My old man had a heart atack. Help please.

[fightingquaker13]

The reason I haven't been on the board much is that my dad had a heart attack. This surprised the hell out of me. He's only 72 and disgustingly healthy. He doesn't drink or smoke, eats simple foods, including diet soda and the like and works out daily on a rowing machine. (And see what that gets you ).
Anyway, he's had a quadruple bypass. Things seem to be going well. The surgery was Monday and he was put in a private room yesterday and seems to be doing OK.

My question is this. What do I need to do when he comes home? If any of you have gone through this, or helped a relative who has, I would appreciate any practical advice. Things like "Do I need to put grab rails in the shower", or "What sorts of low sodium foods are actually palatable"?  Thanks in advance.
FQ13

[Timothy]

Sorry to hear about your Dad!

Can't give you much empirical knowledge of the subject other than to say that my father in law had a quintuple bypass in his early sixties and lived into his early eighties!  He was not a picture of physical fitness either.  Hopefully your dad will do fine.

Be careful with adding support rails without proper framing to anchor them into the bath or shower.  There is more to the installation than just screwing them into the wall.  There's no doubt his cardiologist will suggest a change in diet and probably get you in touch with a dietician. 

Good Luck and God Bless...

[MikeBjerum]

Sorry to hear this FQ, but I'm glad to hear he is coming out of it.

The hospital staff - Dr's, dieticians, pt's, etc. will give you plenty of advice and instructions on what you need and what to expect.  One aspect often missed is the emotional.  Be prepared for your father to go through a grieving process.  Loss of the sense youth, health and invincibility is as strong a loss as loss of a life.

If he was healthy when the heart attack happened (seems strange to say, but I always refer to the health of a person when they die) the physical healing will come quick and easy.  The biggest challenge will be the emotional scars.

Good luck on the coming days, weeks and months!

[Rastus]

I'll say a prayer for you both.  

Take it as it comes, don't show too much fear/concern when he needs help.  Be careful to not "baby" him if he's the type who will let someone prevail to avoid conflict...he's got to get it back on his own.  

You or someone will likely need to help him early on and not rely on the rails.  That being said, it depends on how quickly he recovers because if he comes back quickly (likely since he didn't smoke and did exercise) he won't need them later and may resent them....but ask in a few days after he's home either way.

Everything low sodium is palatable after a couple of months of it.  Supplant with other spices.  Every case is different and sodium may not be a concern as evidenced by differing studies...prevailing notion is to reduce especially with poor circulation which enhance swelling but that may be negated (at least in my wife's case) with lasix to aid in removing fluid from the body.

Mostly pray for guidance and give it to God.

[JLawson]

So sorry to hear about this, FQ.  I have no advice other than to stock-up on patience and love.  The loss of independence was the hardest thing for my Dad to handle.  He had a real problem accepting help... he was used to being the one dispensing the help.  Once he was able to open up and express his feelings things seemed to get quite a bit easier.  When your Dad says something, listen for the message the words don't convey.

Prayer sent... may God bless all of you.

[Sponsor]

[MikeBjerum]

One thing I forgot to mention.  For multiple reasons - he was eating right, he was exercising, and he appears to have been living a heart friendly life, your father is about to be introduced to the wonderful world of chemistry.  He will be told that "his body just does this stuff no matter how well he does things."  Weigh out what they say very carefully before jumping on the drug bandwagon!  I'm always leery of concerns about the liver, kidneys, blood sugars, etc.  We focus on the heart and brain, but you can't live without a liver or kidneys either.

I won't go to deep into it, because this is the thing that gets people labeled:  There are a lot of common sense, old fashioned remedies and cures out there.  Balanced diets, cider, cider vinegar, oatmeal, fresh fruits, juices, bran, grapes, etc. that have a scientific base and have been proven to help as well.  Do the research, get the opinions, and weigh all forms of treatment the same.

[tombogan03884]

Don't sweat it to much FQ.
Once the incision and breast bone heal up, about 6 months, he will be good as new.
The first few weeks he will probably need some help at home since he won't be able to lift much.
For a while he will have to replace the rowing with walking since he has to be careful about putting strain on his chest and pectoral area.
This is not as big a deal as it would have been 20 or 30 years ago.
As to the foods, if there is a choice between canned and frozen, get the frozen, they are packaged with almost no salt, don't use salt if you're cooking for him. I assume you already "comparison shop" to get the best deal, just start comparing "sodium" and "cholesterol" quantities as well.
Just because it is "name brand" or "lite" doesn't mean it's the lowest in these.
I would not bother with the rails in the shower since the only thing making him "feeble" is having had his chest cut open. You could however put a chair in there for him to hang onto if he feels he needs it.
What M58 said is true, Dr's, dieticians etc will instruct him on foods and exercise until his eyes glaze over, they will also supply stacks of written material about what to eat, (lots of poultry, fish once a week , beef bad, bison and venison good etc. )
Again, YOU need to relax,  HIS faulty parts have been replaced with undamaged ones so his major problems are done with, but he does not need to be dealing with you worrying yourself into the hospital.
To put it into perspective for you, it is the equivalent of a valve job for your car, he no longer has to worry about the engine bucking wheezing and stopping unpredictably.

[Ulmus]

Holy cow!  I'm sory to hear that.

I wish I knew what advice to give medically, but I don't know.  I can say that my uncle had a heart attack, actually two, and is doing great now.  His geit doesn't seemed to have changed, given i saw him eating chilidogs the last time I was by.   He was doing a lot more cardio exercise, but your dad was arleady doing that, so again I don't know.

I have to support M58 and the others when it comes to emotional support.  That's gonna be the biggest help possible.  

The best thing I can come up with is to have your dad keep moving.  Obviously he's going to need some rest, but try to get him up and out of the house as soon as he can.  Even a walk in a mall can do good.

[Frosty]

Sorry to hear that. As most have mentioned, his Doc's along with dieticians will give you lots of advice on what he should & shouldn't do, it appears that he was doing cardio exercises and I'm sure they'll want him to continue.
My mom had a quadrouple bypass back in 1972 at age 40 when cardiology was in it's infancy, she is now 89 yrs old, she still walks for 18 holes of golf! I feel that your dad will do fine and will say a few prayers for him and a speedy recovery.

[rojawe]

I hate to say this but I never called my Dad my old man or never called My Old lady and they can do wonders now with heart patients and getting them back on their feet.