Saturday, May 20, 2023

Open-heart Surgery

There seems to be agreement that most patients have little or no pain by three months post-op, although there is something called CPOP that can result in long-term pain.  Use of heart-lung machines seem to increase post-op pain.  Oddly, the older you are, the less pain but the higher the mortality rate.

Mortality rates are apparently higher for open-heart than minimally invasive surgery.  Longer pre-op hospitalization more than three days seems to reduce mortality.  High creatine levels indicating kidney problems are correlated with increased mortality.

If my surgeon is unwilling to refer me to a TECAB procedure, open-heart sounds unpleasant but tolerable.  Apparently the more stuff they do while "under the hood" (in my case double bypass and aortic valve replacement) the higher the risk.  The 2013 aortic valve replacement was bad.  Slightly higher mortality to avoid going through recovery twice seems worth it.  Meeting Jesus early does not appeal to me, because I have a number of RKBA cases that need my assistance, but if that happens you guys are going to have to do your best without me.

3 comments:

  1. First, I hope whatever route you and your surgeon choose goes great. I've had a couple of elderly (distant) relatives who had open-heart, bypass surgery and I was always surprised at how much it seemed to increase their energy

    How does one get into doing research in aid of these court cases? I have time, or I could make time, and it seems like a valuable thing to be doing.

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    1. Unfortunately, you need the right educational and publication credentials. I sometimes need someone to proofread declarations for typos, verifying that paragraph number references to another document are correct, that sort of thing. Email me at MyFirstname at
      MyFirstnameMyLastname.com if you want to help.

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  2. Longtime reader here. I wish you the best possible outcome and a speedy, non-painful recovery.

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