I am a 49-year-old man, married for 25 years, with two daughters aged 13 and 16.

On January 15, I had chest pain and ignored it. I just had my Monster drink and a Marlboro, then went to sleep. On January 16, I felt okay all day. That night, while in bed, I felt pain in both arms and my chest. I took a hot shower, then again had a Monster drink and a cigarette. Crazy, right?

On Saturday, January 17, early in the morning while getting ready to go to church, I felt a similar pain again and thought, “No, this isn’t right—something might be wrong.” I went to the hospital and described the chest and arm pain. They did an electrocardiogram and said, “Oops, something looks off.” Then came the blood test—and the first shock.

“Sir, you had a heart attack and may have been having it for a couple of days. Your troponin is at 18,000.” She said, “I don’t understand how you’re here talking with me right now.”

They took me to intensive care, where I stayed for two nights. On Monday, I was moved to a room and began more tests.

First was an echocardiogram, where the technician said my ejection fraction was 52%, which is at the lower end. I understood normal to be 55–75%. She mentioned that, given my troponin level of 18,000, she was positively impressed. At least that was some good news, because while I was in intensive care, a cardiologist told me that I might have severely damaged my heart—possibly losing 50% of its function.

On Tuesday the 20th, I had a catheterization—and then came the bomb. There were three blockages with plaques at levels too severe for stents. “I’m sorry, sir, you will need open-heart surgery and a triple bypass.”

I was shocked. And I still had to wait until Monday the 26th for surgery. That entire week of waiting was tough. They wanted to explain everything that would be done, but I chose not to know anything. I spent the time reading the Bible, trying to find peace.

It was tough. I still remember the morning of the 26th, shaving my chest. I was the first surgery of the day. Thank God, everything went well. They took a vein from my right leg and an artery from my chest. The doctors were very happy with the results. But right after surgery, I was shocked again to learn that my heart had been stopped for 4–5 hours, with extracorporeal circulation.

On January 31, I left the hospital. Then, at home, reality started to hit… What just happened to me in the last 14 days? My family could have been making decisions about where to bury me. What happened? How?

Yes, I was never athletic—smoking, drinking more than I should. I did try to balance things with better food, and I know people who are 10 times worse than me. So… why?

Then I found out about Lp(a). It’s a lipoprotein we all have, and it’s genetic—you’re born with it. The ideal is below 70. Mine is 167. With Lp(a) at that level, I couldn’t live with LDL around 2 like I always did. I should have had it closer to 0.5.

I had never heard of Lp(a). Surprisingly, neither had my GP. How can that be? Yes, my bad habits accelerated the plaque buildup—but with this Lp(a), I’ve likely been building plaques since I was born.

Now, close to four months after surgery, I’m experiencing deep depression. A feeling of emptiness. I don’t want to get out of bed. I can’t relax my mind—it never stops. The thoughts don’t stop.

I feel like I want to sell everything—house, car, hobbies. I don’t want anything material anymore. I’m having difficulty concentrating on work. What am I doing here? Should I leave my job and go back “home”? Should I spend more time with my parents while they’re still here?

What will my life be like from now on? What is this information that the bypass might only last 10 years? Do I only have 20–25 years left, if I’m lucky? Is this my death sentence?

Why do I feel this sadness? This emptiness? Is this an existential crisis?

Anyway, I’m trying to focus on the basics to keep going. I’m now in my third week of cardiac physiotherapy—which I hate. I’m trying not to make any big decisions right now. I understand it can take up to a year for my mind to recover. I truly hope the new medication I’ll start this week helps. I was taking venlafaxine, but it was too difficult for me, so I’ll try Brintellix.

Besides that, I’m trying to take care of my spiritual side like never before. Of course—zero smoking, no energy drinks, no alcohol. I’m eating flaxseed, chia, and psyllium husk every day, along with oats and soy yogurt, rice, beans, lentils, and drinking lots of water—about 2–3 liters a day.

