Cardiac surgery: Recovery at home

During this recovery period, your child may need special attention and care to ensure a smooth transition from the hospital setting to home. 

This includes following specific guidelines for wound care, monitoring for any signs of complications, and adjusting daily activities as recommended by their healthcare team. 

By staying informed and proactive, you can help facilitate the best recovery for your child. 

Activity levels on discharge

  • It is a good idea to keep strenuous exercise to a minimum in the two weeks after discharge. A rest during the day can be helpful. 
  • Normal activities should be able to be restarted after the follow-up with your cardiologist, unless they tell you otherwise. If you have any questions regarding contact sport, check at your follow-up appointments. 
  • Babies can recommence tummy time after clearance from the cardiac team, usually at the surgical follow up appointment. 

Returning to school and daycare

  • Your child should not return to school or day care until the first follow-up visit after surgery. 
  • After most routine heart operations your child should be able to return to school four to six weeks after their operation. The surgeon will tell you when normal activities can be resumed.  
  • If a medical certificate is required, please ask your doctor or nurse before discharge. 

Diet

  • Your child may eat and drink as usual, unless otherwise specified. If a dietitian has been involved in your child鈥檚 feeding in hospital, it is important to follow this routine at home. 
  • Encourage a healthy, balanced diet that promotes healing and recovery, including fruit, vegetables, meat and dairy products. 
  • It is important to watch your child for signs of dehydration. These include less wet nappies, urinating less or a darker colour, dry mouth or sunken fontanelle (the soft spot on your baby鈥檚 head). 
  • Remember to give your child extra drinks on hot days or when they have been very active. 

Back to home routine

  • Your child鈥檚 routine would have been disrupted during their hospital admission. 
  • You can expect some temporary personality changes in your child. This is usually caused by the  traumatic period in hospital and lack of usual routine. 
  • During this time you need to support and reassure your child.
  • You can expect your previous routine to resume in a few weeks.  

Immunisations

  • If your child is due for immunisations, it is better to wait until after the follow-up appointments. 
  • Vaccinations may cause a reaction that can be confusing when trying to determine if an illness is due to the surgery, or the side-effects of the vaccine. 
  • Speak to your cardiologist to discuss when to give your child their next vaccination dose. 
  • Current recommendations suggest delaying the measles, mumps, rubella (MMR) or varicella vaccines for up to seven months following cardiac surgery. If your child is due for these vaccinations, please speak to your bedside nurse or the Cardiac CNC. 

 

Dental care

  • Many of the germs in our mouths are the germs that can cause infections in our hearts. 
  • It is important to encourage your child to brush their teeth at least twice every day and have regular dental check ups. 
  • Talk to the cardiologist before your child has any dental treatment. They will advise you if your child needs to take any special precautions beforehand.  

Infective endocarditis precautions

  • Infective endocarditis, also called bacterial endocarditis, is an infection caused by bacteria that enters the bloodstream and settles in the heart lining, a heart valve or a blood vessel. 
  • Infective endocarditis is uncommon, but individuals with certain cardiac conditions have a greater risk of developing the infection. 
  • Talk to your child鈥檚 cardiologist at your child鈥檚 follow up appointments to determine if they need to take any special precautions.  

When to go to Emergency 

  • fever above 37.5 degrees centigrade 
  • vomiting 
  • increasing loss of appetite 
  • lethargy/weakness/increasing tiredness 
  • abdominal pain/back pain/shoulder pain 
  • increasing breathlessness  
  • dry cough 
  • redness/pus/excessive pain at incision site 

If the above problems develop or if you have any other concerns, please call the hospital and ask to speak to your child鈥檚 Cardiologist, Cardiac Nurse,  
or the Cardiac Fellow on-call. 

Take your child to the Emergency Department at your closest hospital. Inform the emergency doctor and nurse that your child has had recent heart surgery. Give the admitting doctor or nurse a copy of the medical discharge summary. 

If you see your GP or go to another hospital, it is important to let us know, especially in the first few weeks after surgery. Please call the Cardiac CNC during business hours, or the ward after hours. 

If your child looks very sick you should call an ambulance to take your child to the nearest hospital. 

Cardiac nursing team

Phone: (02) 7825 2346 

Email [email protected]