WHEN CAN I GO HOME AFTER HEART SURGERY?
You, your doctors and nurses will decide when you can go home. Most patients go home in 4 to 5 days after surgery. Some patients go home 3 days after surgery. A visiting nurse will see you in your home after you are discharged from the hospital. The Case Manager will offer you choices of home care agencies. She will help you decide which agency is best for you. She will also get approval from your insurance company.

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WHAT WILL HAPPEN IF I AM NOT READY TO GO HOME IN FOUR TO FIVE DAYS AFTER SURGERY?
Every patient having heart surgery at Sherman Hospital is evaluated by the Case Manager for discharge needs and planning any additional care that you need after discharge. If you are not strong enough to go home in four or five days after surgery, you might go to a Transitional Care Unit or a nursing home. The Case Manager will explain your choices and help you decide which place is best for you. On the Transitional Care Unit or nursing home, you will continue physical therapy until you are strong enough to go home. How long you stay in the Transitional Care Unit will depend on you, your primary care physician, and the nurses and therapists. Usually, patients go home in about 7 to 10 days. Some people stay as long as 20 days.

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WHAT WILL I BE ABLE TO DO WHEN I GET HOME?
When you go home, you will be able to take care of yourself. You will be able to shower, dress yourself, fix a light meal, and take care of your personal needs. You will be able to walk around the house. You may walk outside one or two blocks if the weather is mild. You will be able to walk up a flight of stairs. Pause to pace yourself when walking up stairs. Plan your day to limit how often you must climb stairs during the first few weeks at home. Plan to have someone stay with you for a few days when you come home from the hospital.

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WHAT RESTRICTIONS WILL I HAVE WHEN I GET HOME?
No heavy lifting for 6 weeks after surgery, DO NOT :

• Lift anything more than 5-10 pounds such as groceries or a baby
• Push or pull anything heavy
• Mow the lawn, shovel snow, rake leaves
• Do heavy housework such as vacuuming, cleaning floors, sweeping, laundry
• Golf
• Bowl

Do not drive until your surgeon tells you it is OK.

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WHAT ACTIVITIES SHOULD I PARTICIPATE IN?
Continue your cardiac rehab exercises at home. Walk for 5-8 minutes, two or three times a day. Gradually increase your walking time by 1-2 minutes each day. If you feel overly fatigued, limit your exercises and walking to once a day. Do not overtire yourself. You may walk outside if the weather is above freezing and below 80 degrees. The shopping mall is a good place to walk if the weather is bad.

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HOW SHOULD I TAKE CARE OF MYSELF AT HOME?

• Weigh yourself every morning, after using the washroom and before breakfast. Write down the weights in a notebook and bring the notebook to your doctor's appointments
• Take your temperature every afternoon. Write down the temperatures in the notebook
• Women need to wear a support bra day and night for one month after surgery to support the chest incision
• Wear the support stockings during the day and take them off at night

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WHEN SHOULD I CALL THE DOCTOR?
Call the heart surgeon if:

• Chills, sweating, or fever over 100 degrees for more than one day
• Redness, swelling, or drainage of incisions
• Shortness of breath while resting
• Weight gain of more that 2 pounds in one day or 5 pounds in one week
• Poor pain control
• You feel your heart beating fast or slow or skipped beats
• Increased swelling in your legs
• Pain in chest or shoulder that worsens with deep breathing, coughing, or with walking
• Unexplained bruising or bleeding

HOW LONG WILL I HAVE CHEST AND LEG INCISION PAIN?
Most people have discomfort in the chest and leg around the incisions for about two months. It is also normal to have back, shoulder, and neck soreness. The back, shoulder, and neck soreness is due to the positioning during your operation. You may also have numbness over the left side of the chest if your left mammary artery was used for a heart bypass. You may have numbness and pain of your leg and ankle on the side that the vein was taken from. All of the aches and pains will decrease as the weeks go by. You may continue to have some muscle aches for up to six months. Your doctor will give you a prescription for pain medicine. Please be sure to take the pain medicine at home. You will probably need to take the prescription pain medicine for at least 2 weeks at home. As your pain level decreases you may gradually switch to Tylenol.

The type of chest pain that happens with a heart attack or angina is not normal after surgery. If you have any of this type of pain, please call your doctor as soon as possible.

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WHY DO I HAVE NUMBNESS IN MY HANDS?
Many patients have numbness and tingling in one or both hands. Usually the palm and the little finger and ring finger are involved. This is from pressure that was put on the nerve in the arm during surgery. This may take several months to go away.

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DO I NEED TO BE ON A SPECIAL DIET?
Yes! For the first few weeks after surgery, you may have a poor appetite. During this time, we suggest that you eat the foods that you like. It is important to eat enough food, so that you can recover from your surgery. Once your appetite has returns, you will need to eat a Heart Healthy Mediterranean Diet. You should eat a variety of fresh fruits and vegetables and whole grain breads and cereals. Choose fish, lean poultry, and beans instead of red meat. Use monounsaturated fats such as olive oil, canola oil, and nuts instead of saturated fat found in fatty meats and whole milk dairy products. Do not eat processed "junk" food and concentrated sugars. A low sodium diet may also be encouraged. Foods that are high is sodium include: soy sauce canned soup, prepared foods from a box or can, lunch meat, and dairy products. Your dietician will explain the Heart Healthy/Mediterranean Diet and the low sodium diet to you.

