GOING HOME AFTER YOUR OPEN HEART SURGERY
1. Follow Up Appointments:
Regardless of whether or not you are discharged to home or to a rehabilitation facility, you will
need to call the Appointment Line at 732-235-7800 and choose option 2 to make the following
2 separate appointments:
1) With the cardiac surgery Nurse Practitioner in 1 week. During this visit, your overall
progress will be assessed; abnormal findings will be treated to prevent worsening of the
condition and rehospitalization. All your questions will be answered, and any concerns
you have will be addressed.
2) Follow up appointment with your cardiologist 2 weeks after discharge. Please call you
cardiologist as soon as you get home to make this appointment
3) With your Surgeon in 3 weeks
2. Care for your surgical incision sites:
It is safe to wash your incision daily with soap and water.
You should shower daily using mild soap and warm water, pat your
incisions dry. Avoid vigorous scrubbing. When closing your
incision, the team uses "glue" called Dermabond to seal the incision.
This will flake off in time, do not pull at the Dermabond; this could
disrupt the healing process.
You will not be able to soak in a bath or submerge in water until your incisions are all
completely healed and there are no visible scabs.
Do not apply any ointments or creams to your incisions. If you are concerned about your
incision, just call!
Inspect your incision daily and call if any of the following occur:
Increased tenderness of the incision line or drainage
Increased redness or swelling around the edge of the incision
Some patients have 2-3 small holes below their chest incision. This is where the chest tubes
were placed during surgery. You may have some drainage from these sites for the first few days
after the chest tubes are removed, this is normal as these sites will heal from the inside out. You
can cover them with a band aid or small gauze. They should become dry and scab over within a
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