Irving’s Health Event – Triple Bypass Surgery!

My Story…

In May 2023 I was taking out the 3 big plastic trash containers (Garden Waste, Recycling Materials, Garbage) for next day’s curbside pickup.

The Gardner was here this week so he generated a lot of garden waste; the Garden Waste container was full and particularly heavy. I dragged it to the curbside for next day pickup. As I dragged it out, I over exerted myself: suddenly I felt tightness in the center of my chest and my head was ‘spinning’; I went inside to lay down.

After resting for about 15 minutes, I felt better so I thought nothing of it. BUT it happened again several times later in the week: shortness of breath, dizziness and chest discomfort. I made an appointment to see my GP doctor; he immediately sent me for a heart scan the very next day.

The next day I do the heart scan; they call me into the office to explain the results: the cardiologist shows me the scan images and proudly declares: You have major blockages in the 3 main heart arteries, some blockages are up to 90%! Conclusion: triple bypass surgery.

Dumbfounded, I ask the cardiologist if perhaps I ‘can get away’ with doing only a stent procedure?! She said: triple bypass, no way around it!

Surprised? Not as much as I was!! I’m fairly thin, eat regularly well, exercise daily at the YMCA; no history of heart problems, no family history of heart problems, so what the hell is going on?

I realize this is serious business: no choice but to get it done before I drop dead from a heart attack. The cardiologist at PAMF recommends I see the heart surgeon at PAMF to schedule the surgery; I see the surgeon, she says that she can get me in Thursday the following week.

In the meanwhile, I ask friends and physicians I know for a recommendation to a heart surgeon at Stanford: they recommend a well-known surgeon. I set up an an appointment. He say that he can get me in Tuesday the following week.

By this time, I’m not doing well. PAMF tells me that in order to have the surgery, I need to do a COVID test. (It was 2020 early in the pandemic, COVID was raging throughout the country). As such, we walked from the PAMF cardiology department to the COVID test site at PAMF. On the way, I pass out (probably from dehydration, since I didn’t have anything to drink during the morning visits). Rivka was hysterical! Someone calls 911 for help; they arrive within a few minutes. They revive me and ask if I want to go to the hospital – I decline.

By this time and after passing out, I realize that I may not make it to Thursday next week, so I tell the Stanford physician, let’s schedule for Tuesday! They tell me to arrive at Stanford Wednesday morning at 5:30AM. In the meanwhile, I’m not feeling well.

Wednesday morning comes along; I check into Stanford Hospital at 5:30AM. They have me fill out forms, present my insurance details and show me to the waiting area; I kiss Rivka goodbye.

Less than 10 minutes goes by and out comes a nurse to call my name. She shows me to a large room with a gurney and a movable curtain that separates me from others. She hands me a large paper bag with paper handles (like the ones from supermarkets) and tells me to put all my valuables and clothes into the bag, put on the blue hospital gown that opens in the back and lay down on the gurney. I did it all and laid down on the gurney – that’s the last thing I remember!

I wake up Saturday morning July 4^th at 8:30 AM in a hospital room with tubes sticking out of me and beeping electronic equipment all around me. Did they operate? I’m not sure! I don’t feel any pain! I’m comfortable!

In bed at Stanford ICU.

There’s a male nurse standing next to my bed typing on a keyboard. I get his attention and ask “What day is it”? “It’s 8:30 AM Saturday morning July 4^th” he says. “What!” I say “I came in Wednesday morning and it’s now Saturday – what happen to Thursday and Friday”, I ask? His response: “You slept through them”. Incredible!

Here’s my story…

Turns out that they did operate Wednesday as scheduled. The surgeon calls Rivka, who is waiting impatiently at home anxious to get updates, he tells her that that operation went well and all is OK, and that they’re preparing to move me from the operating room (OR) into the intensive care unit (ICU). He ended the call by telling Rivka that she can come at any time to visit me. Rivka was happy and got ready to come see me in the ICU.

In a chair in the ICU.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch..

Remember that I am completely anesthetized and ‘out of it’, so I know nothing of what happened. I’m relaying the story of what I was told: As they wheeled me from the OR to the ICU, I suffered a massive heart attack! As such, they wheeled me back into the OR; they ‘revived me’ and thought that perhaps the new bypass arteries were ‘leaking’. They ‘opened me up’ again to check for ‘leaks’ – no leaks but at that point they put in a stent into one of the clogged arteries. I stabilized; again they wheeled me from the OR into the ICU.

Once in the ICU I was having convulsions; they thought that I had suffered a stroke! They did brain scans – no stroke. So why the convulsions? No one knows! They put me on an ECMO machine and also put a small external pump into the artery of my right leg in order to assist the blood flow. I was on the ECMO (ExtraCoproreal Membrane Oxygenation) machine and pump for about 2 days. I know noting about an ECMO machine – never even heard of it. I ‘Googled’ it upon returning home – turns out ECMO is a specialized heart/lung machine that the doctors use to assist the patient’s blood flow. Per Google, this is a last ditch effort by the doctors before the patient dies. The probability of a patient getting off ECMO is very low, less than 2% – so I beat the odds!!! Someone ‘up there’ must like me!

Again I was completely out, so I know nothing of what transpired but poor Rivka was in the ICU and lived through all these events as they happened “blow-by-blow”. During one of the short times that I was semi-lucid a Chinese nurse comes to me to tell me that “I’m very sick and that I should be aware of this”. I tell her “thank you for telling me; you’re a nice lady, come back to visit me”.

Rivka also never heard of the ECMO and was not aware of the serious of my condition. This same nurse goes to Rivka to tell her that “I’m in a very serious condition and that she should be aware that I may not survive,” and to prepare for the worst – make your plans accordingly. Shocker! This is NOT what Rivka was expecting to hear! She’s completely oblivious!

In the meanwhile, there is a young female doctor in the hall chatting with the staff at the nurses station; Rivka goes to this young doctor to ask if it is true that getting off EMCO is very low probability; yes, this doctor confirms what the nurse said!

Rivka went home in a state of shock; she called our rabbi to make temporary funeral arrangements. Luckily, I had other plans: I survived!

To make a long story long, I spent 14 days in Stanford Hospital: 7 days in the ICU and an additional 7 days in an ICU step-down unit.

One day while in the ICU I remember them wheeling me into the OR in order to take me off the ECMO – turns out it’s an operation to remove a patient from the ECMO; I’m anesthetized again. I wake up in the ICU. About day 3 in the ICU I’m fully awake – I remember starring at the ceiling at 3AM with nothing to do – I spent a lot of time starring at the ceiling!

The ICU has an entertainment system that the patient can use to watch movies, TV, etc; I have no patience for movies/TV. Instead I have the system play light classical music in the background. One day while listening to classical music, a doctor comes in to see how I’m doing. He says to me “classical music is good for the soul.” I shoot back: “that and a shot of Johnny Walker.” He chuckles. Got to do something – I bored out of mind!

I firmly believe that I received the best care possible in Stanford and if I would have had my operation in any other hospital I would not have survived. I told the surgeon that I am eternally grateful to him for saving my life. As such, we made a significant donation to his research lab for him to conduct future heart research. I benefited from all those patients who came before me so perhaps all those patients who come after me can somehow benefit from the surgeon’s research.

Triple bypass surgery is almost routine now a days, but for me it was anything but routine!

Once home, over time, my health improved. I did research using Dr. Google: per Google, 3% of triple bypass patients suffer a heart attack and one side-effect of undergoing full anesthesia is a heart attack; again this occurs in 3% of patients. So overall, I beat the odds!

Once home with walker!