Oprah Winfrey asked David Letterman if his difficult quintuple bypass surgery was “humbling” for him. He confessed to being a hypochondriac. “After having heart surgery, you become less prone to hypochondria and know you truly have something.”
During a bypass procedure, doctors reroute blood around obstructed areas of your heart’s arteries.
The arteries may tighten as plaques, which are fatty deposits, form over time, reducing the normal flow of blood to the heart.
Just two weeks after the year 2000, Letterman went to his doctors for a routine checkup to examine his heart, which had previously experienced a few small issues.
Letterman underwent emergency bypass surgery after being transferred to New York City.
To establish a new channel, surgeons connect healthy blood veins from different sections of the patient’s body above and below the congested portions of the heart.
Shortly following his procedure, Letterman returned to hosting The Late Show with David Letterman.
As his show continued, the presenter welcomed eight members of the medical staff who supported him on stage.
“Today, five weeks ago, these men and women saved my life,” he stated as he stood alongside them.
“‘I’m never going to get through this,’ you tell yourself. But you make it, and these people make it possible.”
Throughout the show, he tried to break up his somber thoughts with characteristic Letterman comedy.
One of his audience members remarked that it was the first time he had performed the act without using regular coffee.
“I don’t care whether it’s decaf or not; sue me; it stinks.”
During his chat with Oprah, he expressed his love for doctors.
“I discovered that you had to have faith in these experts because they are so good and knowledgeable about what they do,” he said.
“They have your heart in their hands. After everything was finished, I realized I had nothing to fear. These individuals are great,” he continued.
The accumulation of fatty deposits in the coronary arteries defines coronary heart disease.
According to the NHS, the risk of coronary heart disease rises with age.
Smoking, being overweight or obese, and eating a high-fat diet are further risk factors.
According to the NHS, most bypass patients recover within 12 weeks.
