Pillow vs "Heart Hugger"

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ruthienc1

ruthienc1

Well-known member
Joined
Feb 20, 2008
Messages
163
Location
Greensboro, NC
Are any of you familiar with a harness-type thing called the Heart Hugger which you wear after open heart surgery to give added support when coughing, etc.? I'm trying to figure out if that would be more helpful to me than a pillow post-op: I have lung problems and I pretty much know coughing will be an issue for me. Has anyone used it and thought it worthwhile - or do you think a pillow does just fine? It's not cheap! (I think $95 or so...)
The folks on VR have been so helpful to me: I'm less than 7 weeks out from surgery and the more I find out, the less fearful I am. Thanks! I just want to be back on my feet when Baby Hannah arrives in late June. I guess I just get to hold her when she's placed in my lap!
Ruth
 
Hi Ruth?I was given a heart shaped pillow in the hospital?.perfect size?.I have no experience with the hugger you are talking about but my heart pillow worked just fine?.I am glad to hear that you are calming down?that seems to be the trend with most?.Best wishes for a successful operation and a smooth recovery?..Godspeed.
 
Nobody gave me anything "special".....just the suggestion to use a pillow. :( Even in the hospital, I just used an ordinary pillow. It worked fine.
 
I was given a heart shaped pillow too, and my surgeon circled the mitral valve and autographed the pillow for me LOL
 
I actually bought one of those "Heart Huggers" but never could figure out how to wear it comfortably. For me, a pillow did fine. In fact, a few days after my surgery, a volunteer from the Mended Hearts organization came by and chatted and gave me a heart-shaped pillow. I still have it and treasure it.
 
In hospital I was given a soft folded towel held together with surgical tape, which was referred to as a teddy. It worked just fine. Although it has been washed several times, and is now held together with sticky tape, I still keep it in the bed with me in case I have a coughing fit or sneeze.
I use a small pillow to put between me and the seat belt when I'm a car passenger.

I wish you all the best and a speedy recovery.
 
One of the members of this forum loaned me a hearthugger for my surgery. I showed it to the staff at the hospital during my pre-op prep. . They were familiar with the device, but advised me to use the heart shaped pillow they provided. They didn't want to have to deal with the straps on the hearthugger when I'd have so many other tubes, wires etc. attached to me.
The heart pillow worked just fine for me, & serves as a souvenir from the whole experience. It's autographed by many of the people who took care of me, including Dr. Starr.:)
If a patient is prone to coughing for an extended period during the recovery, the hearthugger could be helpful.
 
RUTH........You can my heart shaped pillow!!!! I never used it.....Honest! I never coughed, sneezed or had the hick-ups until about 3 months after surgery. Its sitting in our spare room with a bunch of other "junk". I got it from the hospital just before I got discharged.
 
An interesting thread. In Japan we use a strapless Heart Hugger called a "chest band". It basically wraps around your entire chest cavity and attaches together with velcro. Plus, it costs less than $20. I pretty much wore this every day for the first 2 months or so. It provided much needed sternum support and prevented me from moving my chest in strange ways. The only downside is that it didn't stay in place very well and kept sliding down towards my stomach. I guess it must be because I'm too skinny!
 
At the Montreal Heart Institute, they rolled up towels and put tape around them. When I got home, my husband rigged up the same thing and pinned in an elastic band to put around my head. I put it over my head when I slept to make sure I didn't get elbowed in the chest by my husband!
 
In my case the hospital was out of devices so my wife brought me Winnie the Poo (my daughters). After sneezing one time without using Winnie I learned to keep him by my side.The day after Winnie arrive my cardio's nurse brought me a heart teddy bear (flat on its back).Winnie and/or the bear were by my side always. Even when I went to work heart teddy bear sat next to me (ever see a banker sitting in a chair with a teddy bear?). When I coughed or sneezed all kinds of strange things happened. Holding Winnie or Teddy over my incision really help.:) Also while driving my wife had Kermit put under the shoulder harness to help with the irritation from the belt.:)
 
JCSydney said:
In hospital I was given a soft folded towel held together with surgical tape, which was referred to as a teddy. It worked just fine. QUOTE]


Must be an "Aussie" thing....thats what they called the folded and sticky-taped towel they gave me to hug as well ;) ... Hubby also bought me a large pink teddy-bear to hug. I hardly used them except to hug onto when I got up.

Post-surgery I found I could barely cough which surprised me...almost 2 years later and I still don't cough properly, its like a pretend cough. This probably isnt the normal result but as you have pre-existing lung trouble I thought it rated a mention. I developed a pneumothorax and now have some Atelectasis (area of lung which doesnt expand). It doesnt restrict me at all except for the lack of coughing which is a minor annoyance.

Like the others have suggested, spend the money on something-else.
Click to expand...
 
wes said:
An interesting thread. In Japan we use a strapless Heart Hugger called a "chest band". It basically wraps around your entire chest cavity and attaches together with velcro. Plus, it costs less than $20. I pretty much wore this every day for the first 2 months or so. It provided much needed sternum support and prevented me from moving my chest in strange ways. The only downside is that it didn't stay in place very well and kept sliding down towards my stomach. I guess it must be because I'm too skinny!
Click to expand...

The purpose of the shoulder straps on the Heart Hugger is to Prevent it from "sliding down towards (the) stomach".

The Design Award goes to the USA (*I assume the Heart Hugger was designed in the USA), BUT...

Let's see, that comes to $75 for those shoulder straps...
hmmm.

'AL Capshaw'
 
hmmm......maybe I could ship a bunch of the chest bands back to the states and we could attach suspenders!
 
My first OHS at Mass General, they gave me a board (I kid you not) with two towels tapped to it) to use for coughing. It was too heavy for me to lift and obviously far too hard. I wadded up my blanket whenever I felt a cough.

I knew to bring my own cough pillow with me this time. I made preparation for my comfort on my own! But when I arrived at the step down unit, my nurse had wadded up several towels and had taped them together. It worked well and I didn't need the pillow I brought.

Funny how Mass General, such a huge, well reknowned heart center, does not have the mended hearts pillows or any other sort of soft, cushy pillow for us heart patients.
 
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