After surgery
Immediately after surgery, you will be taken into the intensive care area.
When you wake up you may have the breathing tube still in place, some draining tubes coming out of your chest and some intravenous lines to give you medication through the bloodstream.Therefore you will not be able to speak or move; a catheter will help you with your physiological needs.
You will be closely watched by a team of nurses, heart surgeons and intensive care anaesthesiologists. Your heatbeat will be recorded and monitors will be all around your bed. All these lights and the alarm sounds you hear are useful to monitor your conditions. It is for your benefit; therefore you do not have to worry about.
After this initial stage in intensive care, you will be transferred to a regular room where you will learn how to exercise in order to improve your movement and breathing potential. Here you can also be visited by your relatives.
After heart valve surgery, you may need to undergo anticoagulation therapy, by means if what is known as a “blood thinner”. This therapy may last some months in the case of valve repair or replacement with a biological valve; it may last longer in case of presence of arrhythmias. It will last for all you life if the valve replacement was performed with a mechanical valves; your surgeon will discuss therapy with you, together with any other related medication needs. You will need to do some blood tests to check that you are receiving the correct dosage of anticoagulation medication.
The healing period lasts on average 2 to 3 weeks, but some people recover faster than others. During this time you should follow your doctors advice and undergo some follow-up examinations.
You will be asked to help in checking up and looking after your health by following procedures taught in hospital, exercising, and checking your temperature and the healing of the incision made during surgery.