Triple Bypass
Triple Bypass
What are the statistics of someone having severe COPD, lung disease, diabetes and triple bypass surgery?
My dad needs triple bypass surgery but has severe emphzyma and lung disease. He also have diabetes. What are the risks and recovery (and how long) if he has the surgery? Is he better off not having the surgery?
First of all, good luck to you & your family...you're going through a lot right now. Remember that even when you have a family member who is sick, you need to take care of yourself, too.
Now, to answer your question: unfortunately, there isn't a good answer. As you've guessed, the more comorbidities (other problems) a patient has, the more difficult the surgery recovery. BUT...more important than having all these other conditions is how well they are controlled--a person with well controlled diabetes will do far better than a person with uncontrolled diabetes, for example.
Risks for any surgery, and especially heart surgery, are multiple. Your father's surgeon should be addressing these with him. Special consideration should be given to how easily he can come off the ventilator and his wound healing, if his diabetes is not well controlled.
A very important factor is your dad's motivation to do well with this surgery. A serious complication after heart surgery can be pneumonia, and getting up frequently and moving, as well as deep breathing and coughing (as you can imagine, not too pleasant after heart surgery) is of key importance to getting out of the hospital & doing well. If your dad isn't motivated, his prognosis just won't be as good.
As far as recovery, you can expect a TYPICAL heart surgical patient to be in the ICU for 1-2 days, then 4-5 days on a regular floor. Increasing activity a little each day, in the hospital and beyond is key.
There is no way we can say if he's better off not having the surgery. If you're not confident in the info the doc is giving you, go to another surgeon for another opinion.
Good luck.
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The Anatomy of a Triple Bypass
