How much walking can I do after triple bypass?

Bypass surgery is very serious and it may take a person several months to recover from this operation.

Triple bypass sounds more serious, but the truth is, it is not much different situation than a single bypass.

You can take walks of course, if you think you can handle them. Just make sure that you don’t exaggerate.

Try to walk almost every day and then gradually increase the distance. Try not to walk too far away from home. And at the beginning ask someone to keep you company. Just in case.

Don’t exercise too hard, don’t run…

If the weather is too hot it’s a good idea to walk in a shopping mall. And you can always find a place to rest there.

I understand every word of what you said. I know how it’s like to be young and stuck with a serious disease. I ended up with my bowel removed in the age of 20. And that was just the beginning. I was the lucky one, it could’ve been much worse. And that’s what you need to remember- there are people who would kill to be in your shoes, there are people whose problem cannot be solved with a bypass… your can and focus on being happy because of it.

 

There goes some emotional comfort even though you didn’t ask for it.;)

As for the walking, Stradivarius is right.

I had 6x bypass 20 years ago when I was 55. I assume you never went to cardiac rehab from your question. I did and they really put us through the paces. We joking called the rehab nurses drill sergeants. Until last year when I got an unknown viral infection in my lungs I was doing about everything I wanted to for exercise. After the operation I began walking to the coffee shop which is about 1/2 mile from my house. I began running part of the way and slowly increased it to where I could run the whole distance. I have never stayed away from exercise and often helped a friend cut and collect firewood. I shoveled ballast from a railcar and spread it along the tracks where we ride our railcars for fun. I shovel snow around my house where my plow doesn't reach. I only stop to catch my breath as needed.

I am suffering some weakness caused by that infection now. It took 8 months for that go away and during that time my muscles atrophied quite a bit because I couldn't breath well enough to do a whole lot of exercise. As a result I am starting all over again building up my strength.

I monitor my BP and O-sat. and as long as I have no unusual pains I just keep going.

Hello there. First, I wish you all the best in your recovery. Bypass surgery is very complicated and you should take care of yourself as much as you can. I vote for exercises. Exercises will definitely help you because they are very important part in the recovery process. But don’t go hard, please. Start with exercises very slowly and start to move early. You should exercise even when you are still in the hospital. Some light exercises are ok but you need to be under the supervisor. When you go home, you can start to walk but very slowly and a little by little.

I totally do understand how you feel. This is so bad situation. First, you need to try to walk slowly before you start to run or do some other activities that are a little bit harder for you and your heart. I remember that my friend was walking but only with this wife for half an hour after bypass surgery. After that every day was much easier than that first step. It is very important for you to try to walk every day and you need to increase your daily activities. It can be hard for you for the first couple of days.

I thought he said it has been 3 years since the surgery. By now he should be up to doing plenty of exercise if he wants unless there is some reason why he shouldn't. By 3 years I was doing everything I wanted to do and actually more than I had been doing before the surgery thanks to the exercise regimen the rehab nurses gave us. I was doing 13 flights of stairs on the stair stepper machine, lifting 100 pounds on the weight machines. and since the rehab room was on the 4th floor of the hospital I used to run up the 3 flights to get there. A supervised exercise program is a must after surgery. I am very thankful I went to rehab.

Good afternoon everyone.
Noynlife I was talking with my neighbor today. She has very similar case to yours. She told me that some people told her that she can’t exercise because this is dangerous to her heart. Now I am reading all your comments and I am not sure what the best is.
And one more thing – she told me that some friends told her that she should avoid exercise machines.
Now, it’s been almost five months since she had her bypass surgery and I think that she is not moving at all. She is going to the grocery store, but that is across the street.
I don’t think that this is a good thing, right?

Good day everyone.

This is a very common problem with all patients who are having this problem and who had bypass surgery.

It is very important to keep being active after bypass surgery. You need to exercise a little bit and you need to walk. First time when you decide to walk after surgery, you should walk at least for 20 minutes. But please walk slowly, don’t run. That is not good for your heart.

After, you will walk much faster and easier than at the beginning. The true is that you are going to feel weakness but this will go away after a couple of days.

What did her doctors tell her? Mine sent me to rehab which was the best thing that ever happened to me. Friends don't usually know what your medical condition is. Today they usually want you to exercise under the supervision of a medical team that monitors you and can decide what exercise is best. No exercise is the generally accepted wisdom of the public and it's wrong. The heart is a muscle that does an enormous amount of work and it will deteriorate from lack of exercise the same as your arms or legs do when you stay in bed for weeks. The doctors who treat you know what happened to it and what you should do. When I asked the doctor who operated on me what I was allowed to do or not do he said I had no damage to my heart, he fixed the plumbing and as far as he was concerned I was as good as new and could do whatever I wanted. I feel my problem is genetic. My father had it, his father, grandfather and his 3 sisters all had it. It skipped his daughter, my half sister, but got both her sons. I guess I might have more coming but I can't live like I'm an invalid when I'm not. I feel that as long as I monitor as much as I can, I'm doing all I can to stay safe. I'm 76 years old. When I look back at what I've done, if I die tomorrow I've had one hell of a ride and as long as I'm here I intend to continue having a hell of a time.

I agree with njoynlife, you are completely right.
Sometimes people who have no idea about heart diseases let alone about bypass surgeries tend to think they are smart enough and informed enough to not only talk about it, but also to give advice to those who had these surgeries.
When I had my first bypass surgery I’ve been told I need to rest and not to do anything by my neighbors and friends. When I started doing some exercises (it was my doctor’s recommendation) they almost pronounced me crazy. And the exercise actually did help me to get back on my feet.

@njoynlife Your words are so motivating. I wish I could be as positive and optimistic as you when I’m in my 70s.

@Aurora-Borealis I don’t know why they told her to avoid exercise equipment and machines. The fact is, it is healthier to take a walk outside the house, but sometimes there are things that can stop you from doing that. Weather is  one of those things. You can’t walk if it’s raining outside.

Another important thing why I think treadmill for example is great for these people- they are home, they can stop to rest whenever they want if they get tired.

We had all kinds of machines to play with. If you wanted to try a new one they would check you out on it and determine the settings you should use. They had a very strict 8 minute time for each machine with several minutes between machines. There was an arm crank machine that was similar to cranking bicycle pedals with your hands. They seemed to like the treadmill which I hated but I think it was because they could monitor you better while using it. I really liked the rowing machine, that built up about every muscle in my body, legs, arms, abdominal, back, everything. I also liked the stair climber, that sure got your legs working. I remember after a couple months in rehab I was taking a shower and when I bent over to wash my legs I thought who's in here with me, those don't feel like MY legs. The stationary bicycle was OK. They sent me for a stress test before beginning rehab which is several minutes of pure hell on a treadmill with a nurse behind you with a cattle prod. The sign on the machine said "warning, this machine causes heart attacks". You start out level for 3 minutes then the incline goes up for 3, up again for 3 and up again. I quit at about 11 minutes so I don't know if it would have gone up again or not. I remember when the rehab nurse was reading my results it said "didn't achieve target heart rate". I thought that was a bad thing until recently when I reconsidered what that meant. I have not yet met anyone who lasted that long on that machine so I now feel if I did that long without reaching a really fast heart rate I was probably in pretty good shape.
At the interview before getting into rehab the first question she asked me was "how's your sex life?" I thought that was kind of funny at the time but I guess it tells more than I realized. If I was able to get erections and have intercourse it indicated my circulation was working well and probably something about my mental condition.