My Grandad had a heart attack about 5 weeks ago, and subsequently was hospitalised. He then had a heart bypass just over two weeks ago, and thankfully he is now back at home. Since he came home he has struggled to sleep and has told my family and I that he is very dizzy, sick and tired. I can understand that he has had a pretty major operation and the recovery will take time. He is also on a told of tablets post operation which could be contributing to his dizziness, sickness and tiredness. He has been in contact with GP as well. I know nothing about the recovery process post heart bypass, and I feel a little out of my depth. My Grandad seems to just want to stay in the bed at the moment, which is to be expected. He has walked about too, we've made sure of that. I just don't know what to do to make sure my Grandad's recovery is on the right track, and that he isn't heading on a downward track.
He has been through a lot in the last 5 weeks what with a heart attack and just 2 weeks ago needing Bypass surgery and it is very early days
He could also be feeling sick from all the anesthetic he had while having the operation as well as maybe the medications which hopefully in time will all settle down
I feel recovery can be different for everyone and the rate we recovery some take longer than others but at least 3 months is needed if not longer
I think taking this one step at a time , letting him rest but getting him up and having little walks there are exercises you can do sat down which you can find on the BHF website which could suite hom more at the moment
He should have a Rehab Nurse contact number from the Hospital he was in and if not phone the Hospital and ask them for it they are really useful to be able to talk to and reassure you everything is on track
Also we can get a little depressed after the operation and this can make you feel you just want to stay in bed so keep an eye on him and any signs you feel he could be depressed talk with the Doctor and nip that one in the bud
Later Rehab classes should be available for your Grandad to attend if he is up to it something else not now but in the near future you can ask the Rehab Nurses about
At this stage nothing you have said how your Grandad feels sounds like there is anything going wrong but keep coming on and asking when you are concerned and as the weeks pass by and members will help you to hopefully understand where your Grandad is at and how best you can support him
Please let us know how he gets on and sometimes just been there for someone , encouraging them , reminding them how lucky they are and how well they are doing can really help and as such a loving Grandchild I am sure you will give him plenty of that x
in reply to
Thank you for your response, and kind words. They mean a lot.
Like I say, I feel completely out of my depth with this, I just want to make sure that my Grandad is able to recover and have a good quality of life afterwards. His Doctors have emphasised that he has a serious operation, second only to that of a transplant. His body and heart have been through a lot. I have been trying to find out as much information as possible, and it does seem like it's pretty normal for people who have had heart surgery to feel down, and we've reassured my Grandad that feeling down is normal. We've encouraged him to walk when he feels up to it, but some some days he has not. I have no idea what the hospital do either. I see people talking about cardiac rehab programmes, but I've no idea if this is through the hospital or elsewhere, I don't know what any post operative care for my Grandad's procedure consists of, or even if we have to chase it up. I will try and find the exercises through the BHF and see if he wants to give them a go. I'm just concerned at the moment for the long term implications for him.
in reply to
Hello
I had a triple Bypass over a year ago and I still get down so it is very normal to feel this way we have gone through a big life changing event
Phone the Hospital where he had his op maybe the ward and ask if they could give you the contact numbers for the Rehab Nurses
I will put you a link on that will take you to the BHF and there you will see all the different kinds of exercise ,as well as so much more information and I hope it will help you and your Grandad x
Hello Alexandra, I’m sorry to read of your Grandads current health problems. The same happened to my husband 4 years ago and recovery can take time.
Your Grandad will have been given breathing exercises to do in order to “rein flare” his lungs after the surgery - these are really important and he needs to do them a couple of times a day. They also help to fully clear the anaesthetic out of his system.
Getting quality sleep can be difficult too as sleeping on his back may not be the most comfortable for him. A V-shaped pillow (under £10 from Asda) can help and you can also get wedge pillows that lift your upper body slightly that are more comfortable than a pile of pillows.
Best wishes to your grandad for a good and steady recovery. You sound a lovely caring granddaughter.
Hi, thank you for your kind words. I wasn't aware of any breathing exercises to help his lungs, but I do know he was oxygen post op in the hospital so they could have done this with him in the hospital, but I will ask him about this, and I will see if he wants to give the pillows a chance.
Hello Alexandra and welcome to this wonderful forum. You have already had some great advice from BeKind28 so I will make a few additional comments from my experience of having a triple bypass two years ago. I am myself a 69 year old grandad - so I empathise!
