After heart surgery recovery - What is the BEST way to treat the patient?

My dad just had a quintuple bypass. He had it about 4 weeks ago. He is still in pain and very irritable. I want to be sure to try and not say the wrong things to him. I just want him to recover with as little stress as possible.

Asking how he is - is getting really old. He is SICK and TIRED of getting all the phone calls and well wishes - He feels like total CRUD.

*For those of you who have had open heart surgery*

How should I handle him/ talk to him in this rough time?

It is a difficult time in recovery. Many men hate this because they feel out of control, and lots of men who have heart bypass surgeries are people for whom control of their life is important. So some of the irritableness is because of their feelings of not being in control. It is also possible to have some mild depression afterward.

Read about psychological recovery after bypass surgery here:
http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/m...

So what should you do? First, don't take his response personally. Also, don't worry so much about saying the wrong thing. It is really going to be difficult to know what is the right thing to say. So just act like he is your father! Talk about current events, things going on, his plan for rehabilitation. Find out what he wants to talk about. Start helping him to do some things that he can have control over.

As far as pain management goes, you should talk with his physician to make sure that his pain management is correct. He should have some pain, but it shouldn't be overwhelming.

Find out also what the schedule for rehabilitation will be. When is he going to start cardiac rehab?

Read more about bypass surgery and recovery here:
http://www.heartinfo.org/ms/guides/16/ma...

Hang in there.

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