Returning to Sailing after a heart bypass op

[Leighb]

I have posted before, but to further reassure the recent poster it is now over 21 years since my triple CABG and heart wise I am still fine, do get a bit puffed after walking up 2 flights of stairs, but we have finally hung up our boating boots due to Jan’s mobility problems and my arthritis.

 

[NPMR]

Heartened by the positivity in this thread. (Did you see what I did there?)

I had a heart attack just before Christmas. Treated BRILLIANTLY, and fast, by the NHS, with angiograms and 'angioplasty', 2 x stents fitted to unblock an artery. Feeling better slowly and wondering how sailing will go this summer, in our fast 33 foot sailing boat.

Now waiting for rehab club so I can explore and get advice on how hard I can push myself, safely.

Very grumpy that my lifestyle, that was considered to be healthy, (fruit/veg/no fags/ restrained alcohol/limited red meat/no Big Macs etc) still gave me a heart attack, at 77 years old. Was told that if I hadn't lived like this I would have had the attack at 40!

Only advice so far is 'avoid heavy lifting', so looking at a handybilly etc to get dinghy launched/recovered, outboard, liferaft, etc. lifted.

But really pleased that others have got away on their boats after heart issues. Roll on the Summer, even if going foreign again might be a stretch too far, this year.

 

[HissyFit]

Only advice so far is 'avoid heavy lifting', so looking at a handybilly etc to get dinghy launched/recovered, outboard, liferaft, etc. lifted.

Glad to hear that you've made it through with good treatment during these uncertain times. Are you sure you can't get an electric winch installed on the NHS?

 

[SV-Apres]

Can you look at your boat with an eye to it being more user friendly? ie electric winches, if a bridgedeck remove and make walk thròugh.

I am looking at a Milwaukee Hole Hawg or Super Hawg to assist with my mainsail for this season, but I also was the grinder on a boat for short and longer(er) distance races that I may not do this year, but would want to get back to in 2023.

thanks for all the other replies!

 

[AntarcticPilot]

Well, my late wife suffered damage to a heart valve from rheumatic fever when she was a teenager. This led to her having a heart valve replacement in her early 20s, and further surgery in her 20s to correct a problem; all open-heart surgery. You could almost play noughts and crosses on the scars she bore! She lived to the age of 65, and her death was not directly related to her heart condition.

 

[Boathook]

I had a stent over 8 years ago following a heart attack. It took me over a month to get used to the drugs but then back to 'normal'. I altered my diet a bit but basically carried on. I did the rehab bit once a week at the local hospital and found it worthwhile. I ended up either walking or cycling to the rehab. The one thing I was advised NOT to do was 'spinning'?, basically a bit like the peloton bike stuff.
I still enjoy cycling, walking, sailing and pubs ......................

 

[Praxinoscope]

At thé age of 73 in early 2020, I was ‘booked’ in for a by-pass, when everything went pear shaped and Covid-19 arrived on the scene, so elective surgery gets put to one side, but now at 75 I seem to be doing OK, still sailed happily last year, hauled tender. up the slipway and can still split the logs for our log burner, polished the Hull and antifouled the boat etc. and now wondering do I want another disruption in my life after the lockdowns and various Covid restrictions, so am veering towards carrying on without the ’op’.
I know all the arguments and if I was having problems I would re-think, but at the moment I am prepared to take the risk and Just keep going.
Proably now get proposed for the ‘Darwin’ award by many on the forum, but as with most things in life one makes a choice and then hope it works.

 

[Stemar]

One thought. If your sailing involves lugging an inflatable down the pontoon and pumping it up, get an electric pump and wheels. It'll mean you can get out there for gentle sailing before you get your full strength back.

 

[Buck Turgidson]

Glad to find this thread. 15 days ago I had a quad CABG followed 3 hours later by an emergency redo to clear clots from all the veins and arteries!!! I am apparently a freak. Alls good now but sternum definitely looks like it was opened twice ? so encouraging to hear from people who returned to sailing, especially single handed which is my thing.

 

[SV-Apres]

Glad to find this thread. 15 days ago I had a quad CABG followed 3 hours later by an emergency redo to clear clots from all the veins and arteries!!! I am apparently a freak. Alls good now but sternum definitely looks like it was opened twice ? so encouraging to hear from people who returned to sailing, especially single handed which is my thing.

I had mine on December 20 2021 and I skied by the end of February 2022 and then did the same amount of Sailing this season as last year - here is a link to a cross Lake Michigan Race I did in June, 6 months after my op -

Good Luck!!

 

[Leighb]

Glad to find this thread. 15 days ago I had a quad CABG followed 3 hours later by an emergency redo to clear clots from all the veins and arteries!!! I am apparently a freak. Alls good now but sternum definitely looks like it was opened twice ? so encouraging to hear from people who returned to sailing, especially single handed which is my thing.

Interesting to hear from someone else who had to be unzipped again! In my case they could not get my blood pressure up from rock bottom in the ITU and took me back to theatre about midnight to have a look. A small artery was found to be leaking and dealt with. It just meant an extra day in ITU. Still discharged on Day 5.
other complication was to develop a large pulmonary effusion a couple of weeks later, back to Papworth to have a chest drain put in, finally got home the day before Xmas Eve.
I was racing again next season.

 

[Buck Turgidson]

Interesting to hear from someone else who had to be unzipped again! In my case they could not get my blood pressure up from rock bottom in the ITU and took me back to theatre about midnight to have a look. A small artery was found to be leaking and dealt with. It just meant an extra day in ITU. Still discharged on Day 5.
other complication was to develop a large pulmonary effusion a couple of weeks later, back to Papworth to have a chest drain put in, finally got home the day before Xmas Eve.
I was racing again next season.

Bloody chest drains! They took 3 of my 4 out then 2 days later had to put a new one in as a lung was collapsed 10%. I think that was the most painful part ?

 

[TSB240]

Thanks for all the positive input. I am in the queue for a mitral valve repair. I was given the option of full sternotomy or wait until spring for minimally invasive surgery. I am still hoping to be sailing next summer but may launch a month later than normal.
I will spend the hopefully? short recovery period planning our Saphire wedding anniversary cruise.

 

[Tranona]

Thanks for all the positive input. I am in the queue for a mitral valve repair. I was given the option of full sternotomy or wait until spring for minimally invasive surgery. I am still hoping to be sailing next summer but may launch a month later than normal.
I will spend the hopefully? short recovery period planning our Saphire wedding anniversary cruise.

Personally I would wait until spring and have the new procedure. In my (most unpleasant!) experience it is not the physical cutting open bit that is the worst but the effects of the anaesthetic. I had a ring sewn around the mitral valve rather than replacement - over 7 years ago and still fine. I had the procedure in January 2015 and was well enough to be able to commit to buying a new boat in April that year for delivery in July.