Open-Heart Surgery 101

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Recovery and Return to Normal Life

What is the recovery process like?
Immediately after surgery, patients will go to the intensive care unit, where they’ll wake up from the general anesthesia, and the breathing tube will be removed. Patients usually stay in intensive care for a day and then are transferred to the regular recovery unit, where they’ll stay for about five days.

“I encourage patients to get up and out of bed and walk about a day after surgery,” Mihaljevic says. “It helps with recovery to stay active. The worst thing is to stay in bed, where lung function can be impaired. It also helps prevent losing strength and avoid pneumonia.”

Emotionally, patients usually go through three stages. First, they experience anxiety before the open-heart surgery. Then, after a successful operation, they feel euphoric. “Often patients will wake up and say they feel really good, because they realize the worst part is behind them and despite feeling uncomfortable, they feel fine,” Mihaljevic says. Then, he says, comes a low period. “Within about three days, reality sets in and patients realize that they’re not comfortable and would like to be in their own bed. I call this the blues period,” Mihaljevic says.        

The “blues period” usually lasts a few days, but it helps to remind patients that recovery is not linear—you won’t feel progressively better each day. Instead, there are ups and downs, forward steps and backward steps each day.

How long until patients feel “normal”?
After about six weeks, patients will feel like themselves again, Mihaljevic says. However, those whose chests were cracked during surgery shouldn’t lift or carry anything for up to six weeks and shouldn’t drive for four weeks.

Patients aren’t recovering from the work done on the heart itself—they’re recovering from the trauma done to muscles and bones during the operation. Once the bypass or valves are in place, the heart begins working as normally as possible. No physical activity can undo the work done on the heart.

“People who take care of themselves and are in better physical shape tend to recover faster,” Mihaljevic says.

Activity is the key to getting back to normal. Walk whenever you can and stay upright as often as possible, Mihaljevic says.