When you first wake up after surgery, you may feel uncomfortable and a little confused. There will be a tube in your throat. This tube goes down your windpipe. The tube is connected to a machine that does the breathing for you during and after surgery. The tube is not painful, but it may feel uncomfortable. You will not be able to talk while the tube is in place. You will not be able to clear your throat by yourself while the tube is in place. The nurse will use a small catheter to suction any secretions from your lungs. When the nurse suctions the tube, you will cough. This suctioning may feel uncomfortable. The breathing tube will be removed as soon as you are awake and able to breath on your own.

There will be a nurse right at your bedside to help you through this time. Your nurse will anticipate your needs and will take care of everything for you. The best thing for you to do during this time is to try to relax and let your nurse take care of you. Remember, as soon as you are awake and able to breathe on your own, the breathing tube will be taken out and you will feel more comfortable.

After surgery, you will also have a large IV (intravenous catheter) in your upper chest near the collar bone, IVs in both of your arms, two or three tubes in your chest to drain the surgical site, 2 or 4 wires in your lower chest, a tube in your nose or mouth to drain your stomach, and a tube in your bladder to drain urine. You may have 2 very small tubes in your chest that are connected to a bulb that delivers pain medicine to the incision.

You will have an incision on your chest . If you are having coronary artery bypass surgery, you will have small incisions on one or both of your legs, where the surgeon took veins from your leg for the bypasses on your heart. At Sherman Hospital, most patients have the vein taken out using endoscopic vein harvesting. This way, you will have a very small incision on your leg instead of a long incision. You will have much less discomfort with the small incision instead of a long incision. The leg that the veins were taken from will be wrapped with an elastic bandage from foot to mid thigh.

As soon as the breathing tube comes out, you will start working on breathing exercises. Deep breathing and coughing are very important for your recovery. The breathing exercises will help prevent pneumonia. You will be given a small machine called an incentive spirometer. You will use the incentive spirometer to take deep breaths 15 times every hour. The incentive spirometer will measure how big your breaths are. You will also deep breathe and cough 5 times every hour while you are awake. Your nurse will teach you how to hold a pillow to your chest to ease the discomfort of deep breathing and coughing. Your nurse and respiratory therapist will help you with the breathing and coughing exercises.

You will sit up at the bedside about one hour after the breathing tube is taken out. You will sit at the side of the bed for a few minutes, then lie down and rest. About 2 hours after the breathing tube comes out, you will sit in a chair. The nurse will help you to the chair. This is a good time to do the breathing exercises. You will sit in the chair for about 30 to 45 minutes, and then go back to bed to rest. Starting the day after surgery, you will sit in the chair for every meal.

Be sure to ask the nurse for pain medicine any time that you are feeling uncomfortable. Some people do not like to take pain medicine. You may feel that if you do not move, the pain is not so bad. But it is important to move and take deep breaths after surgery. Some people feel that taking pain medicine is a sign of weakness. The truth is, if your pain is not controlled, your recovery will be delayed. Taking your pain medicine is an important of your recovery. It is easier to control the pain if you take the pain medicine before your pain gets bad. The nurse will ask you about your pain often. The nurse will ask you to rate your level of pain on a scale of 0-10. 0 is no pain. 10 is the worst pain possible. You need to tell your nurse what number of pain level is acceptable to you. Then you and your nurse will work together to achieve the level of pain control that you need.

You may need help sleeping at night. Your nurse will be able to give you a sleeping pill. This will help you get the rest you need.

Click here to return to the Patient and Family Guide to Heart Surgery.