My Mom Is Having Heart Surgery!

My husband had open-jeart surgery in 1995. He was totally confined to home for 6 weeks---just rest--not all in bed (at first that is where he wanted to be) but they must get up and walk some to get the soreness out--just around the house once or the room--whatever works for them. Some one needs to be with them ALL the time--not at their bedside--but within earshot. May or may not need some help with bathing--they ttok veins from his leg to do the by-pass--that was more of an issue than his chest incision as far as pain went--so be prepared for that also! May need some help with cleaning that--but showering (with a chair maybe) and letting the warm soapy water run over that keeps it clean. I do recall any special diet---may want to have some Miralax around--sometimes constipation comes with surgery and the last thing they need to have to "strain" for any reason. No lifint at all for 6 weeks and then nothing over five opounds for about 10-12 weeks (as I recall). HAPPY people are good medicine--so be upbeat and not "hovering" but available--whatever she thinks she can do for herself--let her try with caution and watch---some independent kinds will not tell you if it is too much or not--so observe--the other part is the "dependent" ones will let someone do everything for them--THAT IS NOT GOOD EITHER--they will never regain their strngth that way.

One note--be prepared--people --just after heart surgery--look awful--very bloated--it is frightening if you are not prepared for it. Our surgeon told us what to expect--but I did not tell his sisters and they were shocked and thought he was dying--there are a lot of drainage tubes at first (they come out gradually, one-by-one in just a few days)but it looks bad! Good luck to all of you and I will pray for your family--God knows your names!

ME--married to my sweetheart for 30 years--Mom of 2 and Nana of 3--I am blessed!

S.,

I have not been thru the surgery but have worked with many people who have. She will have limitations on how much she can lift or carry; usually no more that 5 lbs. Her endurance will be limited. How quickly she recovers is usually dependent on how active she was before & if there are any complications during surgery.

Dear S.,

I have no advise to offer. None of my family members have had heart surgery, nor have I (I'm a 53 year old myself!), but I applaude your positive attitude and your willingness to do whatever your mom needs for as long as she needs you to do it! I've said a prayer for all of you.

Deb D

Dear S.:

A few years ago my mother had a heart attack and had triple bipass surgery, so I know what you're going through. What really helped my mom is having all of us kids fly in to be there for her. She felt better knowing someone was taking care of dad while she was in the hospital, to start with.

When she was released we all took over around the house. My brother took over the kitchen, I took over meds and calling doctors and my sister was best with helping mom get up and moving around (she's an occupational therapist.)

Also, when mom was released from the ICU to the med-surg floor my sister and I took turns staying overnight in her room. She was nervous moving to a lesser care floor, so this really helped.

The best thing for after getting out of the hospital is being there to do all the little things, cleaning, cooking, stuff that has to be done that she won't be up to. Plus having a nice cup of tea and visiting with her children will be the best recovery medicine of all!

L. F., married to my best friend for 22 years, mom to a 13-year-old daughter

First of all, my prayers are with your mom and your family as she goes through this - that is the best thing you can do for her and yourself. My mom underwent unexpected heart surgery almost 3 years ago and I was amazed at the wonderful advances in the heart surgery center at Baylor Plano. I'm certain that most of the area hospitals are equally equipped, but it seemed that her every need was anticipated and met. She spent approximately 1 week in CICU, then another week in a regular room before going to a cardiac rehab facility where she spent two weeks, then home. There were no restrictions regarding visitation in ICU or the regular hospital rooms, so me or one of my brothers were able to be with her at all times if that was our desire (the reclining beds do still lack in comfort however). I think the medical profession has finally figured out that having family and friends around is truly the best medicine! With one of us with her most of the time, we were able to get her pretty much anything her "new" heart (slightly rebuilt to accomodate 4 bypasses and some other corrective measures) desired! The only thing we weren't able to do ourselves was assist her in getting in and out of bed "correctly", which they taught all of us at the rehab center. Her home recovery took about another 4-6 weeks, but she was able to do that on her own, with a visiting nurse and pulmonary therapist a few times a week. Although my mom was nearly 70 when she had her surgery and a bit overweight (sorry mom!), I can't imagine that if your mom is in otherwise good health that she will have any problems. The one thing that was a constant was the need for a "tummy pillow", because of the invasive nature of my mom's heart surgery, the chest and stomach area were extremely sore. She used a firm pillow to put against her stomach to ease the pain of coughing (which they force them to do to keep lungs clear) and just shifting around in bed. I can only hope that your mom's experience will be as beneficial to her health and as easy on her family as my mom's was. God Bless!

