After a heart attack, angioplasty or bypass: supporting a parent in India from abroad

What families can organise after a cardiac event: medicines without gaps, follow-up dates, cardiac rehabilitation, warning signs and the emergency plan.

By the Athnova Care team · Updated 2026-09-29

This guide is general information to help families organise care. It is not medical advice — follow your parent's doctor.

The family’s role

After a cardiac event the treatment plan is the cardiologist’s. The family’s job is to make sure the plan is followed — and the commonest way it fails is quietly: a tablet that runs out, a follow-up that is postponed, a walk that never restarts.

Medicines without gaps

Get one written list at discharge and check it against the strips.
Ask the cardiologist which medicines must never be stopped without advice. After a stent this matters a great deal.
Set a refill reminder for each.
Tell every other doctor and the dentist about the heart medicines before any procedure.

General information to help families organise care. Targets, doses and treatment decisions belong to your parent’s doctor.

Follow-ups and tests

Write down each follow-up date as it is given, and book the appointment before leaving the hospital. Keep ECGs, echo reports and the angiography disc in one folder; a new doctor will ask for them.

Cardiac rehabilitation

Many hospitals offer a supervised programme of exercise and advice after a heart attack or surgery. Ask whether your parent is suitable and how to enrol. Parents often do not ask, and are often not told.

Warning signs — call 112

Chest pain or pressure, or pain spreading to the arm, jaw or back.
Breathlessness at rest.
Fainting, or a sudden cold sweat.
Sudden weakness of the face, arm or leg, or difficulty speaking.

The emergency plan

Know which nearby hospital has a 24-hour cardiac unit.
Keep the stent card or surgery summary on the emergency card.
Two local contacts who know what to do.
Ask the cardiologist what your parent should do while waiting for the ambulance.

Questions for the cardiologist at discharge

Which medicines are for life, and which for a fixed period?
What should my parent do, exactly, if the chest pain returns?
When can they climb stairs, travel, drive and return to their usual routine?
Which readings should they take at home, and what numbers should prompt a call?
When is the next review, and which tests should be done before it?

The second event is the one to prevent

Doctors stress that the months after a heart attack or a stent are when staying on treatment matters most. The commonest reasons people stop are practical: the strip ran out, the cost, a side effect they did not mention, or simply feeling well. Ask your parent about each of these directly, and take any problem to the cardiologist rather than stopping a medicine.

Food, walking and tobacco

Hospitals usually give written advice on diet and activity, and many have a dietitian. Ask for it in your parent’s language. If your parent smokes or chews tobacco, ask the doctor about help to stop — it is one of the most useful changes they can make.

Mood and confidence

Low mood and fear of exertion are common after a cardiac event. Mention them to the doctor; they are part of recovery, not a weakness.

Questions families ask

Can my parent travel by air after angioplasty?

That depends on their condition and recovery. Ask the cardiologist before booking.

What should be on the emergency card for a heart patient?

Medicines, the stent or surgery details with dates, the cardiologist’s name and the preferred hospital.

How often are follow-ups needed after angioplasty?

The cardiologist sets the schedule. Put each date in a shared calendar and book the next visit before leaving the clinic.

Athnova Care tracks and coordinates care. It does not diagnose, prescribe or replace a doctor. In a medical emergency in India call 112.