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what is my life expectancy?
I had a heart attack at the age of 38 years. A year later I had to have a single coronary by pass using my mammary artery. I am on many tablets ie: aspirin, ramipril, thyroxine, esomaprozole, lipitor, hrt and insulin. I am concerned about the long term effects of these medications and how will it effect my life expectancy? Sometimes I feel I can't make retirement decisions especially financial because of this. Also I know that a healthy life style plays a large part in controlling my condition but will it ensure that I will not need another by pass?
This discussion is related to How long does heart bypass surgery last?.
This discussion is related to How long does heart bypass surgery last?.
I feel very much the same as some of the other posters here. 3 years ago I was diagnosed with a TAA (thoracic aortic aneurysm) just above the aortic root which is also affected; an enlarged heart; mitral regurgitation and I have frequent PVC's - sometimes two or more in a very short span of time, with a single heartbeat in between.
I have also been having coronary artery spasms for about the same time and only recently with a change in cardiologists have been put on medicine (isosorbide mononitrate) to control the pain by enlarging the coronary arteries. It's working for the most part.
I tend now to be thinking of what I want to do before the inevitable day. I don't know how much longer I really have - no one knows when their time will be up. The fact I have some heart problems has brought to home the idea of impermanence, and the importance of enjoying life - all of life - and taking nothing for granted.
While I'm still able, I am going to go to Hawaii on vacation, planning for that to coincide with my 20th anniversary to my life partner. I've got a few other things that I want to do, and working on the "to-do" list - sounds better than the bucket list term, but in essence is the same thing.
I also have lowered my BS tolerance. I work in customer service and I used to be more apologetic if dealing with someone angry about software they don't understand, but I'm taking a less "sorry" attitude and more of a "let's cut through the bs, I'll help you with your questions and then you can go fume to yourself" attitude.
Yanni made a very good quote during his Acropolis concert:
"Sometimes we get caught up in our troubles and our problems and we let life, sort of, slip away - and life is precious, all of life - and one must try to take in as much of it as possible".
Anyway, there's my 2 cents worth.
~Dave
I have also been having coronary artery spasms for about the same time and only recently with a change in cardiologists have been put on medicine (isosorbide mononitrate) to control the pain by enlarging the coronary arteries. It's working for the most part.
I tend now to be thinking of what I want to do before the inevitable day. I don't know how much longer I really have - no one knows when their time will be up. The fact I have some heart problems has brought to home the idea of impermanence, and the importance of enjoying life - all of life - and taking nothing for granted.
While I'm still able, I am going to go to Hawaii on vacation, planning for that to coincide with my 20th anniversary to my life partner. I've got a few other things that I want to do, and working on the "to-do" list - sounds better than the bucket list term, but in essence is the same thing.
I also have lowered my BS tolerance. I work in customer service and I used to be more apologetic if dealing with someone angry about software they don't understand, but I'm taking a less "sorry" attitude and more of a "let's cut through the bs, I'll help you with your questions and then you can go fume to yourself" attitude.
Yanni made a very good quote during his Acropolis concert:
"Sometimes we get caught up in our troubles and our problems and we let life, sort of, slip away - and life is precious, all of life - and one must try to take in as much of it as possible".
Anyway, there's my 2 cents worth.
~Dave
Hi Smiley. Thanks for your note. Cholesterol was normal prior to MI, as I had just happened to have blood work 2 weeks prior. Another lipids and LFT blood work to be done next Tuesday prior to echo on Thursday to figure out the EF. My wife has been great about helping me get to a heart healthy diet, though I would maintain it wasn't too bad before. I have pretty drastically cut down fats, eliminated cheese, and no more diet soda. Moderately overweight but coming down.
Just to add something. They used your mammary arteries which is great news. Veins don't stand up to much more than 10 years, if you are lucky. The LIMA and RIMA are arteries and much more up to the job. They certainly took your young age into account and those vessels will last the rest of your natural life. Yes they too can form blockages, but it's less likely than the coronary arteries and they too can be stented if necessary. I know it's worrying, but you got through this and you've had a wake up call about your condition. If you feel any symptoms in the future, just get yourself checked and if necessary have the plumbing sorted out. I had a triple bypass at the age of 46 and in all I've received 10 stents. At long last it seems like my disease progression has halted, and now I don't think about it. I can tell you that stress is a big player.
