why do you get a blockage after bypass surgery

[cathy58105]

my husband had 5 bypasses in february. he recovered very well and was better than he had been in two years.six months to the day it was like someone turned off the switched. we rushed him to the hospital where we found out 4 of the five arrtieries were blocked...one 100% two 90's and a 99. we followed the diet, he exercised and walkwd daily. what went wrong??  he had two stints put in and in four weeks another stint will be put in and in three months IF his heart is stronger he will have bypass surgery for the 100% blockage.his heart is at 20%

[ed34]

In my teen years I loved adrenaline rushes and this seemed to guide me into a very stressful career which I thoroughly enjoyed. I loved the buzz. However, I also had very high blood pressure as a teen and Doctors in those days simply said "it's just your body chemistry", my cholesterol (thanks to a liver problem) was also sky high but not discovered until I was 46. So, I had a fantastic recipe going for heart disease. Knowing such problems can be genetic, I took my Son to the Doctor when he was 17 to check him out. His blood pressure is on the nail, and cholesterol is nice and low. It looks like he takes after his Mother. He doesn't like stress, avoids it like the plague, and is a real fitness fanatic. In my many stays in hospitals, I have seen many patients admitted into the cardiac ward. I have never met one yet with high cholesterol, and I do love the faces on the cardiologists when they say they have never smoked. I still firmly believe stress is the most common factor. Both of my attacks occurred after times of VERY high stress. It has always been like a delayed reaction, during the stress I feel ok, but about two weeks after the stress has gone, WALLOP, heart attack. Both times when the stress left me, I remember thinking "wow I got through all that with no heart attack, I must be improving".

[cathy58105]

thanks for the input it sure helped my huisband especially now that our 48 year old son just had his first heart attack and stint. and neither had high cholestrol which doctors insist played a roll in this.

[ed34]

I think that with some people it is genetic. Stress also plays a huge part. I had a triple bypass and they used one artery and 2 veins. After 3 months, the 2 veins closed completely, but the artery remained open and clear. It still is clear, but I've since had 7 stents to do the job intended by the closed veins. Bypass surgery seems to work great for some people, and I always believed it worked well for everyone these days, with surgical techniques and knowledge. When in hospital, I learned a different story. I met patients whose veins had closed just days after surgery. They just don't know why it doesn't work with some people, yet it does for others. If he has had so many problems so soon, is it really worth going through all that again? That's something I would be asking them. Can't they use laser or any other angioplasty techniques to open the blockage?
Another thing I learned over my 4 year journey was the difference in levels of confidence / expertise with angioplasty between hospitals. I went to 5 different hospitals, all said my left artery couldn't be opened, it was solidly blocked. However, a London training hospital said they could do it, and they achieved great results.