Clearing Chest

[Gcnh]

HI there, first post for me, my Dad came out of hospital yesterday following a valve replacement and to fix an aneurism, he is struggling to clear his chest/lungs, hospital didnt give much physio advice but lucky we have some family from a medical physio bac ground so we now have some good exercises for him, has anyone got any other suggestions or recommendations that night help?

[080311]

Hello Gcnh,

Welcome to the forum, when we have open heart surgery and we go on bypass our lungs collapse, so we need to give them lots of help to get all the little pockets filled out again.

I was given breathing exercises to do in hospital I called them huffing and puffing and carried on doing them when I got home, they really help. In hospital I had to do them hourly at home did them maybe 6 times a day. Doing our walking also helps gentle walking to start with.

It’s 5 years since my surgery and I am grateful every day to the medical team that gave me my life back.

Your Dad needs to remember the instructions of no arms above your head no lifting anything heavier than half a kettle of water, until his sternum is healed. Tell him listen to his body if it says I am tired he rests. Getting our stamina back takes time but we get there.

Also cardio rehab seems to have opened up again, it’s something I would highly recommend it will help as much with mental health as for getting his stamina back, I found being around others who have been through the same as myself was so helpful if I had a pain or ache and someone would say me too you would think ok that’s alright 😂

You are now a part of the Hearties family and if you have any questions just post and someone will be along to help.

Sending best wishes for a great recovery to your Dad.

Pauline

[Hidden]

Hi Gcnh, From what you've said, your Dad is going through a normal process. I've been through it more often than I care for, but the principles are the same no matter what. I cant really add anything more than what Pauline has already written. I hope his recovery goes well.