Hello Evelyn,
Hope all is going well for you and your husband.
I'd like to add a couple of recommendations:
FIRST, find out WHO will be responsible for WHAT post-op.
Typically, the surgeons want to pass you off to your cardiologist and / or PCP ASAP and generally this works OK.
In my case, I had no problems from the surgery but I had a LOT of minor complications, especially reactions and interactions from so many new drugs (in fairly high dosages). My surgeon's office called me a couple of days post op and basically said, "don't call us, call your cardiologist or primary care physician". Admittedly, this saved me from having to drive 100 miles for checkups with the surgeon but it was NOT clear what issues the cardiologist would cover and what issues the PCP would cover. We worked it out, but it's better to know beforehand.
SECOND, PUSH the Breathing Exercises (with the incentive spirometer). I did the recommended number of sets but ended up with 'Walking Pneumonia' 3 weeks after my Bypass surgery and fluid between one of my lungs and the chest wall after my recent Valve Surgery which resulted in a couple of visits to my PCP, a trip to the ER, several drugs (and drug reactions / interactions), and increased use of the 'breathing machine' to finally cure. It seems that one of my lungs did not inflate fully. I can't help but wonder if all that couldn't have been avoided by simply pushing my breathing exercises harder from the start.
'AL'
