I am a respiratory therapist that worked in an Open heart unit for about 3 years.. as part of a rotation... anyways.. there were a ton of elderly people who had open heart surgery, and came out just fine... My most impressive patient I have to say was a 90 y/o lady who was walking 2 days after.. it was amazing! I do know that it all depends on how determined the patient is on recovery, and listen to the Respiratory therapist when they say breathe deep.. pnemonia is a big risk! that is the number one thing I have seen cause patients not to do well after cardiac surgery.... If I knew more details about this person, I could tell u more