Does anyone have any advice on after open heart from AAA repair.

So much to consider! If you posted this a month out I would’ve said do lots of chair squats if your legs weren’t already strong. You can’t push to get yourself up for a while.

If they offer you one of those cool heart-shaped pillows, take one! If not make sure you have a pillow to hold against you for rolling over and getting up. Be prepared to sleep on your back for a while.

Button front shirts are easier to deal with since you can’t lift your arms over your head for a while. Baggy shirts work, too.

Especially when you are in the hospital don’t be a hero and turn down the pain medications! I started to do that my first time around and had a very funny nurse lecture me at three in the morning! I was thinking opioids bad. He pointed out being in pain and having it take longer to heal is worse. He was right! And they may send you home with strong drugs. Since you likely will have someone with you if you are worried you can have them hold them for you. I ended up splitting mine in half and only took half of what they sent me home with. And it’s not because I love pain!

Even if you don’t want to get up and move, get up anyway. I had OT and PT people in right away. I was blessed that I am in good physical condition for someone who needed two heart surgeries that is! If you are one who does not want to move the professionals and the nurse who will come see you will encourage you! I’m pretty competitive so each suggestion was something to win for me 😉

You will not be able to drive or lift much for a while. Doing laundry and making beds was off for me. I don’t like doing those anyway! I was able to find housekeepers and laundry services.

Be kind to yourself. Healing is a process and it takes time. I had to dig for that level of patience! I know lots of others will have suggestions too so I’m going to stop hogging all the space here! Best of luck and keep us all apprised as to progress. And questions!

@racersailor Thank you that is all good advice and I will not forget. But I am still lifting 50 lb bags of cubes at 75 and driving tpost. That is one of the reason I wanted the surgeon to go ahead and repair. I' m still healthy ad strong. I do live by myself so I am very independent. Knee and hip replacement were actually a snap I am printing all advice to carry with me

@scottbliz I also live alone. I rounded up a collection of dear friends who were willing to stay with me for the week to two weeks that my surgeon and staff wanted. Were I not able to have done that I might have ended up in a rehab facility for a bit. I was not allowed to drive for six weeks both times. Probably a really good idea seeing as I had a standard transmission car at that point! Keep in mind the restrictions are for your benefit, even if they chafe when you’re used to doing for you!

@racersailor Thank you and yes I will take to Heart all the great advice

Search for a post I made a year ago. I made a list of all the things I learned when I had emergency OHS, AAA, Aortic Dissection. I didn't know I was having surgery in five minutes. I learned the hard way.
But search up my list somewhere on here.

In addition to racersailors excellent suggestions, here are a few that were very helpful to me: if you don’t have a bench in your shower get a shower chair to sit in, I also put a chair outside the shower and covered it with towels so I could dry off sitting down, take any dishes and glasses out of your cupboards and put them on the counter because you won’t be able to reach up for them, follow all the instructions they give you when you are discharged including using the breathing spirometer often(I hated it but it did keep my lungs clear).

And for me my power recliner was absolutely the only place I could sleep for about 2 months.

Wishing you all the best with your surgery and recovery! ❤️‍🩹

@wtamminen Thankyou, those are all great.

I was in your shoes about 8 weeks ago. Welcome to the healing club!

Walking....lots of Walking. I did short walks to minium tired 3 times a day at 2 weeks It sounds counter intuitive but me walking everyday since I got out of surgery actually helped me heal so much faster. It started out .2 miles took me 30 minutes in week 2. Now on week 10 I am doing 2.5 miles in 40 and my pain has been well managed.

Also defently do the breathing exercises multiple times a day. I had a breathing out bike and a the suck in thing. Those helped get all the fluid out in 6 days and then helped me get my wind back with the walking.

Also I didn't rush anything. If I needed to sleep I selpt. I let the person I had helping me pick up everything. I just kept things absolutely as simple as possible.

Also I bought one of these for the bed to keep me laying on my back: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08BLDHPKL
It was amazing! Ignore the pregnancy pillow part and just enjoy letting it help your body relax when you have to lay on your back. Then it can be adjusted when you want to sit up for comfort.

@bignelie Thank you. I do appreciate all the hint/advice I can get.

Hi Scott,
Well, it's been almost 2 years since I had my AAA surgery and I am doing incredibly well, You will not enjoy those first few weeks post surgery and I had a couple setbacks (pericarditis, for one) but I toughed it out. Like everyone said, get out and walk as much and as often as possible... multiple times daily if you have the energy to do so. I used a step counter on my watch and tried to get above 10k daily... You will thank yourself later when you recover much quicker!! For sure, do those breathing exercises when you are not walking... I still use the spirometer to make sure I am still fit.

After almost 2 years, I am hiking here in the Rockies up to 12k+', snowshoeing, biking and still walking when not up in the mountains. There is lots of life left after your surgery and that made it all worthwhile for me.