You know, it's funny... when I talk to my friends, particularly my coworkers, about Project Vegan, I continually get the same response: "Uh, Sharon? Isn't that a little extreme?"
Yeah, maybe. But let's look at this from another perspective...
Heart disease, as we all know, is the leading cause of morbidity and mortality in the United States, responsible for approximately one out of every three deaths in America in 2006 according to the American Heart Association. I'm sure that those numbers have only increased with time.
I work as a Registered Nurse on critical care unit for a large urban hospital, and I routinely care for patients recovering from major cardiovascular surgeries and conditions (open heart coronary artery bypass grafting, angioplasty and stenting of coronary arteries, heart valve replacements, acute heart attacks, congestive heart failure, and the like). I see heart disease every single day I work, and I can tell you, it is an ugly, ugly thing.
Let's discuss open heart coronary artery bypass grafting, for example. Patients who undergo this procedure have advanced atherosclerosis (plaque) to multiple coronary arteries (the vessels feeding blood to the heart tissue itself). Atherosclerosis is the narrowing of arteries due to the build up of fatty plaques (read: cholesterol and triglycerides). Over time, the plaque can become so severe that it actually occludes the artery entirely, cutting off the blood supply to heart tissue and causing a heart attack. The pain associated with a heart attack, called angina, is cause by the literal death of heart muscle - like any other tissue in the body, it cannot function without blood supply.
That's where coronary artery bypass grafting comes in... In an effort to revascularize the heart, the surgeon harvests a vein, typically from the leg, and stitches it onto the occluded vessel, bypassing the plaque blockage and effectively rerouting the blood supply to the heart muscle. In order to gain access to the patient's heart to do this procedure, the surgeon saws through the sternum (breast bone) and spreads apart the patient's ribs with retractors - and yes, I've seen this procedure performed, and yes, it is as gruesome as you imagine. Further, since it's rather difficult to stitch delicate vessels to one another in the first place, let alone on a moving target, the heart itself is stopped from beating and the patient is place on a heart-lung bypass machine for the duration of the procedure, which, of course, is complicated in its own right. After the graft has been successfully attached, the heart is shocked back to life, and the patient's chest is closed by wiring the sternum back together and stapling, glueing, or stitching the skin.
Because the patient is under general anesthesia for the procedure, a tube is inserted into the patient's mouth and down into the main passages of the lungs. The patient is then placed on an artificial ventilator (breathing machine). It's common for patients to remain on the ventilator for at least twelve hours after surgery, but again, this too is complicated and some patients have difficulty weaning from the ventilator.
To prevent the build-up of fluid around the heart following the procedure, a chest tube is inserted and remains in place until the drainage is minimal. A chest tube is just what it sounds like - a plastic tube inserted into the chest cavity, sutured in place, and allowed to drain into a collection chamber. If the fluid is not removed, it could cause pressure on the heart muscle, limiting mobility and pumping action and causing dangerous and potentially fatal heart rhythms, so chest tubes are an outright necessity. But, as any patient who has had one will tell you, they are also incredibly painful while they're in place.
A tube, called a foley catheter, will also be placed up the urethra and into the urinary bladder to drain urine while the patient is unconscious. Again, there is more risk for complications, primarily infection, as a result of this catheter being in place.
Since the patient is undergoing major surgery, venous access is required, so a central line (like an IV, but bigger!) is placed into one of the large veins in either the upper chest or outer neck. Like everything else, this carries with it its own set of complications, including infection and risk of bleeding. We'll use this central line to deliver medication, including fluids and antibiotics, but often also including medications to either raise or lower the blood pressure, control blood sugar, and treat potentially dangerous cardiac arrhythmias (funky heart rhythms), all of which are common complications after surgery.
As if all that weren't enough, we encourage the patient to take deep breaths to expand their lungs, cough up secretions and mucus that accumulate in their airways, and get up and walk as soon as possible. Early ambulation is key to prevent other complications, such as pressure ulcers (bed sores) and blood clots from being immobile too long. Deep breathing, coughing, and moving are all pretty darn painful... after all, remember that the sternum has been sawed in half then rewired, leaving a six to eight inch incision down the middle of the chest.
So there you have it. That's coronary artery bypass grafting surgery in a nutshell. Neat, huh? It truly is a live-saving procedure for so many people, but, you have to admit, it's a pretty radical way to go, right?
Kinda makes switching to a plant-based diet, therefore drastically reducing the amount of cholesterol and triglyerides in your diet and dramatically reducing your risk for ever developing coronary artery disease in the first place seem like a pretty minor thing, huh?