Your Grandad has had a big operation and his body will take time to recover. Everyone is different and will recover differently. I think a lot depends on how active he was before all this started. Your target is to help him get back to how he was previously and then even better than before. He'll get there! But he's had a mental shock and will be down - this is quite normal. One of your roles is to stay positive and provide encouragement!
First - about sleep : I think everyone finds it hard to sleep - Grandad's chest will be uncomfortable and his normal sleeping positions will hurt. I found I had to abandon the idea that nightime is mainly for sleeping. I did my best to sleep at night but usually got a couple of hours maximum, then I got up for a cup of tea, Then I slept in a chair covered with a blanket, then back to bed for a bit. And I napped several times during the day. Sleep is important to recovery so your Grandad needs to listen to his body and grab sleep when he feels like it.
Second - exercise : he mustn't stay in bed all day. He has to get up and start moving. The hospital will have told him to be careful about not lifting things and not stressing his chest, so walking is the best thing to do initially. I walked around our (very small) garden initially. Five times....then ten times....adding a bit each day. Then a short walk down the road....then twice down the road. Go to an extra lamp-post each day. You get the idea. The cardio rehab nurses should arrange classes for him to start at about 6 weeks post-op. His chest needs to mend first.
Third - breathing exercises : the bypass operation has opened Granddad's chest and so his lungs collapse. This is just what happens when the chest is opened. Collapsed lungs react by filling with fluid and it's very important to bring this fluid up with breathing/coughing exercises which the hospital should have taught him to do. He must do them! Getting the lungs to recover is just as important as the heart's recovery. It's hard work and painful because you need to cough the "goo" up and coughing hurts!
These three things seem the most important ones to me. You'll get more advice from others because this forum is full of wise and helpful people.
Hi, thank you for your kind words. I have been told quite a lot about the exercise and cardiac nurse. I definitely want to make sure that he sees one, and will definitely see about the breathing exercises. The concern for me and my family at the moment is that he is feeling so sick, tired and dizzy that he seems to be unwilling to do the exercise. I'm hoping that if the GP is able to help with that then he can start walking down the road, or around his garden. We can give him all the encouragement we want, it's up to him. I know that his recovery takes time, I just hope we are going about it the right way, and that we aren't doing things that are detrimental to his long term health.
It sounds to me that you are helping in all the right ways. I think you are also right to discuss medication with the GP since (I guess) he's on a lot of relatively new meds that his body isn't used to. I know that bisoprolol can cause dizzyness if the dose is over-done. I was also put on amiodarone for 6 weeks after my bypass to correct some arrythmia and I think it affected my ability to sleep. I also had some anti-nausea pills that I used for just a few days once I was out of hospital and they were brilliant.
It can not be stressed enough that this is VERY early days. I went into a semi hibernation and was not really interested in anything other than coping in my own small world. he needs something to look forward to and to get general low key stimulation . Does he read? Listen to the radio? Use a tablet?
He needs to walk about a bit and it is helpful to keep a diary so he can benchmark his progress.
I took 8 paracetemol a day for around 5 weeks and then found I didn't need them any more. During that time I was often quite emotional and down and in pain
From 5 weeks onwards I would say I was getting better at the rate of 10% a week so recovery became noticeable. Prior to that I didn't really think I was aschieving anything until I read my diary.
So it will take time and he will feel sleepy and probably not wanting to see many people or be subjected to noise and fuss.
Sorry to hear your grandads been having such a rough time.
My partner had a triple bypass a couple of years ago and likes others have said it’s extremely early days in your grandads recovery.
In the first few weeks my partner wasn’t able to do much at all, he napped a lot and we went for little walks up and down our road (no garden) very gradually increasing the distance. (He’d been walking daily in hospital from the day after surgery.)
I remember the surgeon saying before the op, that although heart bypasses are now “common” they are still one of the most serious operations anyone can have (from the patients and recovery point of view.)
I would definitely encourage your grandad to start/keep walking slowly as this is really important, but I would say it’s too early to be considering “exercise” as the sternum takes many weeks to heal. (Just my opinion I’m not medically trained.)
My partner didn’t get any rehab due to the pandemic, but did see the heart nurse twice who was able to point us in the right direction of what to do and when - definitely contact the hospital or his GP to enquire about this, as we had our first visit within 48 hours of him returning home.
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