing less activity, then there can be two possible reasons. First is a problem inside her body causing the pain, and she should see a Cardiologist to test her anyway. Secondly it can be a psychological issue. I lost count how many times I believed I wouldn't get any better and felt like giving up. For 6 months there didn't seem to be any light at the end of the tunnel.