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.
Happening this week
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:
Arm strengthening
Started four weeks after the operation. Begin with 3 to 5 of each, twice a week, building up by 3 to 5 each time to a maximum of 20. Do these only once a day. A bag of rice or a water bottle works as a weight. (p24)
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
Sharp pain on taking a deep breath; worsening shortness of breath