My experiences have shown that a bypass would not be performed unless there is reversible heart muscle damage. My 'heart attack' was termed as such by several cardiologists, but in technical terms it was not a heart attack. I only had symptoms after eating and it would last for about 20 minutes. Yet they all termed it heart attack. I was sent for emergency angioplasty where a 99% blockage was found in the LCx, the Obtuse Marginal 1. They stented this, yet it was observed that my LAD was 100% blocked near the top (Proximal). The rest of the LAD vessel was very thin, showing it was getting blood from somewhere, but they couldn't see the source because the collaterals were obviously too small. They suggested bypass, but before that they would have to ensure there is no irreversible muscle damage. If there was dead muscle, they would not perform bypass surgery because it would make no difference. Dead heart muscle would not spring back to life. So I was scheduled for an Echo to see if there was any scar muscle. Nothing was there, but unconvinced I was then scheduled for a nuclear scan. The nuclear scan showed good vascularization and no necrosis, so a bypass was scheduled. I could have told them that the tissue was not dead, it was obvious because I was getting Angina on exertion. Dead muscle will not give angina. So I don't think a bypass would be given if there is heart damage, it wouldn't achieve anything. It would be like giving oxygen to a dead person and expecting to see them rise up.
There can be reversible damage, where the cells of the muscle are damaged but not beyond repair. When blood flow is restored, this gives the muscle the chance to recover but it takes months. Research has also shown that when cells are low on Oxygen for a period of time and begin to suffer damage, they receive further damage when full flow of blood is restored. It kind of shocks them. Lowering the blood temperature and cell temperature greatly counteracts this and they pack ice around the heart during many procedures and cool the blood through the bypass machine. As the temperature is slowly raised, the cells are not damaged by the sudden onslaught of oxygen. I think it's because the cells turn anerobic, metabolising sugars for energy rather than oxygen. Then suddenly giving huge oxygen levels causes damage as it attempts to switch back. Cooling let's this process happen more gradually.
There can be reversible damage, where the cells of the muscle are damaged but not beyond repair. When blood flow is restored, this gives the muscle the chance to recover but it takes months. Research has also shown that when cells are low on Oxygen for a period of time and begin to suffer damage, they receive further damage when full flow of blood is restored. It kind of shocks them. Lowering the blood temperature and cell temperature greatly counteracts this and they pack ice around the heart during many procedures and cool the blood through the bypass machine. As the temperature is slowly raised, the cells are not damaged by the sudden onslaught of oxygen. I think it's because the cells turn anerobic, metabolising sugars for energy rather than oxygen. Then suddenly giving huge oxygen levels causes damage as it attempts to switch back. Cooling let's this process happen more gradually.
Hi there,
Sorry to hear about the MI. Hopefully no heart muscle damage and is your EF still good and above 60%?
Do you have regular Cholestorol (fasting Lipogram) tests? know your numbers. Make sure that your cholesterol is under control and get blood pressure checks. Follow heart-friendly diet and do not smoke and cut on saturated fats and healthy BMI.
Sorry to hear about the MI. Hopefully no heart muscle damage and is your EF still good and above 60%?
Do you have regular Cholestorol (fasting Lipogram) tests? know your numbers. Make sure that your cholesterol is under control and get blood pressure checks. Follow heart-friendly diet and do not smoke and cut on saturated fats and healthy BMI.
The obvious thing is to heed the warning and take huge steps to check your lifestyle. There could be main contributors to your condition. Cigarettes, bad diet and high levels of sugar intake are a few. There are many patients who have no more occurrence of this disease when they hit their lifestyles hard, but it depends on what the cause is with the individual. Even with virtually no saturated fat intake, regular exercise and taking lots of prescribed meds, I was still having lots of stents (10 in total). It wasn't until I learned to handle stress and be relaxed that this stopped and I also cut my sugar intake right down.
I had a minor MI (if it's ever minor) early this month at age 42 after which a stent was added. Heart issues have been in my family, but usually not until people reach their 60s, so this is a huge surprise for me (and my wife and kids). I'm struggling a bit with expectations for rest of life and I've also begun thinking about the retirement savings question Jay mentioned. I appreciate reading the perspectives from others in the group.
