After Open Heart Surgery:An Appreciable Journey

For one who has had conventional,chest-splitting open heart surgery,expectations should be tempered by reality.This person is not going to be able to leap back into their previous life all at once.Healing from such a major intervention is a gradual,multi-dimensional process.
Visual disturbances are a signature event for many open heart patients.Whether attributable to the large number of medications being taken,the after-effects of anesthesia or being on the heart-lung machine for several hours,this can be one of the most disconcerting aspects of recovery.These patients may experience auras or silent migraines,which are bright spots,double vision,or a combination of visual effects-possibly for months.
Auras or silent migraines are often referred to as ocular migraines.Most often,they are not accompanied by headaches in the open heart patient.Such migraines without pain are also referred to as acephalgic migraines.The patient may be referred to a number of specialists,according to the anecdotal literature,but end up with little to show for it.
Another effect the open heart patient must accept is attacks of fatigue.Of a sudden,they feel an overwhelming need for a nap,which they are best advised to accede to.These fatigue episodes,like ocular migraines,may alarm the patient,but are signs that the wounded body needs to focus on regrouping itself,rather than on a slate of activities the patient may have planned for the day.
For an extended period,the main job of the open heart patient is the restoration of health in itself.Other considerations need to be set aside so the patient may be successfully reconstituted.