Open Heart Surgery Recovery Time
Written By: Adam Pick, Patient Advocate, Author & Website Founder
Page Last Updated: May 11, 2025
In my opinion, the recovery time from heart valve repair and heart valve replacement surgery needs much, much, much more attention and patient education.
"Why does Adam say that?" you might be wondering.
Well... Leading up to my open heart surgery, much of the focus was strictly on the surgical process of replacing my diseased heart valve.
The key questions raised during this time were:
- "Which surgical option should I chose?"
- "What type of valve replacement should I select?"
- "Who will be my surgeon?"
- "Where will the surgery take place?"
- "How much will the surgery cost?"
Needless to say, these are all incredibly important questions.
Yet, as I look back on it, neither my cardiologist or surgeon sat me down to discuss open heart surgery recovery time.
It is true that I received some coaching on the "do's and don'ts" of heart valve surgery recovery. I receiving a ten-page handout upon hospital discharge. However, I never received a detailed, comprehensive set of verbal or written instructions to accelerate or appropriately pace my open heart surgery recovery time.
As a result, my recovery was filled with many unexpected challenges and pitfalls. To some extent, my recovery turned into a rollercoaster - with multiple "ups" and "downs". Some of the issues I faced included cardiac depression, sternum pain and Vicodin addiction.
Like many patients during their open heart surgery recovery time, I experienced many thoughts of "What's wrong with me?" and "Will I ever truly be my old self again?"
Patient Realities About Open Heart Surgery Recovery Time
In creating this website and writing my book, I decided to find out if I was alone in these thoughts. That said, I ran an extensive survey. I asked hundreds patients about their recovery experience.
As I learned during this research, most heart valve surgery patients surveyed suggested that heart valve surgery recovery was "more difficult than expected". The patients surveyed also suggested that their cardiologists and surgeons could have better prepared them for their recovery.
My research suggested that the recovery time from heart surgery has a significant range. When answering the question, "How long did it take you to return to work?", some patients stated they felt recovered in 2 to 3 weeks. Others responsed that it took over 15 weeks to recover from heart surgery.
Enhanced Recovery After Cardiac Surgery (ERAS)
It should also be noted that new protocols have been established to accelerate patient recovery and minimize patient discomfort after heart surgery.
ERAS, for example, provides medical teams unique processes, best practices and techniques for helping patients recover faster after open heart surgery. Watch this video with Dr. Judson Williams, a leading heart valve surgeons at WakeMed, to learn more about ERAS.
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Written by Adam Pick
- Patient & Website Founder
