Open-Heart Surgery a Surprise for High-Intensity Athlete

Trained in jujitsu and a high-intensity mountain biker, Doug, age 50, wasn’t anticipating undergoing open-heart surgery this year.

“When this happened, there was no real symptoms and that’s what the scary part was,” said Doug. “Had I pushed myself to levels in the mountains or in the woods where sometimes there's no cell coverage whatsoever — and luckily, nothing happened — I could have been in a catastrophic situation if something would have happened.”

Getting home from a workout, Doug noticed an odd pain in his shoulder. As a high-intensity athlete, injuries weren’t an uncommon occurrence, so he ignored the pain at first. When he was still experiencing the pain days later, Doug’s wife pointed out that it may be time to talk with a doctor.

Doug knew that heart issues were likely in his future given his family’s medical history. A few years earlier, he had met with Cardiologist Shiny Mathewkutty, MD, FACC, FSCAI, and gotten a heart scan at the Jewel & Jim Plumb Heart Center at Mercy. This scan showed that he would likely have a heart event sometime in the future, but nothing was majorly concerning.

“I was trying to reverse the effects,” said Doug “I had quit drinking three years earlier and was trying to pay debts back by exercising and getting my heart in good shape. Unfortunately, some of the damage was already done.”

When Doug came in with shoulder pain, Dr. Mathewkutty ordered a stress test to see how his heart responded under stress from exercise. Based on those results, Dr. Mathewkutty then ordered a cardiac catheterization test to gain important details of Doug’s heart muscle and vessels. They found that Doug had three partially blocked arteries — two at 80% blocked and one at 70% blocked.

“Doug’s results were concerning because they showed that his blood would have a harder time passing through the blocked arteries, causing the heart to lose nutrients and work harder than it needs to,” said Dr. Mathewkutty. “This poses a concerning risk because it increases the probability of a cardiac event.”

The blockages in Doug’s arteries were caused by coronary artery disease (CAD), the most common type of heart disease and a leading cause of death worldwide. CAD occurs when plaque builds up and narrows the arteries of the heart and limits the amount of oxygen-rich blood to the heart muscle.

“There’s a misconception that healthy athletes won’t develop coronary artery disease,” said C.C. Lee, MD, FACS, Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgeon. “It’s not unheard of for athletes to develop blocked arteries. It can affect them just like anyone else.”

Doug was scheduled a month later for a CABG triple bypass, in which Dr. Lee would open his chest to replace sections of the blocked arteries with healthy vessels from a different part of the body, like vessels in the chest, leg or arm.

“It's like driving a car with a known problem,” said Doug. “You think ‘Well, can I still drive it, or is the motor going to die on the road trip?’ And, that's what you start to think about with your own body. I had fears with going into the surgery, but I had the utmost trust in Dr. Lee, knowing his history and knowing the team that was going to be working on me.”

After the surgery, Doug was itching to get back to his trainings. Back in his home just four days after the surgery, Doug did all he could at home to aid his recovery — including anything and everything his care team recommended. With very little pain, he felt like he could jump right back into his trainings. However, his care team was clear he had to keep his heart rate low.

“They're looking to get you better, and if you don't pay attention to what they're telling you, you're missing out on The Mercy Touch®, because they'll tell you the right things to do,” said Doug. “But, you have to pay attention to yourself. You have to listen.”

Doug walks two to four miles daily and has started cardiac rehab, as well, taking another step toward his goals. He’s also sharing his experience with friends and family, too, so that they may be inspired to get informed through preventative testing and change their life habits to help their overall heart health — like his father, who got a check-up after his son’s surgery and was scheduled for a quadruple bypass.

“I didn't think that was going to happen, but it did,” said Doug. “And, I want other people to know that it can happen, but there's a way to maybe bypass that from happening.”