CABG recovery & visitation expectations?

@delphiniums
Welcome to Mayo Connect!
I understand how worried you must be. It’s a big surgery in itself and then the extra worry about possible transplant.
My husband had an urgent CABG surgery 12 years ago- he is still doing very well.
I was able to visit in the recovery room as well as ICU- generous visitation.
They have to. open up the chest wall at the sternum. In recovery the healing will cause some discomfort. He was discharged home after a couple of days and had therapists come a couple of times.
In general, the hospital stay was easier than expected.
Ask a lot of questions- each institution has different rules, especially if there’s respiratory infections in area- flu, COVID etc

Thank you very much for sharing, and I'm so glad to hear your husband is doing well.

I am wondering if there's a patient advocate at Mayo who I can ask about policies. So far, I have not found a link to anything specific about visitation.

I understand your concerns. I’ll share what we experienced with my Dad’s quadruple bypass in 2000 at Duke. He was 63. Things have probably changed a lot since then. He was rushed to Duke from local hospital (collapsed in stress test, catheterization, heart attack) with expectations to have the surgery the next morning, but an actual blizzard caused them to wait a couple of days with the understanding they would do it sooner, if emergency occurred.

The surgery went well and we were only allowed to see him afterwards in ICU that night. He was in a bedlike contraption, that wasn’t a true bed…harnessed in. It kept him elevated. He looked rough and was not coherent. We (my mom, brother and I) stayed only about 3 minutes. We visited perhaps twice a day like that for the next couple of days. After they took him to a regular room, we stayed in his room all day and left to go to our hotel at dinner time and returned the next morning, He was emotional and depressed. He was irrational and had a lot of fears. He wanted us in his room most of the time. It took months for him to settle out of that. He was released….I think in about a week to 10 days.

He has done quite well since then, taking meds, 3 stents and one cardioversion. His cardiologist and primary are amazed. He’s now 87. He’s weak, but…..still mobile.

I hope things go well with your husband. I’ll look forward to seeing your update.

Thank you so much and I'm happy to hear your dad is still here and loved to this day. Honestly, your tidbit about him being strapped in a "bedlike contraption" makes me feel so much better — one of *my* concerns is that following my husband's recent heart cath, the nurses told him not to do all sorts of things (like lift up his head) and he was doing it constantly, mostly not realizing it.

So I've been worried he'd do something similar recovering from the surgery. I was literally in his cath recovery room holding his head against the pillow. Knowing he'll likely be strapped in and secure when I'm not around genuinely will make me breathe easier while he's not in my sight.

@delphiniums
I don’t remember my husband being strapped in- there was always a nurse at his bedside. The hospital had a separate heart surgery ICU.
Once my husband started to feel better in a day or so he decided to use the bathroom. Severe scolding by nurses.
Pain management was very good too.

Wow, by his bedside?! That is amazing quality of care. Might be a silly question, but was this at Mayo?

No, actually in a local hospital. There was an extremely good cardiothiracic surgeon who set up this heart surgery ICU.

My husband had triple CABG at Mayo Rochester and I was able to be with him at all times as soon as he got out of the operating room. Be aware, the icu room gets very crowded, there are many staff tending on the patient!
Best to you and your hubby.

My experience was in a local hospital. Getting admitted a day early was a blessing. I was well educated about the process in the next 7 days. I met 3 shifts of nurses ahead of time who would continue with my care throughout. I remember waking up afterwards with restraints and wanting to get the ventilator removed. My wife holding my hand at that specific time made all the difference in the world to me. It surely comforted me as I was extremely anxious and delirious. Best wishes and prayers.

This is so powerful to hear, and just affirms to me that I do need to try and be with him as much as possible especially in those initial hours. Thanks for sharing and I'm glad you're doing well.