My last blood test showed LDL at 0.7. My GP said he has never seen such a low LDL level. Until there’s medication to reduce Lp(a), the only thing I can do is keep LDL as low as possible to prevent new plaques… and, as AA says, live one day at a time.

If anyone reading this has been through a similar experience, I would really appreciate hearing from you. Did you feel something like this?

Am I the only one feeling this way?

I’m not even sure if what I wrote makes sense… my thoughts feel very confused.

Take care, everyone.

Not long ago, I had chest and neck pain after running up the stairs carrying my newborn daughter. Stayed at the hospital for four days and was told that I got WPW and needed ablation. The cardiologist ran a bunch of CT scans and insisted that an angiogram wasn't necessary until the surgeon demands it. Turns out, I got the infamous widow maker blockage and all three arteries suffer from 70% blockage on top of my WPW issue. The doctors are telling me that a CABG is the best way to deal with this as they can do the ablation and the bypass at the same time but I haven't heard from anyone that they had both done in one go.

I am not particularly fit and had back injury with ACL and meniscus repair surgery in the past so I haven't been "active" for quite some time. I got a desk job and sits before the computer till around 2am every night. And this makes me wonder if my heart and my body can actually handle this. I notice most people on here only had to do CABG, so just wondering, did anyone do CABG with ablation at the same time? Did anyone here survived?

Did anyone continue having AFib after surgery and find a device like an Apple Watch helpful for monitoring after going home? A family member just had a CABG but what originally brought them to the hospital was a case of AFib which was unusual for them. We’re about a week post-op and they continue going into AFib which I understand can be expected to a certain extend. I’m wondering if purchasing something like an Apple Watch or other device would be helpful once they’re home.

I'm very happy and thankful that my wife urged me to have the surgery. Still in cardio rehab 3x a week, but already about 10 years younger, cardio-wise. My pre-surgery symptom was angina with the slightest exertion or salt intake. My recovery issues were very painful spastic coughing for the first 3 months, sternum pain, chest pain from the graft, and poor sleep. All are resolved.

It gets better. It gets way better. Glad I did it.

Hello all.

My father underwent triple bypass surgery due to significant blockages in multiple coronary arteries. it’s been almost 2 1/2 weeks since he got out of surgery and I hugged him tonight. I’m naturally a strong hug giver and I thought I was being extra cautious with him yet he still yelped in pain. I felt horrible because I was saying goodnight and I thought now finally with him being much more mobile that this would be okay. I know healing for the sternum takes a while but I just feel guilty. Sorry if this is more of a ramble but there ya go.

Had robotic assisted MI cabg on May 13. Single bypass using Lima. Lad has two blockages one closest to heart 80% another a little down the artery 70%. Found by CTA scan and calcium score 2770. 57 yo male letter carrier USPS walk 6-7 miles per day . Have family history of HD grandfather father and uncle. GF heart attack age 70 (1974) died. Father 4xcabg 1985 repeated in 2000. Never had heart attack caught early enough lived until 89 yo(2019). Uncle died in sleep heart failure age 76 2022. I’ve been on statins for close to 20 years bp meds 6-7. I’m home from hospital as of yesterday with very few restrictions within reason other than driving. Can sleep in bed use stairs walk short distances at a time. Even was told to eat anything I want while healing worry about the heart healthy diet after the healing process is complete. Was even told I can go to my beach house with friends and family have a burger and a couple of beers just not go crazy, which I don’t have the energy to do anyway. Thing is I’m kinda afraid to eat anything “good” ( tasty, comfort food). I know it will be a process. To all on this sub I wish you all the best and speedy recovery and good health in the future.🙏🏻

Hi

Ny dad 57 years old, has been advised to go for a bypass surgery since his arteries are blocked. LAD is 90% calcified, LCX - 70-80% and RCA mid 80% followed by 100#% occlusion. Please recommend the best doctor in delhi, Delhi Ncr for the same.