My husband had his aortic valve replaced with a prosthetic valve last June. He was 48 at the time and in somewhat good shape, though he had just quit smoking. He felt terrible for the first few days, of course, but the recovery was actually much shorter than we thought it would be. He was back to work in three weeks and would have gone sooner if I had let him.
The worst issue after this is getting out of bed, because it is hard to push yourself up when your chest is sore. If possible, she ought to have someone with her for at least the first week home from the hospital.
My husband's surgeon was Patrick Roughneen at Baylor Grapevine if you have not chosen a surgeon yet-he is amazing and very kind and caring.
Good luck! I am sure your mom will do well.

Hi S.,
My dad had his Mitric valve repaired 2 1/2 years ago. One thing I will add to the other advice is to be prepared to spend the night the first night she is in a regular room. We had to stay because the nurses are not in the room constantly and the drugs they give make them very disoriented. My dad kept saying he needed to get dressed so he could go home and trying to get out of bed. Someone needs to be there if she tries to get up. A lot depends on her overall health. My dad was in pretty good shape, though he was much older than your mom (he was 83 at the time). He has Diabetes and that gave him the most trouble and became worse after the surgery due to being less active. Hope this helps. Good luck and I will keep you and your mom in my prayers.

Hi S.,
I too applaud you for being so caring for your mother.
I just turned 54 and had a hole repaired inside my heart 5 years ago.
Your mother's recovery will depend alot on her condition before the surgery. If she has been disabled by her condition she will feel much better. If she is in good shape now it should go smoothly. I was able to go back to teaching aerobics 6 weeks after my surgery, but that won't be the case for most people.
The worst things for me was that I couldn't see to read for about a month, even with glasses. The doctors deny that that has anything to do with the surgery, but I know others who had the same thing happen. I also had pain around the incision that made my skin feel like it was sunburned. So it was important to have soft tops that closed in the front so I could keep anything from touching me there. It was also very painful to lay flat on my back. Whenever, I would slide down the bed, I was unable to move myself back up. The nurses and aides wanted to lie the bed down flat to move me back up. Don't let them do that if your mom also can't tolerate lying flat.
Another extremely important thing is to make sure you trust her anesthesiologist. And pain medicines don't always work for women like they do for men (who they have been tested on in clinical studies.) Morphine did nothing for me except make me itch very badly all over.
Also, make sure she gets enough quiet time to rest. Hospitals tend to be very noisy.
Make sure she gets into a rehab that really knows what they are doing.
I am a personal trainer in McKinney, specializing in the over 50 population and those with disabilities or recovering from surgeries. I am also a wellness educator and can guide you to supplements that will strenghten the heart.
Please feel free to contact me if I can help you in anyway.
I pray that all goes well for you and your mom.
Victoria

Go to www.mendedhearts.org and you'll find a phone number for the local chapter of Mended Hearts. They're affiliated with the American Heart Association and are a great support for people and families going through and recovering from heart procedures. Depending on where she has surgery, someone may even be able to come by and visit her while she's in the hospital.

Besides her physical conditioning before hand, the type of surgery she has will affect how quickly she recovers. The type of surgery being microscopic or open heart. My dad had open heart, and it took him about a year to fully recover. He still has to be careful years later.

Either way, they'll have her up and around the day after surgery, but she'll limited in her activities for awhile. So plan on her needing some help with certain items involving lifting even small things.