No.

Maybe.

Sigh.

After open heart surgery, you need to be challenged, physically – but the challenges need to be non-harmful, strengthening ones. In my not-so-humble opinion, competent supervision of a personalised regime of sensible but challenging exercise is near essential for a decent recovery time. And that’s exactly what cardiac rehab should provide you with.

My experience was a little different. Because the specific problem I have is less common – enlarged right ventricle, only one lung delivering oxygen, and a repaired valve – well, looking back, I think that maybe cardiac rehab did more harm than good. Or maybe it wasn’t the rehab itself, but the lack of general lifestyle advice which caused me extra issues.

I went back to work 2 days a week ASAP after surgery, which equated to six weeks. Cardiac rehab was twice a week from about the same time. I had an eight-month-old baby who I brought along to rehab sessions, because my husband was working as many hours as he could to keep us financially afloat (did I mention I’m the main income earner?). Looking back, I’m surprised I didn’t have more problems. I was exhausted after sessions, couldn’t concentrate properly for a couple of days after each one, was still waking up some nights with the baby. The point is, I was doing far too much, and in retrospect, the cardiac rehab probably just put more strain on my badly-weakened system. I probably would have managed a lot better without it, but with a lot of stretches, tai chi and yoga. But no one at the cardiac rehab centre had experience with my specific health problems, and didn’t seem to pick up on the problem.

That said, in general, Cardiac Rehab is a great idea. Despite my issues, I think most people having heart surgery would benefit from the program. They were helpful, encouraging, and full of information about diet and exercise options. So I’d still suggest that if you can, find a Cardiac Rehab centre near where you live, and make contact. You might even find a government-sponsored one, with some luck.

Watch out for the prep wash stuff they give you. Strips (artificial) colour out of hair. But you may not be required to wash your hair with it anyway – check with nursing staff. I had blue hair at the time. It went very pale. Dammit.

If you’re offered a painkiller or sleeping tablet a while before going down for surgery, take it. I’m not a big fan of painkillers and sleeping tablets and the like, OK? But now’s not the time to avoid the stuff. There’s going to be so much floating around in your bloodstream soon that a couple more doses won’t make a bit of difference. And I’d prefer to not be wide awake for the insertion of HUGE canula and other assorted joys, thanks. See, I was awake for those, thanks to an anaesthetist not being available to see me until a few minutes before surgery. So I got the pre-op meds just before surgery. Great, thanks, huge help that was!

Make sure you remember to abide by any eating restrictions. If you’re admitted the day before surgery, you might not be fitted into the hospital routine yet.

Sleeping

Consider asking for a sleeping tablet the night before your operation. It can be hard to sleep before something major like this, and because your recovery will be easier if you’re well-rested, the hospital will probably be happy to oblige. In Australia, the person to ask will usually be your anaesthetist, who’ll probably come to visit you the day before surgery. If he doesn’t, asking a nurse well before the desired pill-popping time will give them time to check with the relevant medical staff to see if it’s OK to give you one.

Make sure your will is up to date and current, finances at least organised so that if someone has to sort them out, it won’t be too big a battle. Consider investing some money into a funeral fund.

Prepare for the far more likely better-case scenario

Have a think about what you’ll do during recovery, when you’ll have little energy and possibly a short attention span.

• Where will you sleep (if you usually sleep with a partner, you might want to make other arrangements for a few weeks)?
• Who’ll do the housework, shopping, cooking, and running around making your every wish come true?
• What will keep you entertained?
• What can you do to stay feeling busy and/or useful?

The last point may seem laughable – but it’s common for people recovering from open heart surgery to undergo periods of depression. The change in lifestyle is quite pronounced for most people, and the recovery time is long. For others, the depression can kick in not during the official recovery time, but later, when they’re ‘recovered’ but not yet back to feeling ‘normal’. I’m hoping to write an article dealing with the topic of post-op depression soon… once I get some ideas together.

Spiritual organisation

For some, this might be as simple as getting someone from church to visit at hospital and at home. For others, there may be specific religious rites to go through, or a general confession/cleansing. You may want to ask people to pray for you or send healing energy. For the non-religious, consider simply asking people to keep you in their thoughts. There’s something reassuring in just knowing that your loved ones are thinking about you.

FAQ at Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children (where the technique was developed)

Non-surgical Valve Replacement on 9 month old (2004)

Fact sheet from Child in a Million about Matthew’s surgery

Most of the fashion advice is going to depend on your personal tastes, and on the hospital you’re getting the surgery in. I could’ve worn hospital PJs the whole time, with just one outfit for going home in. But I couldn’t stand the idea of wearing hospital clothing… I wanted some semblence of normality back ASAP.

The First Day or Two

If you’ve still got tubes hanging out of your chest, you’ll want some clothes you don’t mind getting stained with various fluids. Old pyjamas or something. You won’t want to raise your arms more than necessary, so the top should definitely be fully openable down the front. Otherwise, the guidelines below should be fine.

Dressing Gown

Something relatively warm (but not too warm), and relatively short. Mine came down to mid-thigh – just enough to cover my bum and keep my back safe from draughts, but not long enough to get legs tangled in. Because, trust me – you do NOT want to fall over just after heart surgery. Nuh uh. *wince*

Slippers

They need to be easy to slide your feet into unassisted (you won’t want to be bending down to get them on), something that your feet won’t slip around in, with non-slip soles. I bought a pair of fluffy thongs (flip-flops, for the non-Aussies) which were surprisingly ideal. They had raised edges all around the foot and ridged soles, which made them beautifully ‘sticky’ on my feet.

Pyjamas

Buttoning down the front. Cotton’s a good choice – some hospitals turn off air conditioning at night and it can get quite stuffy and warm. A tie waist is probably a good idea, just in case you lose some waist area after hours in surgery and recovery. I found that after the first day or so I could raise my arms enough to get on a top that only buttoned halfway down.

Day clothing

Of course, you can wander around in your pyjamas all day. Few hospitals will have a go at you about it after such major surgery. But I found that I wanted to dress each morning once I was over the initial pain-and-sleep thing. It made me feel more normal. I’d recommend at least a couple of button- or wrap-close tops, and loose cotton pants. Tracksuit or leisure pants are good. I had a couple of sleeveless kimono-type cotton dresses (tied at the waist) which I wore with bike pants underneath when it was warm.

My intention is to get it going soon, and launch a sister forum at the same time. You’ll find a link to the forum (in a similar state at the moment) on the right.

Why? I had heart surgery last year, and wrote a couple of posts on my personal blog about surviving the experience. Then over the months, I noticed more and more people ending up at that blog after searching for information on heart surgery and cardiac rehab. I don’t think it’s an ideal resource. So, me being the sort of person I am… decided to create a blog and forum especially for Aussies undergoing heart surgery. Because it’s a big operation, with a lot of recovery time, and lots of questions that doctors won’t necessarily answer too well – and I couldn’t find anything of the sort last year. So here’s your chance to get the inside scoop on the whole thing. Here will be, anyhow