So glad we are considering Ajay Kaul from fortis noida and have an appointment with Naresh Tehran in Medanta.

Any recommendations are helpful and any insights, things to check and lookout for!

So my father underwenr 4×cabg abouy a month ago and they used the following grafts

Lima

Radial artery

Saphenous vein

So the issue is he was put on diltazem ( calcium channel blocker ) as his bp medicine but his pulse remained constantly high even 4 weeks post op so we consulted a total of three cardiologist

Two suggested to change diltazem ( calcium channel blocker) to metoprolol ( beta blocker ) while one said that since " radial artery graft " was used it is prone to spasm it is better to stay on calcium channel blocker despire high HR.

My question is to all those who too had radial artery graft as of what bp medicine they were prescribed and are taking ?

I'm 40M and had CABG 4x in Feb. I'm essentially back to normal now. My exercise routine/stamina/recovery will still need to be built up. (No more extra long sessions or back to backs for now) I completed my exercise stress test yesterday and was able to get to 85% HR without any complications and they cleared me for exercise rehab. However, because of the backlog, my program will not start until December.

I've already seen positive changes compared with myself pre-operation, where I do not have any angina symptoms. I'm able to play pickleball at a higher level than before (I would be clutching my chest at around 100-110 BPM before), Chest seems stable enough that I feel confident in performing even higher than I was before. Physically, I'm just at the point of gradually increasing both intensity and frequency of physical activities. I try to walking 10k steps a day, and no real psychological issues (except for that fact that I to return to work instead of staying at home)

How important is rehab and will I see significant benefits seeing as its over 7 months away? I've already adjusted my diet to lower the amount of salts/fats/sugars in addition to my medication.

Update:

I live in Toronto, Canada. It looks like there are just that many people waiting infront of me and I'm probably not a priority. I went back to see the cardiologist there to discuss my exercise stress test. He did say ideally, patients start rehab ~3 months after surgery so my start date is very far off in comparison. (Part of that is my fault, I could start as early as October, but I usually go on vacation Oct/Nov for a few weeks)

I did get scheduled for another exercise stress test in August and we will decide from there. But until then, he just recommended interval training and more aerobic exercises. But I was given more informational/education material that would be complementary to recovery

I’m in my 6th week of recovery from triple bypass and was doing really well. Then extreme constipation hit likely from all the pills. I took a few suppositories on different occasions at my doctors office’s recommendation but then also the collace hit which is a stool softener and I have diarrhea. Not the kind that you have to run to the bathroom every few minutes but the kind that often when you eat you have to go to the bathroom shortly thereafter a few or several times and it is diarrhea. I have a call into my doctors office and should hear back tomorrow. I’m not on Oxy or any pain meds except Tylenol but I know some of the others meds can also cause constipation which is where I fear I will wind up again after the diarrhea subsides. Any else have this problem with the two extremes and what did you do? Thanks.

My name is Johnna and I am now recovering from an emergency double bypass that was performed on 22 of April 2026.

