HF 8251

Cardiac Intensive Care Unit Recovery Clinic

Heart disease can impair your ability to live your life, especially when recovering from critical illness. Everyone has a different experience in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU), it depends on their illness.

Our goal is to help you return to life after a stay in the ICU. We will help create a plan just for you to help you get back to living life. We will work one on one with you to meet your physical and mental healthcare needs.

What to Expect

Check in at the Main Check-In Desk at East Madison Hospital. You will be asked to wait for your appointment outside of Hallway G. We may ask you to fill out some paperwork while you wait. This will help us learn more about you after you have been discharged from the hospital. It will also help us track your progress.

Your visit can take one hour or longer depending on your needs. To give you the best care possible, you will see many different people on the same visit. They will come to you so that you can stay in the same room.

You may visit with a:

  • Cardiologist

  • Resident physician

  • Pharmacist

  • Dietitian

  • Exercise Physiologist

  • Social worker

What to Bring

  • Family or other caregivers.

  • Questions you may have. It is often helpful to write them down ahead of time.

  • All medicines, in their bottles. Include over the counter medicines and supplements.

  • You may have questions about going back to work. We can answer them during this visit. Please bring any paperwork with you.

  • A list of past and upcoming doctors’ visits, tests, procedures, or scans outside of UW Health. We can review these results and compare them to when you were in the hospital. This will reduce duplicate testing that may have been ordered.

Life after the ICU

After a stay in the ICU, you may still have medical needs that we can help with. Our team includes providers with knowledge in cardiovascular disease, critical care, and recovery from serious illnesses.

After staying in the ICU, you may have:

  • Weakness, shaking or trembling.

  • Feeling tired and short of breath.

  • Voice changes or swallowing problems.

  • Pain, numbness, or tingling.

  • Memory loss or confusion.

  • Not slept, are sleeping less, or having nightmares.

  • Depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress.

  • Mood swings, irritability, or anger.

Health Care

Help from community services, family, friends or caregivers are common needs after a stay in the ICU.

Post-intensive Care Syndrome (PICS) is a group of the above symptoms or conditions. At least half of ICU patients could have PICS after being in the hospital for a critical illness.
PICS includes problems in three areas:

  • Cognition

  • Mental and emotional health

  • Physical function

We may ask you to have a series of tests to best diagnose and treat PICS.
Family members may also be affected by your stay in the ICU. About one in three family members will develop mental health issues. This is called PICS-Family (PICS-F).
Our goal is to restore your overall quality of life, and we will work with you and your support system to help you to do so.

Who to Call

If you have questions or are unable to keep your visit time, please call us at:
608-263-1530

Parking at East Madison Hospital
Patients can park either in the parking ramp, or anywhere in the surrounding surface lots.

CICU Recovery Clinic
UW Health East Madison Hospital
4602 Eastpark Blvd
Madison, WI 53792