Information available for nurses on counseling cardiac patients about the outcomes of bypass surgery has focused on the time following the first postoperative year. In order to assess earlier impact, two groups of bypass patients—alike in terms of preoperative physical activity, angina level, and type of revas-cularization—were compared in terms of quality of life and related areas. Seventeen patients were 3 to 5 months (88–141 days) postoperative and 17 patients were 6 to 8 months (161–222 days) postoperative. They were asked to rate themselves on Cantril's Self-Anchoring Scale in relation to past, present, and future life satisfaction. An analysis of variance (ANOVA) indicated that both groups of patients viewed their future life satisfaction to be better than their life satisfaction prior to open heart surgery. Furthermore, the patients 6 to 8 months postoperative viewed their present life satisfaction to be significantly better than their past (p <.05) Both groups reported a decrease in the level of angina and an increase in the level of physical activity after surgery (p <.001). They also reported greater satisfaction with family life (p <.05;, social life (p <.001), and sexual life (p <.01) following surgery. Overall, there were significant improvements in the quality of life early in the recovery period following surgery. Residual incisional pain may have contributed to any differences between groups.