"It is my fervent hope that I have not made light of a serious and heart breaking issue in my previous post,"
__________
Quite the contrary. Humor, even dark humor, seems to enhance communication and convey images that would be laborious to express otherwise.
I get in trouble from time to time for appearing flippant about something that is not light at all, but I figure that's the fault of the listener. ;-) Since your audience here is all pretty much in the same boat, it isn't like we misunderstand and think the writer (you) is ridiculing or doesn't respect the situation.
Anyway, I like humor. I'm not much of a humor creator, but I'm a big humor consumer.
__________
Quite the contrary. Humor, even dark humor, seems to enhance communication and convey images that would be laborious to express otherwise.
I get in trouble from time to time for appearing flippant about something that is not light at all, but I figure that's the fault of the listener. ;-) Since your audience here is all pretty much in the same boat, it isn't like we misunderstand and think the writer (you) is ridiculing or doesn't respect the situation.
Anyway, I like humor. I'm not much of a humor creator, but I'm a big humor consumer.
Arthur Agatston, the author of the South Beach Diet, is a renown cardiologist. He also has written a book, The South Beach Heart Program. He writes about the importance of managing your cholesterol, diet, blood pressure, exercise, weight, and diet. He claims that he rarely sees heart attacks among his patients who practice what he teaches. Agatston also says that one should expect to live a normal life expectancy by following his advice.
It makes good sense to me, and what is most important is that it gives a person a chance to live well and live long. If a person continues to practice the old lifestyle--and unfortunately many do--then the odds most certainly are against a normal life expectancy.
We also know that for all of us on the planet, there are no guarantees. But we can improve our chances by the choices that we make.
It makes good sense to me, and what is most important is that it gives a person a chance to live well and live long. If a person continues to practice the old lifestyle--and unfortunately many do--then the odds most certainly are against a normal life expectancy.
We also know that for all of us on the planet, there are no guarantees. But we can improve our chances by the choices that we make.
I'm glad my comments struck a chord, and i speak from the heart. I hope I haven't come off as trite and asinine or worse yet cynical and jaded...it is not my intention.
There is a more serious side to all this and it is the heart break that comes with the uncertainty of a future. I found myself second guessing the other day whether I should get a 2-year magazine subscription, and just broke down in tears. Life is not the same anymore...no matter how much of a sense of "normalcy" I try to surround myself with...it is simply not the same anymore.
And with it comes a concomitant sadness that only those who are going through something similar truly understand. Everyone around you hopes and expects that you're back on your feet and to a large extent you are, but there is a part of each of us who has died a little.
My passions are indulged with a sense of urgency, celebrating friends' birthdays or family anniversaries are bittersweet...for I know not if I'll be around next year or the year after.
I'm trying to consume of life like a glutton - not sure when this will all come crashing down. I feel vulnerable and hardened at the same time...exposed emotionally to the foibles that are being thrown my way, and hardened in spirit to the exigencies that I must eventually face.
It is my fervent hope that I have not made light of a serious and heart breaking issue in my previous post, and I pray that all of us have the strength to carry on...
There is a more serious side to all this and it is the heart break that comes with the uncertainty of a future. I found myself second guessing the other day whether I should get a 2-year magazine subscription, and just broke down in tears. Life is not the same anymore...no matter how much of a sense of "normalcy" I try to surround myself with...it is simply not the same anymore.
And with it comes a concomitant sadness that only those who are going through something similar truly understand. Everyone around you hopes and expects that you're back on your feet and to a large extent you are, but there is a part of each of us who has died a little.
My passions are indulged with a sense of urgency, celebrating friends' birthdays or family anniversaries are bittersweet...for I know not if I'll be around next year or the year after.
I'm trying to consume of life like a glutton - not sure when this will all come crashing down. I feel vulnerable and hardened at the same time...exposed emotionally to the foibles that are being thrown my way, and hardened in spirit to the exigencies that I must eventually face.
It is my fervent hope that I have not made light of a serious and heart breaking issue in my previous post, and I pray that all of us have the strength to carry on...
Great comment! I always thought I'd react that way, but now the time has come, it turns out I don't. Apparently I am already doing whatever I want, within my means--always did have a hedonist streak.
Except the rain. We've had ten or a dozen years of drought, and I'm thinking perhaps I'll pack my Wellies and a couple of jumpers and fly across. Stay 'til I'm sick of the rain and mildew and 20 hours of sunlight, and come home to enjoy the heat and the drought a while longer.