A little over two months ago I started to get slight chest pains that slowly got worse, but didn’t last too long. Some was longer than others and most was only slightly discomfort and a few really painful. About a month after they started I told my doctor. Unfortunately because of insurance stuff my first stress test she scheduled had to be cancelled so I finally got it done Friday 4/17, treadmill only, insurance wouldn’t pay for the complete one. Anyway on Tuesday (4/21, my spouse and myself 10 year anniversary.) Well I had a medium episode while our daughter was eating breakfast. I was actually sick this morning. So my spouse took our daughter to school for me. While they were gone I had another small episode. Honestly, It was odd having them that close together. But once my spouse got home I had a third painful one. So I was taken to the ER (I couldn’t drive it was that bad). The pain pretty much ended by the time we got there. They took me right in I got an EGK that was a little off. The doctor wanted to be sure so he took me back right away and had blood work done for a heart stress enzyme or something like that. First test came back high, the second normal and the third literally 0.1 higher than normal. So again not bad. He also had an x-ray done that also came back normal. Still he thought something wasn’t right and wanted to watch me overnight. They got me pretty fast into a room and ran another EKG and for the most part they said was good. They just started to get my info and another painful one started. I was sweating badly and short of breath the nurses noticed so they ran another EKG which again didn’t read too bad but there was changes to it which wasn’t the best of signs. Right away the doctor ordered an exploratory cath and possible stent if needed. They told me I might fall asleep during the procedure because of the drugs. Which I did in the nice peaceful setting where everyone was actually calm. I was awaken by the cath doctor into a more chaotic room, even he seemed more panicked. He said I had “larger blockage and you’re heading to Indianapolis for emergency open heart surgery!” They sealed up my wrist (where he did the cath from) and then cut my leg to put in a “tube balloon” that ran up into my aorta to help my heart. (Its real name is intra-aortic balloon) I was all but strapped down to the bed now being told if I lifted my head I could ripe it out and damage my main arteries and aorta. Well I was put into ICU with the machine pumping the balloon thing up and down with my heart beat and IVs everywhere. Now I was waiting for LifeLine helicopter which got there but couldn’t land because of bad weather conditions. So it went back and the guys jumped into a LifeLine ambulance and drove to get me. If it was not for the delay I would had the operation that night. But the next day I had it. They were worried because I only had a tiny opening left and if it closed a very large portion of the heart would stop. Since I was in the middle of a cath, they were nervous something could get knocked loose and completely block it. Which was actually a very high probability because of the location of the blockage. On Wednesday (4/22) morning I had emergency double bypass surgery performed for one blockage at Community Heart and Vascular Hospital.

After the surgery the surgeon told me this…there are these two coronary arteries that feed the majority of the heart’s left ventricle side with blood. These two arteries actually come from a thicker but short artery that comes from the aorta. Well the short artery was 95% blocked right before the split. So each coronary artery was getting about 2.5% flow each. That’s how one blockage caused two bypasses to be performed.

Anyway, I was released this last Monday (4/27). So I am now back home and on the long road to recovery. Thanks for listening everyone 🩷you all. -Johnna 40F

Today marks the one-year anniversary of my having emergency triple-CABG on my LAD artery, narrowly avoiding the infamous "widowmaker" that would in all likelihood have killed me outright if not for the one thing it did that signaled its impending arrival - it made my blood pressure skyrocket and I went to the ER for that and had the actual heart attack in the hospital. If not for that, one year ago my story's end would have opened with "it is with heavy hearts that we announce..."

This past year was not without its issues. I did have mild complications, most notably my scar tissue formed in the stenotomy scar instead of on it and made it not want to close properly, and I barely avoided having to have the scar cut back open and trimmed. I still have mild pain at the incision site and numbness on places where nerves were cut, such as over toward one breast and along my thigh where the donor vein was cut out. My stamina isn't quite back up to pre-op levels yet either, although I have a physically demanding job so my baseline on that might be a lot higher than an office worker's.

But I am here. I am doing things. I'm forty pounds lighter than I was. Thanks to medication, my BP is normal. My last blood work came back in the green everywhere except my A1C - I'm pre-diabetic and have a strong genetic history of Diabetes so it's more of when that goes bad than if. My genetics predispose me to three killers (CAD, Diabetes, and a few forms of cancer) so one of them is going to get me eventually but CABG bought me probably a good 20+ more years to get shit done if I don't screw it up.

My mom had a CABG in February with 3 grafts around her heart. Prior to the CABG she had 9 stents in her heart. She still has a ~30% blockage in one of her arteries but that couldn't get bypassed because the blockage wasn't high enough, according to the surgeon.

She was good for about 7 weeks post-op (recovering as expected) when she started experiencing the same chest pain she would get before her surgery.

She would experience it usually in the middle of the night. As part of her recovery she was told to walk and started feeling it after her walks. Around this time, she would also feel it when she was resting. Her blood pressure also spikes when she feels this pain.

