Gold Coast University Hospital · Cardiothoracic Surgery

Recovery plan, week by week

Everything on this page comes from the hospital's booklet Your Guide to Heart Surgery (April 2024). Page numbers are shown so you can check anything in the book itself.

Type the operation date here and the plan will open on the right week each time. If the box is empty, the plan starts at Week 1.

Week 1

The first seven days after the operation

Tap any week to look ahead or back. The blue square is where you are now.

Walking

How long
How far
How often
Walk at a pace where he can still talk. Flat, even ground. Flat supportive shoes. Not within an hour of a meal, and not if he has a fever or a bad cold. Stop and rest if he becomes very short of breath, tired or dizzy — start again more slowly once it passes. (p25)

Neck, shoulder and trunk exercises

Standing, slowly and with control. Five times each. Only as far as is comfortable — do not push into pain. Three to four times a day. (p22–23)

    Sessions done today:

    Wounds and scar

      Watch for clicking or clunking in the chest. A little movement between the two halves of the breastbone is normal in the early weeks. A clicking or clunking that feels unstable, or pain and discomfort during ordinary daily activities, should go to the GP or the cardiac rehab team. (p29)

      Everyday activities

      Fine to do now

        Not yet

          Keep your move in the tube. When holding or picking anything up, use both hands, keep the arms close to the body and the elbows tucked in. Reaching up or to the side with nothing in the hands is fine. (p27, p34)
          When to ring someone — tap to open

          Go to the emergency department or call 000

          • Chest pain like the angina he had before the operation
          • Shortness of breath that rest does not settle
          • Fainting
          • Heart rate over 150 beats a minute with shortness of breath, or a new irregular heartbeat
          • Coughing up bright red blood, or bright red in the stool
          • Sudden numbness or weakness in an arm or leg; sudden severe headache
          • Chills or fever; severe abdominal pain; new nausea, vomiting or diarrhoea

          (p32) — and any heart attack warning sign lasting 10 minutes, or severe, or getting worse: call 000 (p48)

          Ring the GP the same day

          • Temperature over 38.0°C twice within 24 hours
          • Weight gain of half a kilo to a kilo within 24 hours
          • Worsening ankle swelling, leg pain, or calf pain that gets worse when the toes are pulled up towards the head
          • Bleeding or oozing that keeps on from a wound; a skin rash
          • Increasing redness, swelling, pain or discharge from any wound (p29)
          • A clicking or clunking in the chest that feels unstable, or pain during ordinary activities — GP or cardiac rehab (p29)
          • Sharp pain on taking a deep breath; worsening shortness of breath
          • Extreme fatigue; a gout flare-up
          • Burning, frequency or blood on passing water

          (p32)

          Phone numbers

          Emergency000
          GP 
          Cardiac Clinical Nurse Consultant
          Mon–Fri, 7.30am–4pm          		07 5687 1613
          0455 062 913
          Cardiothoracic Administration07 5687 4203
          GCUH switchboard
          for ward enquiries          		1300 744 284
          Cardiac Rehabilitation, Robina1300 668 936
          Tweed Cardiac Rehab02 6677 3398
          13 HEALTH, 24 hours13 43 25 84
          Chest pain, fainting, or breathlessness that rest won't settle — call 000. Not sure? 13 HEALTH 13 43 25 84