Heart Bypass Surgery

My father's heart surgery is finally scheduled - April 20. The docs tell us he'll be in the hospital for 10 days, and then he's coming home with me, and staying in our home indefinitely until he feels well enough to move out on his own, if he ever does.

Has anyone been through this before with a parent/grandparent, etc? What should I expect? How can I prepare my home?

We have a ranch house, so stairs are not an issue. We already prepared the guest bedroom - we installed handles, and are purchasing a shower chair.

I'm just not exactly certain what kind of shape he'll be in coming home from the hospital, what to expect, and how to best prepare, so any advice would be really welcome

Re: Heart Bypass Surgery

First:

Second: I used to work in St. Francis Hospital, where this kind of surgery was routine. I know by the time the patients were ready to go home, they were usually feeling great and couldn't wait to get out of the hospital. I wouldn't say they were running marathons or anything, but were generally healing very well by then and were able to get up and do things on their own. You should talk to your father's surgeon about what kind of things he will need when he gets home.

Re: Heart Bypass Surgery

When my FIL had bypass the only thing was that he could not sleep lying completely flat. We bought him a wedge for his bed that raised his head 4 - 6" from the flat mattress.

Also he needed a pillow to hold to his chest if he coughed so as not to damage the incision site from the surgery.

The last thing was the mobility of his leg was not that great since that is where they took the vein from to do the bypass. He had some difficulty moving around for a while, but was able to do things on his own, just slowly. He did get one of those seat things for the shower though.

Other than that he was glad to come home & be out of the hospital.

for your dad's surgery.

Re: Heart Bypass Surgery

For my stepfather, the worst thing was the broken ribs. Like MsMbv said, they gave him the pillow to cough up the anesthesia.

Good luck to your dad!



Please keep us posted~

Re: Heart Bypass Surgery

My mom had a quadruple, but she was only in the hospital for 3 days afterwards. I was living in Chicago at the time and my parents came out to visit me for Easter. My mom wound up having the surgery in Chicago. Nice mini-vacation, huh? After the hospital stay she stayed in my apt for about 2 weeks until she was cleared to fly home.

I think that if your dad will be in the hospital for 10 days, you will be able to get an idea of what his needs are going to be during that time. My mom basically went from the couch to the bed and did some walking around the complex.

Good luck - I'm sure he will do great!

Re: Heart Bypass Surgery

My best advise is to make sure he does not "exhaust" himself or try to carry thing, or do too much too soon!

Re: Heart Bypass Surgery

My mother had a triple bypass surgery about 2 years ago. From the hospital she went directly into cardiac rehab. It may had to do with the condition of the rest of her body which was not that great to begin with. She needed physcial therapy after her stay in rehab. The hardet part was helping her understand that the surgery did not make her all better and that she was a cardiac patient for life.