Patient Stories | Five Years After Open-Heart Bypass Surgery, My Blood Vessels Narrowed Again

I was told my cholesterol was high during a routine check-up in the village in 2013, and was advised to have a follow-up examination at the district hospital, but I didn't take it seriously.Because at the time, I did not feel any obvious discomfort.

About three years later, I started taking medication to control the low-density phlebitis, initially 10mg of pitavastatin, but it had no effect. Later, I also tried traditional Chinese medicine, but that didn't work either.

Early blood lipid report
(After going through the existing reports at home, the oldest one is from November 2014, with low-density PCR results dating back to when the results were as high as...)19.48mmol/L)

^⌈  This is angina.
You need to be hospitalized immediately! ⌋

The attention given to cholesterol isIn 2016, I was 36 years old.Because I was already experiencing noticeable symptoms, my throat felt tight even with slight exertion. I first went to see a traditional Chinese medicine doctor, who said it was a deficiency of heart qi, but didn't know the real cause.Blood vessel blockage caused by high blood lipids。

Around that time, Beijing TV had a health program that aired one day about possible signs of heart problems: creases in the earlobes, wrinkles on the bridge of the nose, etc. I had several of those symptoms, especially a tightness in my throat. The more I thought about it, the more uneasy I felt, so I decided to go to a large hospital in the city to get checked out.

So I went to Peking Union Medical College Hospital for treatment. I told the doctor about my blood lipid test results and my tight throat.

The doctor then asked me, "How long have you had this condition? Under what circumstances do these symptoms occur each time?"

I said, "It's been about half a year. My throat gets tight after even a little activity, and I have to rest. I can't even walk. If I don't rest, I can't walk at all. The symptoms are especially noticeable after meals, but they go away after about a minute of rest."

The doctor said, "This is angina; you need to be hospitalized immediately!"

Hearing the doctor's urgent words, I realized the seriousness of the problem. After being admitted to the hospital, I thought the worst that could happen was that I would need a stent, but after less than ten minutes of coronary angiography, it was clear that the stent was pointless and couldn't be inserted at all.My right main coronary artery is completely blocked, and my left circumflex artery and left anterior descending artery are also 90% narrowed. The only treatment is open-heart bypass surgery.

Coronary angiography report

^⌈  Should I have open-chest bypass surgery or not? ⌋

Hearing the words "open-heart bypass surgery" made me panic. I couldn't accept it at all. I didn't want to have the surgery, firstly because the treatment would cost more than 100,000 yuan, and secondly because I couldn't accept that my heart would have to undergo such a risky surgery at such a young age.

The doctor kept persuading me. I clearly remember him saying, "If you don't do it, you won't even be able to get through the New Year." "Your two children are still so young, and you are still so young. If you do it, although it will cost a lot of money, it will be no problem to buy a few more years of your life."

My husband also supported and encouraged me: "Even if we have to sell everything we own, we will get you treated."

I decided to have the surgery. On March 28, 2017, I underwent a 10-hour surgery, a process that was truly excruciating.

Surgical record

^⌈  Dance of the Heart ⌋

Before the surgery, the doctor didn't tell me the worst-case scenario (including the surgical plan), he only told my family, probably because he didn't want to put pressure on me.

My partner always presents an optimistic side to me, comforting and cheering me up! The medical staff, however, seem more anxious than I am. One night, a nurse dreamt that a young female patient suddenly passed away—it was the bed I was in. She told me that no matter what, if I feel unwell at night, I should press the call button by my bed. Perhaps because of my severe vascular calcification, the surgery is difficult, making it a challenge even for them.

I clearly remember that on the day of the surgery, it was 7 a.m. when I was about to go into the operating room. While waiting outside, I lay on the hospital bed and saw a painting of four sunflowers on the wall, which looked just like our family of four standing there. I silently prayed that I would come out safely and reunite with my two children and husband. Before entering the operating room, I kept thinking about that, and unusually, I felt calm and not very nervous.

After entering the operating room, I heard one doctor say that today's procedure is "non-stop jumping," and another doctor said that it's such a high-level procedure.

I later learned that off-pump coronary artery bypass grafting (OPCB) is a procedure that involves bypassing the coronary arteries onto a beating heart with the assistance of a heart fixation device. It represents the cutting edge of coronary artery bypass surgery and is known as the "Dance of the Heart".

Later, the doctor put a mask on me, which he said was an oxygen mask. Then, I don't know when, I fell asleep. When I woke up, it was already 3:30 pm the next day. I thought I had just come out of the operating room. My hands were tied to the sides of the bed, and I was covered in tubes all over my body: a trachea in my mouth, a feeding tube in my nose, patches on my neck, two finger-thick drainage tubes in my abdomen, a urinary catheter, and an IV line.

