After
The first days are intensive care, then a ward. You’ll be asked to walk sooner than feels reasonable, and to hug a pillow when you cough. The breastbone is the slow part — it’s bone, and bone takes its time. Expect weeks of no lifting, no pushing, no pulling yourself up with your arms.
Tiredness arrives in waves and lasts longer than you expect. So does a strange flatness of mood that a lot of people describe and almost nobody mentions beforehand. It is common, and it passes.
Cardiac rehab, where it’s available, is worth every session. And the scar fades into something you stop noticing — right around the time you notice you can climb stairs without stopping.