Cardiac by-pass surgery vs big guns

[HarryT]

I had by-pass surgery three weeks ago and my surgeon says I can now do anything I want. For those of you who have had by-pass surgery, how long did you wait before firing a firearm that kicks pretty hard? I'm thinking about waiting at least six months before picking up a 12 gauge or 45-70.

[Beerd]

You will know when you are ready.
I had my chest cracked on May 1. Shooting started in October.
Do the rehab routine and ease back into things.
..

[DLCTEX]

It seems to be different for each one. I had my bypass the first of August, 2010, and in late December had no problems handeling recoil. Malcolm, fellow member sold his heavy recoilers after a year due to the discomfort.

[dilly]

I think you ought to work yourself up incrementally. Go from 22 to wimpy 30 cal bullseye loads up to full power 308, then see if a light 45/70 would be okay, etc.

[Kent Fowler]

I think it took about 6 or 8 months for the chest incision to really feel right. It never really "heals" as the cartilage where they sawed you open doesn't grow back and is why they wire your chest back together. My wife really freaked when she saw the x-ray and the wires. I thought it was kind of funny, but she didn't. I then started back to shooting skeet with my 28 gauge.

[snuffy]

Wednesday will be 4 weeks from my bypass surgery. I just got the okay to drive on that day BUT I wouldn't even consider ANY shoulder fired gun right now. Just too uncomfortable to get in that position. After talking with 2 cardiologists since the CABG, I won't take any chances with breaking the healing that's already taken place. I can cough and do minor lifting without pain, but getting punched by heavy recoil would be painful. With the arctic blast we have right now,( currently 6 degrees), outdoor shooting would mean heavy cloths and a face mask, not enjoyable anyway.

[histed]

I'm with snuffy. I been out 8 weeks, doin' rehab and feel pretty good right now. My cartio doc said I should wait at least 6 months before trying anything with recoil. By March I should be good for .223 and get some woodchucks, but I'm considering buying a .243 to take the place of my 7mm mag next deer season. June, maybe, I'll try 4895 light loads, but I'm not going to rush it

[DIRT Farmer]

At three weeks I was walking and my Dad thought quail hunting would help my rehab. I fired a few 2 1/2 inch shells in my 410 870, no problems. I tried a three inch and waited another week before shooting anything. Carrying the gun was the in front of me was the biggest problem.
My surgon told me not to fire my 10 ga Ithica for a year.

[Char-Gar]

One of the best friends I ever had (George Grayson) had bypass surgery and in due time was released to go back to work, gauging oil wells. On his first day, he climbed to the top of a tank via the stairs and gauged the tank. He returned to his pickup truck gave a moan and fell over dead in the front seat. The graft had come loose.

This is very uncommon, but none-the-less I would not push it.

[Jal5]

Take this good advice here and go real slow. It was about 6 mos. before my 5 bypasses felt good enough to try a 20 ga. Take care.

[Wolfer]

When my dad had his first bypass the doc told him not to shoot big rifles for 6 months.
While laying in the bed after my Bypass I counted up and it was exactly 6 months to elk season.
When I asked my surgeon he said I could do anything I wanted in 12 weeks.
They wouldent let me ride a horse for 8 weeks.
By 8 weeks I could ride without the sloshy feeling. A friend I ride with took about 12 weeks to quit sloshing.

[Echo]

My CABGx2 was 9 years ago and I waited several months (CRS) - and no drama.
But the Heart Buddy was my very close friend for several months, too...

[375supermag]

Hi...

No experience with cardiac surgeries, but I do have some real-life input you may find interesting.

I had Hodgkin's disease in 1977, which required a couple of major surgeries (splenectomy and removal of a large tumor from my right armpit) and 22 radiation treatments. The surgeries were in the spring and summer and the radiation treatments ended in mid-late September.

I was able to go hunting for small game that October with a 12ga shotgun. I limited the number of shots per doctor's orders. Did have a large bruise from recoil on my right shoulder because of the radiation effects there.

That November, I killed a buck with my .30/06. Recoil at the bench was "attention-getting"...really didn't notice it on the killing shot. Shoulder, again, was bruised considerably. Had to have a friend drag the buck into the farm , though...just too weak from my ordeal to drag a deer a mile through the woods.

Radiation oncologist was displeased, but the bruising healed pretty quickly. No lingering effects.

In 2012, I had another bout with cancer...salivary gland with a tumor on the base of my tongue and tumors on both sides of my neck/throat. I also had a left lung re-section which proved to not be cancerous. I also had two strokes after the lung re-section...recovered quickly. Didn't even realize the second stroke had occurred until the damage showed up on my next follow-up CAT scan.
I underwent another 33 radiation treatments after the surgeries. Last radiation treatment on my neck was in late October and the feeding tube was removed in November. I returned to work with about three weeks of radiation treatments remaining and my feeding tube still attached.

I hunted small game through October and November and went bear and deer hunting that year, as well.

Recoil from my 7mm Magnum and 12ga shotgun was tolerable. Fatigue from the walking and carrying the firearms was the most taxing portion of the hunt.

My radiation oncologist thought shooting was a bad idea, but my impression is that he is not a fan of hunting or firearms, so I deferred to my surgeon's judgement and they both thought that if I felt I could tolerate it , then I should give it a "shot".

I wouldn't have done it if my surgeon's had told me not to. Maybe...I would have...I can be pretty hard-headed about what I want to do. Probably why I survived two bouts with cancer, two strokes and 6-7 major surgeries and 50+ radiation treatments in my life.

[falmike]

The other thing to consider is that you are probably going to be on blood thinners for the rest of your life. TXPete was and when we would go shooting rifles he would have DARK bruising from shoulder to finger tips in just days if he wasn't careful about what he was shooting and using proper form....and that was 4 years after his heart attack. Not sure if it was painful but was disconcerting to look. Not sure if there could have been other problems associated with this issue. Sadly he wasn't around long enough before the cancer got him.