Christmas gift for the bypass patient??

Nurses General Nursing

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So my dad had a triple bypass yesterday and is doing very well!! YEAH!! So question to you cardiac nurses....any good gift ideas? I'm leaning towards both funny and/or useful. I looked all over the internet for a t-shirt that says "I had a triple bypass and all I got was this lousy t-shirt" but I couldn't find one. So of course I am going to get him all his favorite magazines, some books, ect. But certainly I could get some good gift ideas from you guys. He's looking at a minimum 2 week hospital stay. Thanks in advance.

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Specializes in ER, LTC, IHS.

He definatly needs a pillow to splint his chest with to do deep breathing and coughing. How about some cute or fancy pillow. You can also go to a T shirt screen print store and get the lettering customized on a shirt. I'm glad the surgery went well and that you will have a great Christmas with your father!

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Hi! I just went to cafepress.com and found a shirt that says " I love my triple bypass" and " I survived my triple bypass". I'm sure there are others there.

Glad to hear the surgery went okay, and enjoy Christmas with your dad!

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Specializes in Critical Care.

Minimum 2 week stay ? Thats pretty long for a post-op CABG, we used to have them out in 5-7 days. But def a nice small pillow for splinting his chest would be a good gift considering it's going to take his sternum about 6 weeks to heal and he'll need it for when he is riding in a car too so see if you could find one in the shape of a heart or something creative like that. But I'm glad to hear he is doing well!

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Specializes in LTC.

Nice pair of slippers and a robe?

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Specializes in Holistic and Aesthetic Medicine.

Have you seen a heart hugger? They are waaaaaaaay more effective than squeezing a pillow. http://www.hearthugger.com/how-to-use.html

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Specializes in ED. ICU, PICU, infection prevention, aeromedical e.

No slip but Slip on slippers (so he doesn't have to bend and won't slip). T-shirts will be hard to put on, get shirts that button in the front.

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Minimum 2 week stay ? Thats pretty long for a post-op CABG, we used to have them out in 5-7 days. But def a nice small pillow for splinting his chest would be a good gift considering it's going to take his sternum about 6 weeks to heal and he'll need it for when he is riding in a car too so see if you could find one in the shape of a heart or something creative like that. But I'm glad to hear he is doing well!

LOL, the first thing I took from this post was "2 week minimal stay"?????

A splinting pillow is nice, but chances are, the hospital will give him one. We give out heart shaped splinting pillows and I have seen other hospitals giving out "Sir Cough a Lot" (sp) A stuffed teddy bear to splint with.

How bout a gym membership where he can do his cardiac rehab.

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Specializes in Critical Care.

We give out heart shaped splinting pillows and I have seen other hospitals giving out "Sir Cough a Lot" (sp) A stuffed teddy bear to splint with.

My hospital gave out both..the 'Mended Hearts' People would come around and sometimes the patients (if they were not feeling well) had some nice choice words for them lol. We had the "sir cough a lot bears" funny name I must say, clever.

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Thanks for the ideas....I shouldn't have said "2 week stay." They actually said "in the hospital for Christmas, with the goal of being home by new years." Thanks to you all for the ideas!!

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Specializes in ER, OR, PACU, TELE, CATH LAB, OPEN HEART.

We gave all of our open heart patients BOTH a heart pillow for splinting AND a heart hugger.

Best bet for t-shirts, cafepress.com.

Gym membership that starts after he is medically cleared. That way he can keep up the good exercise/rehab program he started post-op.

Glad things worked out well. Your Dad is lucky to have such a caring and concerned child.

Happy Holidays and Good Luck.

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