Heart Surgery Recovery


 

When I found out I needed heart surgery one of the first things I asked is "what will the recovery be like?".

I am still waiting for the surgery and I will continue to blog the journey, but there are some things I already know to expect. I'm aware when I shared with you that I needed heart surgery some of you may have thought "what will life look like for Helen after surgery?'. 


1. Recovery time is from two weeks to one month 

If all goes well and there are no complications then I should be returning to work and "normal" life after one month. This could take longer if my surgical wound gets infected, or if there are any other complications. If you require a stent after having a heart attack it can take several weeks or months to recover. 


2. How long does the operation take? And how long will I have to stay in hospital?

The operation can take up to 2 hours (if all goes well) and typically they only keep you in hospital for one night.


3. Are there any risks associated with the surgery?

Heart surgery can range from being extremely safe to quite risky depending on what your procedure is. Thankfully for me the balloon and stent operation is very safe. The surgeon I spoke with said there's less than 1% chance of anything going wrong, and in his entire career he's never once had anything go wrong.


4. What happens in the surgery?

For my condition it requires an invasive catheter. This will be inserted in the femoral artery near my groin and they will then be able to access my aorta. They will firstly take measurements of my coarctation (meaning the narrowing) and they will then insert a balloon to widen the aorta and then insert a stent which should permanently keep my aorta the width it needs to be.


5. Could this impact my ability to carry a child and give birth safely?

As a heart patient I will be a high risk pregnancy. Thankfully my heart condition post surgery doesn't stop me from safely carrying a child. However it will mean I will get regularly monitored, especially as high blood pressure can be common in pregnancy and it could be dangerous having high blood pressure whilst having a stent in my main artery. I will need to let my cardiologists know when we start trying to get pregnant, I will have to give birth in the hospital and I could likely get medical intervention such as an epidural or a c-section to reduce the pressure on my heart.


6. Will I need further operations?

Hopefully not, there is a 2-3% of the narrowing coming back, this usually will happen in the 9 months following surgery. If that does happen they would fit another stent. 


I hope that's answered any questions you might have had. I will continue to update you on my journey to hopefully a stronger healthier heart! 

Next Blog: Our Honeymoon in Madeira 




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