Getting Ready for Heart Surgery: How to set up your living space for healing.

Before open-heart surgery, I did some planning for the space that I would use for recovery.    I had to figure out what I wanted my living situation to look like when I returned home from the hospital.  I wanted to make sure that when I got home, everything I needed would be accessible, functional, and set-up to promote healing.  In the few days before my operation, I made some of these changes, but it wasn’t until I lived through this process that I understood what was truly important.  Here are some of the considerations to make before heading into a major procedure like this.

Ready to head home from my open heart surgery

The key here is to think ahead and take on as many of the necessary tasks before surgery so that when you come home, they are not a concern. 

Where is your bedroom?

During the time of my surgery (and still today), I was living in a basement apartment.  This proposed two issues.  First, this meant that I would need to walk up and down stairs for simple things like going to sleep, using the bathroom, and getting a shower.  After surgery, stairs can be a struggle.  During that time, you may be a little unsteady on your feet, so tripping/falling are real concerns.  In addition to this, having an open heart surgery means that you might not be able to use your arms for bracing for up to 5 weeks!  This is done so that you do not run the risk of re-breaking your sternum.  Using the railing for support is not a good idea.

Sunlight, plants, and no stairs.  The perfect situation.

The second issue with my basement apartment was sunlight.  There have been many studies done on the positive impacts of having natural light and scenes or nature to promote healing.  My half-sized basement windows and minimal natural sunlight would be lacking here.

Luckily, my solution was simple. I have an amazing roommate who was okay with rearranging her home for a while.  The day before surgery, she allowed me to take her dining room table downstairs and replace it with my bed.  That’s right,  for about five weeks after surgery, I lived in the dining room!  In addition to helping me avoid stairs and get more sunlight, this also meant that visitors could see me more easily, since much of my first few days included frequent naps and a lot of time relaxing.  

Pillows

This may seem strange, but I think that my pillow choice for after surgery was essential.  There are two pillows to consider.

First, you will need a sternum pillow.  Most of the time, the hospital will give this to you.  Basically, it is a narrow pillow that you can use to lightly press against your sternum when you are getting out of bed, moving around the house, or in the horrible instances where you laugh or sneeze (laughing and sneezing were my enemy for a few weeks after surgery because of the pain that they caused).  

Another time that this pillow was needed was in the car.  The seatbelt caused a lot of discomfort on my chest and a pillow between my chest and the seatbelt would have made a huge difference.  Not knowing this at the time, I resorted to finding a shoe in the back seat and using this to create a gap between the seatbelt and my chest.  This was not ideal but demonstrates how much of a necessity it was.

My sternum pillow for car rides

The second pillow I got was from Target.  Basically, I  used one of the pillows with the big arms on the side (photo below) while in bed.  After surgery, sleeping is important for healing and getting comfortable can be challenging.  This pillow helped me to feel supported and allowed me to partially sit up to rest, when that felt more comfortable.  I hear of a lot of people using a reclining chair for sleeping after surgery, but I do not own one of these.  I am also concerned about how easily a person fresh out of open-heart surgery would be able to get out of that style of chair.  This was my solution.  

How do you shower? 

For at least the first few days after surgery, showering can be a bit of a nerve racking endeavour.  The wet floor in the shower poses the same threat as the stairs: you do not want to fall, but you also do not want to brace yourself for fear of injuring your sternum. Laying down to take a bath is out of the question for a bit, since getting out of the tub with or without assistance would be too much of a struggle.  

There were two things I did to set myself up for showering with less fear.  First, it is nice to apply a slip resistant floor in your shower to prevent any issues.  These can be found at most stores and are something that you can do before heading to the hospital. 

I also was not afraid to ask for help.  Sometimes, just having another person in the bathroom or right outside the door was really nice.  It is amazing how these simple tasks can be so nerve racking, and having support is so beneficial.        

What about food shopping?

Before heading to the hospital, it is also important to stock up your home with groceries.  If you have someone that will be caring for you, they might want to consider helping with this before you are released from the hospital.  Taking care of a person after heart surgery is a full time job and they might not want to leave the house.

In my cse, I was in the hospital for a total of 6 days.  Before surgery, I bought a lot of non-perishable foods that I like.  I made sure to come home to foods that were healthy and delicious.   Talking to a doctor or nutritionist about these options could be a good idea. The only thing I did not buy was fruits and veggies.  I eat a lot of fruits and vegetables, and since I was in the hospital for almost a week, I asked my family to get these for me before I got home so that they would not go bad. 

The key here is to think ahead and take on as many of the necessary tasks before surgery so that when you come home, they are not a concern.  

Preparing for healing was the first step toward getting back to what I love!

Conclusion? 

Before heading into surgery, prepare your house.  Make sure your bedroom is easily accessible, your bathroom is ready to go, and your food is stocked.  Your job when coming home is to heal.  Healing is a full time job with an inconsistent schedule, so make sure to think ahead, ask for help, and be prepared.

These are a few, simple considerations to start with.  I will add more specifics to future posts to answer questions that people send to me.