So was I. Translation: He only took 58 years to get into the kind of trouble most people wait until 75 to get.
"Most of the time, the patient's heart is stopped during the operation, but for patients older than Clinton is, doctors sometimes do the surgery while the heart continues to beat, Chitwood said."
Wrong. The "off-pump" method where the heart continues to beat is (a) relatively new; (b) the preferred approach when the arteries of the front of the heart is involved; and (c) leads to fewer complications. Since older patients tend to have more clogged arteries, the procedure off-pump is done on younger patients: if the clogged arteries are in the rear of the heart they have to put you on the pump. They stop the heart--in part by cooling it. The "on-pump" procedure leads to longer recovery times, "post bypass memory loss" and other cognitive impairments in many cases. If you get the choice--and your surgeon has the chops--opt for "off pump". Trust me; I done been dere.
--Boris
I turned 55 today and had triple by-pass on the 16 th of aug.
Everything going well and the only pain i have had to speak of is in the leg where the doc took the vein.