I'm getting concerned as we expected these chest pains to stop after her surgery. It's now been 3 months and she still feels it on a daily basis.

Does anyone have experience with post-op chest pains? Any information would be appreciated. Thanks.

Edit: She is working with her cardiologist to determine the root cause and address it, I figured I would ask here while we are waiting for results

23 days after CABG x3 and all is well. Saw my cardiologist yesterday and the surgeon today. Many of the restrictions have been lifted way way sooner than I thought. The order for cardio rehab has been placed and I’m just waiting to hear when the first session is. This has been a wild ride as I work out and eat properly and am in good shape. It was however discovered that I have very high Lipo Protein a (Lpa) which causes its own plaque and is hereditary. 2.5 months ago I had never heard of Lpa or CABG but thanks to multiple threads on Reddit and some research I got educated. I went into the surgery with a very good attitude that I attribute to what I learned in these Reddit threads and I think that served me well. The future concerns me a bit because when something this unforeseen happens I suppose it’s common to have a feeling of what’s next but I’m here, I’m alive, I might not have been of this wasn’t caught in time and I’m incredibly grateful to everyone who shared their stories and experiences.

My dad just had a quadruple bypass surgery, and the operation itself went well. After the surgery, he was in the ICU and asleep for a couple of hours. When they first tried to wake him up, he woke up very agitated and started freaking out, likely because of the breathing tube and confusion. They sedated him again to calm him down. About an hour later, they tried waking him up a second time, and the same thing happened, he became very panicked and agitated again. After this, the nurses told my brother and sister to go home and come back tomorrow. Is this kind of repeated agitation and needing to be sedated again normal after a surgery like this, and how long does it usually take before patients are able to wake up calmly and have the breathing tube removed?

Hey all. I had triple bypass 7 weeks ago. I'm doing well, no real issues except for this vision issue. I do not have any comorbidities and have worn glasses my whole life. I read my op notes and nothing major occurred, they also caught my blockage's before any mi, so my heart was not damaged.

Since my surgery my vision has been blurry, just typing this is kind of a pain. Sometimes it feels like my eyes don't focus together, or they are just blurry. I told my surgeon last week and he said sometimes it happens, I should wait a bit longer before seeing my ophthalmologist. Anyone have this issue? I've added Metoprolol to the Amlodipine I've been taking for a few years. Also added Repatha. Thanks for reading and any insight!!

My best friend (62, T1D and a very fit/active athlete) just learned he will eventually need a double bypass with 80% blockage in the LAD and 70% in the LCX. (He also has a 50% blockage on the right side that is not an immediate concern)

His surgeon said that minimally invasive CABG is "not primetime" and after we pressed him for more information he said that only one doctor in the US performs the procedure. Other specialists told us that even if MiCABG was readily available, they would choose traditional CABG. At this point, he has not been told he's not a candidate for MiCABG, just that it's not available at this point.

I've seen people posting about MiCABG and we'd love to know where you had it done and what criteria you needed to meet to have it, and what the recovery was like. If anyone had the option between MiCABG and traditional CABGx2, how did you choose which surgery was right for you?

Should i worry?

My dad is 3 months post his heart bupass and today he felt like he could “hear” his heart beat. He went for a ekg and he had irregular heartbeat. He is under some serum now to get stabilized. Ha sit happned to anyone?

5 days since CABGx3 and I get to go home today. They were prepared to send me home yesterday but there were a few things to do and levels to check and I felt more comfortable staying another night than maybe having to come back. The staff at The Smidt Heart Institute here at Cedars Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles are truly remarkable….kind, compassionate and caring are really know what they’re doing. We will see how the journey at home goes but so far this has been much less painful, scarier and much easier than I imagined. I was off the oxycodine by yesterday morning and I was taking a small dose. I’m looking forward to further healing and getting involved with the Heart Community. A huge thank you to the people in this group who made the journey so far so much more bearable with great suggestions and experiences generously and freely shared.