@runnersmom
I had triple bypass and spent a rather uneventful 4 days in hospital. The only pain I can remember was when nurses would roll me onto a side and prop me up with pillows, then later roll me onto other side prop me, then repeat back and forth. The very short lived pain came from the halves of the broken sternum as they seemed to be rubbing against each as I was propped up. After being discharged I was surprised at how much the surgery had taken out of me. Every day seemed to get a little better.
However, 10 days later I spiked a fever. By the time I got to hospital pus was draining out of my chest. My chest was reopened next AM to clean out chest cavity and sternum. I spent 3 weeks in ICU. It was a very depressing experience not because of physical pain (although there was some pain), but more the mental anxiety of wondering what else would go wrong. Some real possibilities included not making it out of hospital, and the possibility that I could lose my sternum. I didn’t lose my sternum. By the time I was discharged I had lost 20-25 pounds, I was very, very weak. It took 3 months before I was able to go back to work PT.
Subsequently I regularly reported that I was tired, had some shortness of breath and some difficulty going up stairs. Many tests were done, nothing abnormal was found. The consensus was that I had had the sh…t kicked out of me and just give it time. 15 months later I mentioned symptoms again to my cardiologist who suggested another visit to cath lab. It was determined that all bypasses had failed. I had a stent put into one of the blocked arteries. As to other two, my choices were more surgery or retire. All things considered, I retired. Although there are limitations, I’ve actually had a pretty normal retired life the last 19 years including several trips. More importantly, I’ve got to hang out with W, see S finish jr high, hs, college, med school, get married, and play with my new grandchild.
Although you asked about real life experiences I’d probably not relate my story to your already terrified H. As far as I’m concerned, most surgeries do have excellent outcomes, unfortunately not all. For H or you to try to read the tea leaves about his surgical outcome based on how others fared is IMO a waste of time. I can empathize with your H’s terror, but I’d suggest H try to find some distractions, perhaps brushing up on topics such as changing his new grandchild’s diapers.