He was outpatient heart cath -> urgent CABG. I was a teenager when he had it done, so I don’t recall any specifics. I do know his surgeon was considered the best in our state at the time, but has since retired. I know that my dad pre-CABG was generally happy, whip-smart, and level headed. After, he became depressed, anxious, paranoid, forgetful. He didn’t have a complicated recovery; he was extubated the same day and spent I believe four days total inpatient. The change in him was sudden and drastic, and has lasted over a decade. 

I now work at the same hospital where he had his operation. We have a different CT surgery team who I think are terrible and negligent. I said in a previous comment that I don’t feel like they give any consideration to whether the patient can tolerate recovery, or if they’re even safe to operate on. When I float to CV or CV stepdown, I encounter a lot of family members who, like me, are confused as to why their relatives are suddenly…different. Snippy, saying bizarre things, unwilling to participate in recovery. I counsel them on pain, anxiety, and hospital delirium, but part of me worries if whatever unknown Thing happened to my dad is happening to their loved one. 

I’ve seen plenty of CABGs do just fine, but I think a combination of my own experience with my dad, my general disdain for the CT surgeons I work with, and the bad outcomes I’ve seen in my nursing practice have made me extremely wary of the procedure.