Teddy Bears For Open Heart Surgery Patients?
Written By: Adam Pick, Patient Advocate, Author & Website Founder
Page Last Updated: July 16, 2025
I was just surfing the Internet when I came across a furry teddy bear designed for… Yes, you guessed it…. Recovering open heart surgery patients.
After rubbing my eyes (and shaking my head a bit), I then noticed the teddy bear had a little zipper on his chest that opened to reveal a stitched heart.
On one hand, I thought, “Really? That can’t be real.” Then, when I saw there was an opportunity to purchase the bear, I realized the bear was definitely real. It turns out that the Mended Heart Bear (shown above) is part of a stuffed animal line of get-well bears from Bummer Bears. The price for the Mended Heart Bear is $54.
Bummer Bears makes teddy bears for patients recovering from autism, infections, cancer and heart surgery. The company is owned and operated by Katie Espinoza, the mother of a congenital heart disease patient who was diagnosed in utero at a 20-week ultrasound appointment. Click here to learn more.
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Keep on tickin!
Adam
Written by Adam Pick
- Patient & Website Founder
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Kathy J says on May 8th, 2010 at 3:19 pm |
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That’s a way cuter bear than what I got to hold onto during my recovery in the hospital. My bear is called a “Cough Buddy” and he’s a cleverly designed stent for patients to use during recovery from open heart surgery, chest surgery or abdominal surgery. I may have to have one of those “Mended Heart bears”. My bear did get comments from people when I brought him with me to my first doctor appointments after my surgery! |
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Eva Villalobos says on May 8th, 2010 at 4:31 pm |
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Can tricuspid valves be as easily repaired as mitral valves? |
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Fran Zilko says on May 8th, 2010 at 5:13 pm |
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I love my big heart pillow I got for free from the Cleveland Clinic. It says “wishing you a quick recovery”. It now sits on my bed with the unprinted side showing. |
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Dan Brown says on May 8th, 2010 at 5:45 pm |
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I got a bear from the hospital after my surgery. It’s purpose was to hug when I wanted to cough or sneeze to lessen the pain from the incision. I used that bear quite a bit during the first |
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Barry Gordon says on May 8th, 2010 at 6:17 pm |
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Probably work just fine as a replacement for the big heart pillow that is used (hugged) after suregery to assist in coughing spasms. |
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Shelby says on November 13th, 2012 at 10:17 am |
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Thank you for this post. My niece (just 4 yrs old) is going in for open heart surgery Monday morning & I wanted to buy her something special (: |
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Tammy Hensley says on February 7th, 2014 at 8:50 pm |
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Where can I find one of these bears? My Daughter will be having open heart surgery in March,and I think she will like this. |
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