As a patient, you are a part of our team. We think it is important for you to know what to expect before, during and after your surgery. We believe that when you know what to expect you will not worry as much, and you will recover better from your surgery.
Mood and Stress
Mood Swings
Mood swings are common the first several weeks after surgery. Keep in mind that everyone has good days and not so good days. It is important to remember that heart surgery is a big surgery and there is an emotional recovery as well as a physical one. Cardiac surgical patients are at particular risk for a prolonged case of the "blues" or feeling despondent. These feelings and mood swings will resolve over time. Look at your improvements each day and try not to get discouraged during this initial period of recovery. If a particular mood should become a prolonged problem affecting your ability to completely recover physically and emotionally from your surgery, please consult your doctor.
Stress
It is important to remember that not all stress is bad. It is positive stress that gets us up and moving each day. However, certain types of chronic stress can increase the risk of heart disease. Too much stress can also make it difficult for you to adopt a healthy lifestyle. Under stress, the body reacts in predictable ways:
- Adrenaline flows
- Breathing speeds up
- Heart rate speeds up
- Blood pressure rises
- Blood vessels to the digestive organs clamp down so that more blood goes to the muscles.
Stress affects everyone differently. You may have no physical symptoms, but be uncomfortably anxious. You may not be aware of anxiety, but may suffer from aches and pains as a result of muscle tension.
The first thing to learn about stress is that it is not only the outside circumstances (the stressors) that count. It is your reaction to them.
Do not let a small stressful episode build into a big one. Here are some techniques that will help you survive stressful moments in your life.
- Call a time out. Stop the activity or conversation that is causing you stress until you feel calmer.
- Count to 10 before you speak.
- Move and go to another room.
- Walk. Exercise is the best natural tranquilizer there is.
- Sit quietly and breathe deeply for one or two minutes. Put your hand on your stomach and make sure that it goes out every time you breathe in and that it goes in every time you breath out.
- Remember a favorite scene from your past such as a happy day on a warm beach or the stillness of a lake at sunrise. Return to and focus on that scene when you feel stressed.
- Do not let negative thoughts take over. When one creeps into your brain say, "Stop" to yourself. Try wearing a rubber band around your wrist, and snap it, to jolt the thought out of your system.
- Break big problems up into manageable sizes.
- Talk to someone about whatever is troubling you. The act of talking to someone about your problem is often enough to put it into perspective.
- Do some work that you have been putting off. You will feel terrific afterwards.
Remember that you are very different from everybody else in the world. What works for someone else may not work for you.
Visitors
Visitors mean well. They care about you and want to see how you are doing. However, too much visiting can be exhausting and interfere with your recovery. You may want to set some ground rules. For example, asking people to call before they come over or asking them not to follow you if you leave the room to rest. If there is someone else living with you who can answer the phone or the door and help you keep your visits at a manageable level it is helpful during your first few weeks at home.
Warning Signs
Signs and symptoms you should let your doctor know about:
Special assistance 
Massachusetts General Hospital's ambassadors and volunteer escorts can provide special assistance as needed to patients and visitors arriving at or being discharged from the hospital.
