Recovery guide Appointments & monitoring
Follow-up care after heart surgery
Discharge is not the end of treatment; it is a handover. The weeks that follow involve several different people, and knowing who does what makes the whole thing far less bewildering.
Posthorax Australia · Reviewed 30 July 2026 · About a 4 minute read
Who you will see, and when
Exact timing varies between hospitals and between procedures, so use the dates on your discharge summary rather than these as gospel. The usual pattern is:
- Your GP, often within a week — wound check, medication reconciliation, blood tests, and a certificate if you need one.
- The surgical team, commonly around four to six weeks — sternal healing, wound review, and clearance to lift restrictions.
- Cardiac rehabilitation, usually starting within a few weeks and running for six to twelve — supervised exercise, education and monitoring.
- Your cardiologist, for the heart itself: rhythm, valve function, medications and longer-term risk.
What to bring
Take a current medication list to every appointment, including anything bought over the counter. Take your discharge summary. And take a written list of questions — almost everyone forgets two of the three things they meant to ask.
Useful ones: what are my lifting limits now, when can I drive, when can I return to work, which symptoms should make me call rather than wait, and how long do I keep wearing chest support?
Keeping track between visits
A simple daily note of weight, walking distance and how the wound looks makes the next appointment far more productive than trying to remember. Rapid weight gain and swelling matter to your team; so does a wound that changes.
If something worries you between appointments, ring. Cardiac units expect these calls and would much rather answer one early than manage a complication late.
Questions patients ask
+How soon after heart surgery is my first appointment?
Most patients see their GP within about a week of discharge and the surgical team at around four to six weeks, but this varies by hospital and procedure. Your discharge summary has your actual dates.
+What happens at the six-week surgical review?
The team checks how the sternum has healed and reviews the wound, then discusses lifting, driving, work and exercise. It is usually the appointment where restrictions are relaxed and chest support is discontinued.
+Do I have to do cardiac rehabilitation?
It is not compulsory, but it is the intervention with the strongest evidence for improving outcomes and confidence after cardiac surgery. If transport or timing is the barrier, ask about home-based or telehealth programmes.
Who writes this, and what it is not
Written by Posthorax Australia, the Australian distributor of the POSTHORAX® range, for patients and families after cardiac surgery. General recovery guidance reflects standard postoperative practice; claims about the device come from the trials cited on our clinical evidence page.
We are not your treating team and this is not medical advice. Where anything here conflicts with your surgeon, GP, physiotherapist or cardiac rehabilitation service, follow them.
Reviewed 30 July 2026 · Corrections: sales@posthorax.com.au