Be sure to follow your doctor's advice and allow the full-recommended period of time before you return to your normal routine. For the first two or three days, you'll be resting in a cardiac intensive care unit where nurses and equipment will monitor your heart and your health around the clock. It's not uncommon to experience an irregular heartbeat following heart surgery and your doctors need to be able to respond quickly to any abnormality. Drugs and sometimes a mild electric shock are used to restore the heart to its normal rhythm. When your doctors feel that you are ready, you will be moved to a non-intensive care hospital bed where you will continue to be monitored for another week or more.
All heart surgery carries some risk.
Possible complications include abnormal heart rhythm, excessive bleeding, infection and kidney failure, damage to the heart muscle and in rare cases, stroke. In order to minimize the chance of complications and to prevent a return of coronary disease, your doctor will probably recommend that you make major lifestyle changes. If you smoke, you will be asked to quit. You will also be given dietary and exercise recommendations. To assist you in making these changes, your doctor may choose to enroll you in a rehabilitation program.