Anyway, I really enjoyed reading your remarks.
Except the rain. We've had ten or a dozen years of drought, and I'm thinking perhaps I'll pack my Wellies and a couple of jumpers and fly across. Stay 'til I'm sick of the rain and mildew and 20 hours of sunlight, and come home to enjoy the heat and the drought a while longer.
Anyway, I really enjoyed reading your remarks.
I'm afraid I agree only to some degree with the others. I had a major MI in Jan of this year, at the age of 42, and its been a rough few months.
While none of us are sure how long we have on "god's beautiful earth", I find it hard to focus on my "retirement" any longer.
It's made me fatalistic, but has also lightened the burden and the pressure of juggling all the financial balls in the air, playing the actuarial game. It just doesn't strike my fancy any longer.
Instead, I find myself pursuing my "Bucket List" while still trying to be professionally responsible. This approach has lightened the emotional burdens and given me a low BS threshold. People notice the difference in me...but no one has yet voiced to me personally if this change is good, bad or indifferent.
For anyone to say that I'm going to live to be 63 is a wash...may be I will and may be I won't. There are no guarantees. But I'd hate to be planning today for tomorrow and missing out on living today...which was the way I was approaching life.
I used to save for the rainy days...well my rainy days are here, and it's a downpour! So I've doffed my mac (raincoat), pulled out my brawley (umbrellla) and put on my galoshes (rain proof boots) and I'm out splashing around in the puddles ;) It's the only way I know how ....in my best Gene Kelly impression!
To not do so, and then find that a year or two or 6 mts from now I take a turn for the worse and I didn't follow my passions (or indulge them - they're all legal ones btw!) would be a travesty to myself and to life.
Now if I run through my money and find myself alive and kicking 20 years later, don't forget to drop a Qtr or two into an old lady's cup with a sign saying "I dared to take a chance and tasted of sweet capricious life - now help this old broad get a hot cuppa soup!"
While none of us are sure how long we have on "god's beautiful earth", I find it hard to focus on my "retirement" any longer.
It's made me fatalistic, but has also lightened the burden and the pressure of juggling all the financial balls in the air, playing the actuarial game. It just doesn't strike my fancy any longer.
Instead, I find myself pursuing my "Bucket List" while still trying to be professionally responsible. This approach has lightened the emotional burdens and given me a low BS threshold. People notice the difference in me...but no one has yet voiced to me personally if this change is good, bad or indifferent.
For anyone to say that I'm going to live to be 63 is a wash...may be I will and may be I won't. There are no guarantees. But I'd hate to be planning today for tomorrow and missing out on living today...which was the way I was approaching life.
I used to save for the rainy days...well my rainy days are here, and it's a downpour! So I've doffed my mac (raincoat), pulled out my brawley (umbrellla) and put on my galoshes (rain proof boots) and I'm out splashing around in the puddles ;) It's the only way I know how ....in my best Gene Kelly impression!
To not do so, and then find that a year or two or 6 mts from now I take a turn for the worse and I didn't follow my passions (or indulge them - they're all legal ones btw!) would be a travesty to myself and to life.
Now if I run through my money and find myself alive and kicking 20 years later, don't forget to drop a Qtr or two into an old lady's cup with a sign saying "I dared to take a chance and tasted of sweet capricious life - now help this old broad get a hot cuppa soup!"
There are no guarantees in this game--but you know that.
In light of the current state of heart treatment and the rapid progress, though, I'd definitely go ahead with your retirement program. You could find yourself alive and retired, and THEN you'd be mad!
In light of the current state of heart treatment and the rapid progress, though, I'd definitely go ahead with your retirement program. You could find yourself alive and retired, and THEN you'd be mad!
Feel positive and do not worry too much! I had a double heart bypass
using my mammary arteries 21 years ago.I am now 63.I have cholestrol checks and take Atenanol.Do not think you are an invalid, enjoy life, and talk to people who have had the same problem it is a great help,
"Believe me"
Bry.
using my mammary arteries 21 years ago.I am now 63.I have cholestrol checks and take Atenanol.Do not think you are an invalid, enjoy life, and talk to people who have had the same problem it is a great help,
"Believe me"
Bry.
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