Results of Quad Bypass

I had posted a message asking for opinions about the advisablility of getting a quad bypass, due to my three-vessel disease with preserved
LV function. i got some very helpful feedback, especially from Dr.
Chung. Thanks to everyone who responded.

Well, I decided to have it done and the procedure was performed at the
Cleveland Clinic in November.

After eight weeks I can report that the incision pain is almost gone, but I am disappointed at the outcome. I suffer from fatigue and a lack of energy that is worse than what plagued me before my surgery.
At the time I was told that my lack of energy was due to insufficient blood flow to my heart and that I would see a dramatic improvement after the procedure. It hasn't happened. One flight of stairs wears me out and I gasp for breath.

I have also had a recurrence of angina. I was in NYC last week during the extreme cold and when I was walking on the street the old familiar deep pain in the chest and left arm came back. That was another thing
I was promised would go away as a result of the surgery.

Finally, I have the following new problems: My heart beats like a triphammer now, with a resting rate of just over 100 (before surgery it was about 70); the left side of my chest is completely numb; and, finally, I get a periodic tingling and "pins and needles" feeling in my left hand.

On the whole, then I feel I am symptomatically worse off than before, and I have to tell you that going through this operation was one of the most painful and difficult things I have ever done.

The really disheartening thing is how unresponsive my doctors are to my problems. Before my operation they were hounding me to get the surgery to save my life, holding out the spector of imminent death from a massive heart attack. Now, they won't give me the time of day.

all. I seem just as sharp (or dull) as before and my memory is intact.

Any feedback is appreciated, but I would caution anyone considering this procedure to try the noninvasive approach if at all possible.

Thanks for the advice -- to everyone.

I can tell you now that after 3 months I am decidedly worse off than I was prior to the surgery.
I caution everyone considering this procedure to reconsider and only go through with it as an aboslure last resort. The doctors and surgeons will tend to push you toward it because it is tremendously lucrative and medicine in the US is driven primarily by money, rather than by what is objectively best for the patient (Dr. Chung and others like him excepted).

Believe me, I come to this conclusion reluctantly.

No tests so far, Bill. They tell me that everything is normal except the return of the angina. On that, they want to wait and see if it's
"really angina". It is (I should know).

I'm taking 25 mg of lopressor twice a day, 40 mg of Zocor once a day,
10 mg of monopril once a day, and one 81 mg aspirin once a day.