Newswise — MAYWOOD, Ill. – Less than two months before his daughter Lauren’s wedding, Tom Koegler underwent a quadruple bypass heart surgery at Loyola University Medical Center.
After spending six days in the hospital, Mr. Koegler had a smooth recovery at home. And by the time of the wedding, he was able to walk Lauren down the aisle and dance with her at the reception.
Open-heart bypass surgery is a major operation, but it is not as arduous as some people may think, said Mr. Koegler’s surgeon, Jeffrey Schwartz, MD.
Years ago, patients typically spent three weeks in the hospital following a bypass operation. Today, patients stay four to seven days for a straightforward bypass operation, and are able to walk 10 to 15 minutes at a stretch by the time they go home. Patients almost fully recover in four to six weeks, Dr. Schwartz said. Dr. Schwartz is a professor in the Department of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery at Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine.
During the surgery, the surgeon cuts through the center of the sternum (breastbone) to get access to the heart. The surgeon takes a healthy blood vessel from a leg, arm or chest and connects it to other arteries in the heart so that blood is bypassed around a blocked coronary artery. The bypass vessel is called a graft, and the surgery is known as a coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG).
Recovery may not be as painful as some people fear because the surgeon does not have to cut through much muscle, and the nerves do not cross the midline of the chest where the surgeon cuts, Dr. Schwartz said.
Mr. Koegler received graft vessels to bypass four diseased coronary arteries that were nearly completely blocked. “I could have had a massive heart attack at any time,” he said.
Because Mr. Koegler’s coronary arteries were heavily calcified, he was not a candidate for a less invasive procedure that opens arteries with a balloon angioplasty and stent.Mr. Koegler, 65, has fully recovered from the surgery. He exercises an hour a day and said he feels great.
Heart bypass surgery typically provides excellent long-term results, Dr. Schwartz said. “These are very rewarding cases,” Dr. Schwartz said. “The surgery enables people to live life to the fullest, and not miss major events like a daughter’s wedding.”
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