Hi D
izzyintx,
Boy, my heart goes out to you! You are fighting sooo many problems. If ever anyone needed to vent, it is you! That's why we come here. We all need to vent to our fellow patients who can sometimes understand us, and our condition(s), better than family members.
You have had the ultimate surgery, in my eyes. I too have CAD (coronary artery disease) and heart disease. I realize that if I continue to live, I will probably have to have bypass surgery. I had a rotoblational arthectomy (roto rooter) procedure done about 3.5 months ago. My hometown hospital wanted to do bypass surgery for my Lad and Rca. I asked if a bigger hospital (UAB) could stent my 95% blockage in my Lad. They said yes, they may could. I rode in an ambulance to UAB where this procedure was performed, and had 2 additional stents inserted into my Lad. I have 3 overlapping stents in my lad, starting at the very beginning. One is the longest made (1.3 ").
I have read a lot (for years) on various boards about CABG. I had a heart attack and a stroke in June of 03. The stroke effected my mind/personality more than my body. So I have been studying what folks have said about CABG.... Some do just great afterwords. The ones that don't, are usually suffering from depression, in addition to post surgery complications. Depression is caused by heart disease and not just because your mind is very worried. It DIRECTLY causes depression by altering various hormones, enzymes, electrolytes, dopamine etc. The medicines that we take, also cause depression. Especially beta blockers.
When was your LVF of 23, calculated? Was it pre-CABG or post- CABG? I don't want to alarm you, but a normal LVF is around 60%. Mine is around 45. I had a cath a few days ago, and forgot to ask what my calculated EF was. I will call tomorrow and try to find out what it is. An EF (ejection fraction) of 30 or less is the point in heart failure where you have the right to apply for social security disability. This fraction can improve, but you will have to work at it. You are hampered from exercise due to your MS. But!!! you have to exercise to strengthen your heart. There's no way around it...
You should be taking Coreg, which is the beta blocker that's best for heart failure, I have read. You also need to reduce your salt intake. If you have edema, you should take a diuretic. You are probably taking an ACE inhibitor, or an ARB. These tend to increase our serum potassium. Lasix is a potent loop diuretic that lowers potassium. They go well together sometimes. Especially for heart failure.
I know how you feel about taking so many medicines. I do too, but you need to add one more for depression. Statistics show that untreated depression in heart failure patients, and patients with heart disease/CAD, do not survive as long as those that aren't depressed.
I am pulling for you to start down the road to better health. Knowledge is power with this disease. Make your plan to deal with all your health issues, then work the plan as a path to success 
.
Rj
P.S. I was going to mention that LVF stands for left ventricle fraction. It is usually called EF, or ejection fraction. It is the amount of blood in your left ventricle after it contracts (or pumps) divided by the amount of blood in your left ventricle before it contracted. It is always a fraction, or less than 1, because you always have some blood remaining in your left ventricle after it contracts. If it totally emptied when it contracted, your EF would be 100%....No one has an EF that high.
People with right sided heart failure sometimes have their right ventricular fraction calculated. In this case it would be abbreviated as RVF.
Post Edited (Aldo) : 6/18/2006 10:54:26 AM (GMT-6)