Coronary Bypass Surgery on Wikipedia

Most. Awful. Thing. Ever. I'm warning you, don't look. I've been hearing some murmurs and talking to people just to scamper home and do my own Google searches. Here's an interesting heart nugget. Stents aren't built to last. They're like boob jobs. Occasionally you need a redo. Crap.

Now don't panic. This isn't ALWAYS the case. Lots of people will keep their stents for their entire lives. Lots won't though. You may tick along just fine or you may need a "tune up." There are lots of reasons why. They may clog back up or they may get old as your heart gets older. They just plan may not work for some people. It's a stinker but it's the truth.

So what's the tune up? How do you fix a broken stent? Can you remove a stent? Yes, it's fixable. No, you can't remove a stent. At least not how you think. For someone my age, steps will very likely be needed. As I get older, so will my stent. Eventually I'm going to need some help. That help comes with the name Coronary Bypass Surgery. Scary huh?

It can be. It's open heart surgery. A vein is taken from somewhere else in your body and sewn into your heart. The new piece acts like a graft and the blood moves through it instead of the sick part. It's like taking a detour around road construction. The stent is now useless. The blood goes around now, not through. Wiki has some great info on the procedure. Go here.
The info is clear, concise, and scary as heck. It's wince inducing. Please sweet baby Jesus don't picture my face, or yours, or anyone you know when you read it. If you do you're a darn crazy fool and you'll get all worked up. Chill. It's just a wiki link. It IS the worst wiki link I've ever seen but I warned you. Go forth and Google if you must. Let's start with the stuff that makes me squeegy. It's likely they'll go through my sternum. Yikes. There's a chance my heart may be stopped for the surgery. Double yikes. The list of complications is long and extremely squeegy feeling. There's also a dizzying array of methods so you never really know what to look forward to. Apparently it's surgeon's choice. You know, like lunch. Huh. Now the good news shall we?

I'm not going to need this for quite a while. If a chick can keep the same fake boobs for over a decade I'm thinking my tiny metal spot should last at least 15 years. At. Least. Complications and fear aside, I'll likely be feeling pretty sick by then. Bypass surgery is a major pick me up. A new lease on life. Again! That would make me double blessed. My heart would be twice held and twice saved so that would be wonderful in my book. Something else to make you feel good? Bypasses are done all the time. Every darn day in fact. I may have to lay on another table eventually but the odds of me walking out are very high.

See? Nothing to be scared of. It may not be fun, it may not be glamorous, but it's just part of it. The price you pay for playing I guess. Scared? Yes. Optimistic? You betcha.

Side note - Was the wiki picture reeealy necessary?!? Who's bright idea was THAT? Where's the nice, impersonal diagram?!? Jeez. Gross Wiki, gross. Thanks a stinkin' lot. Ugh!