Before the surgery, the doctor had me practice coughing forcefully every day. Later, I learned that after the surgery, I needed to cough up phlegm from my lungs regularly. If I didn't, infection would be a serious problem. Because it was open-chest surgery, all my vital energy was released, and the wound was extremely painful, so I couldn't cough anything up. They had to insert a tube and use a suction machine to remove the phlegm, which was excruciating each time. My throat was also chafed from the trachea, and I couldn't make a sound, becoming mute. I couldn't even drink water; I would choke on it. I could only take medication with rice porridge; even millet porridge wouldn't work. After the anesthesia wore off, the wound was so painful that even breathing hurt. When the pain became unbearable, the doctor would administer painkillers.

^⌈  Love gives me strength ⌋

I only endured physical pain. During this time, my partner suffered more pressure than I did. He waited anxiously outside for 10 hours during the surgery. He said his biggest fear was that the doctor would call for family members during the operation, because if they were called during the surgery, it meant something was wrong.

During my hospitalization, he worked non-stop every day. He would go to work at 4 a.m. and come to the hospital to see me after get off work at 2 p.m. (he only had 10 minutes of visiting time), and then go back home to take care of the two children.There was also financial pressure, but he never showed any signs of distress in front of me. He always tried to comfort me and cheer me up! At that time, he was my biggest pillar of support! My parents were old and lived far away, so I didn't dare to tell them the truth.

I was discharged 7 days after the surgery and my overall recovery was pretty good. However, there was a suture at the very top of the wound that wasn't completely removed, which caused it to become infected and form a pit. When the suture was removed at our local surgical clinic, it looked like a rusty fishhook, black and hard.

A few months later, my wound had almost healed, and my blood circulation had improved somewhat, so I tried to take a walk slowly. Later, it became a habit, and I've maintained it ever since. I go out for a walk for about 50 minutes every day.

My mindset is getting better and better because I've accepted the imperfections in my body. I think everyone faces trials and tribulations in this world, it's just that mine is a trial of health!

Postoperative scars on hands

After the surgery, I slowly recovered, and the angina I used to have disappeared. However, in 2022, the angina symptoms reappeared.

In November, I went to Peking University Hospital for a checkup. The angiography showed that the bypass graft I had in 2017 was 100% narrowed again, and several other blood vessels were also 95% to 100% narrowed. At that time, I couldn't control my emotions and felt extremely desperate.

Director Li Jianping said, "There is neither the possibility nor the necessity of open-chest treatment again, because the blood vessels are very disordered." My vascular calcification is more severe than that of people in their 70s in the clinic.

So the only options are conservative treatment or regular lipid purification. I have rural cooperative medical insurance, so the reimbursement is low. I need to have it done every two weeks, which is continuous and I can't afford.

Unexpectedly, all life is incredibly resilient, including the tiny heart! Even when other blood vessels were completely blocked, it quietly developed collateral circulation to supply blood.

But when they got to the operating table, they couldn't get through during the angiography procedure. They tried many times and changed the guide wire to different sizes, but they still couldn't get through. They were extremely disappointed once again.

In 2023, I participated in a clinical trial at Beijing Chuiyangliu Hospital. For the first time, my low-density lipoprotein (LDL) level dropped from over 11 mmol/L to over 6 mmol/L. I was quite relieved! It felt like I finally saw hope!

Reports of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) lipid levels during clinical trials

I underwent genetic testing while participating in clinical trials and learned that I am a patient with compound heterozygous (a type of homozygous) familial hypercholesterolemia.

^⌈  Born towards the sun, following the light ⌋

When I was a child, I had yellowish growths on my buttocks, which I thought were warts (that's what we call them locally). Later, the yellowish growths were removed from my buttocks, and tests revealed it was leprosy. Nobody knew that it was caused by high blood lipids. Even now, with the rapid advancements in medical technology, many people who have had yellowish growths since childhood, possibly due to leprosy, are misdiagnosed with a skin condition.

Now, whenever I see a stranger with corneal arches on their eyelids or xanthoma on their body, I kindly ask them if their cholesterol is high.

When I first learned about my condition, I felt so unfortunate, but later I realized that I was actually lucky because I married and moved to Beijing, where there are so many big hospitals and so many kind doctors and kind people.

All I can do now is take my medication on time and maintain a calm mindset. Personally, I think maintaining a calm and optimistic attitude is just as important as treatment, perhaps even more important. I also hope that pharmaceutical companies can develop more new drugs specifically for our complex, hybrid, and homozygous drugs, and that the government will provide more preferential policies for special drugs so that we can afford and access them.

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Finally, I hope everyone can maintain a peaceful, positive, and optimistic attitude.Strive to grow towards the sun.Let's cheer each other on!

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This article was submitted by a patient with FH (Fever) at Red Rice Grain.