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WILL I BE TAKING ANY MEDICINES WHEN I GO HOME?
It is not unusual for the medications that you are taking to change after surgery. These changes may be permanent or short term. You may be taking a lot of medicines when you get home from the hospital. You will take some of the medicines for only a short time. Some of the medicines will be continued long term. The nurses will review the names and purpose of your medications with you daily. You will receive written information on all of your medications. A full list of medicines will be given to you at the time of your discharge. Tell your nurse if you have any questions or concerns about your medicines.

Keep a list of all your medicines with you at all times. Bring this list with you to all of your doctor's appointments.

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WHEN WILL MY ENERGY RETURN?
It takes about 2 to 6 months for your energy level to return to normal. You can help increase your energy by exercising and resting every day. Do your cardiac rehab exercises and walk 1 or 2 times a day. Rest every morning and every afternoon. Put your feet up higher than your heart while you are resting. Balance activity with rest.

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HOW SHOULD I TAKE CARE OF MY INCISIONS?
Wash your incisions with soap and water in the shower every day. Pat the incisions dry with a clean towel. Leave the incisions uncovered. If you go home with stitches in your leg, you may cover the stitches with a band aide. Do not put lotions or powders on your incisions. Look at your incisions every day. If there is redness, swelling, or drainage call your heart surgeon.

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WHAT ABOUT THE SWELLING IN MY NECK?
It is normal to have an area of firm swelling at the top of your chest incision. This area of swelling may take up to one year to go away.

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HOW LONG DO I NEED TO WEAR THE SUPPORT STOCKINGS?
Wear your support stockings every day. Put them on in the morning and take them off at night. You may need someone to help you get them on and off. You will wear them until the swelling in your legs is gone, usually 2 to 3 weeks.

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WHEN WILL THE SWELLING IN MY FEET GO AWAY?
Most people develop swelling, bruising, and numbness in the ankles, legs, and feet after heart surgery. Usually, the swelling is on the same leg as the incision. The swelling may be worse on days when you are more active. This is very common. It may take 2 to 6 months for the swelling to go away. When you rest, keep your feet up above your heart. Keep the leg with the incision elevated whenever you are sitting or lying down. If your feet are swollen, put one or two pillows under your feet at night. It will help if you wear the support stockings every day. Take the stockings off at night and wash them. Put the stockings on in the morning.

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WHY IS MY WEIGHT IMPORTANT?
Weigh yourself every morning. If you notice an increase of 2 or more pounds in one day or 5 pounds in a week, call your surgeon. A weight gain may mean that you are retaining fluid. You may also notice swelling in your feet and shortness of breath if you are retaining fluid.

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WHEN WILL MY APPETITE RETURN?
Many people have a poor appetite after surgery. This may continue for up to two months. It is important to eat enough food so that your incisions will heal. Eating enough of a healthy diet will help you recover and improve your strength. Eating four to five small meals instead of three large meals may help.

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DO I NEED TO CONTINUE THE BREATHING EXERCISES AT HOME?
Yes! Continue the breathing exercises at home for 2 to 3 weeks. Do the breathing exercises at least 10 times a day at home for 2 to 3 weeks.

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WHAT SHOULD I DO IF I GET CONSTIPATED?
Try to avoid constipation by eating a lot of fruits and vegetables and drinking enough water. If you get constipated, you may use your usual laxative or Milk of Magnesia.

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MY SURGERY WAS A SUCCESS, SO WHY DO I FEEL DEPRESSED?
Many people feel depressed, down, or blue after heart surgery. This usually starts a few days after the operation. Don't be alarmed. These feelings are very common and are part of the recovery process. The length of time your depressed feelings will last is different for each person. These feelings may last a few hours, a few days, a few weeks, or even longer. Talk to someone about your feelings. Take good care of yourself. Include fun things to do in your recovery. The cardiac rehab program offers support groups to help you through this time. If you continue to feel depressed for a long time, tell your doctor.

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WHY CAN'T I SLEEP AT NIGHT?
Many people have trouble sleeping at night after surgery. Even after you go home from the hospital, you may still have trouble sleeping at night. Some people do not sleep well for up to two months after surgery. If your chest is sore, take your pain medicine before going to bed at night. If you cannot sleep during the night, do not sleep more than one hour during the day. Do not take a nap after 3:00p.m. Continue to take time to rest during the day, but do not take more than a one hour nap. As time goes by, you will find it easier to sleep at night.

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WHEN CAN I HAVE SEX?
You may resume sexual activity when you feel ready. If you have enough energy to walk up a flight of stairs, then you probably have enough energy for sexual activity. Do not put pressure on your chest incision. Do not put a lot of weight on your arms for 6 weeks.

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WHEN CAN I GO BACK TO WORK?
In most cases, you will be able to go back to work in 4 to 6 weeks. Some people may be able to return to work in 2 to 3 weeks. If you have to do a lot of heavy lifting at work, you may need to wait longer. Talk to your heart surgeon about returning to work.

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CAN I HAVE A DRINK?
Your doctor may tell you to avoid or limit alcohol use. Check with your doctor before drinking alcohol. Alcohol can increase the side effects of certain medicines.

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WHEN SHOULD I SEE MY DOCTORS?
You will need to make several appointments with your doctors. This is when you should see your doctors:

• Surgeon 1 to 2 weeks
• Cardiologist 2 to 4 weeks
• Primary Doctor 4 to 6 weeks

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WHAT DO I NEED TO DO TO TAKE CARE OF MY NEW VALVE?
You may need to take a blood thinner. If you are taking a blood thinner, you will need to have regular blood tests. You will receive instructions about blood thinners from your nurse.

You will need to take antibiotics before you have any procedure or dental work. The antibiotics will help to prevent your new valve from becoming infected. So let your doctor and dentist know that you have had a valve replacement.

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