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Hi Jim... I had a minimally invasive mitral valve repair 8 years ago when I was 53. I'm not a runner, but I exercise vigorously with fast walking on an inclined treadmill. After the surgery I got back to pretty much where I had been, though not better. I'm glad your cardiologist is working with...

Finding out how much support I had from loved ones and friends was wonderful. I couldn't believe how many people helped me in different ways and how kind they were. Longer-term, I feel as though I developed more perspective on life, appreciating the little and big pleasures more and not feeling...

Kaiser provided me with some guided meditations by Belleruth Naparstek to download. Two that I found helpful were on surgery and on healing respectively. PM me if you would like a copy of the MP3 files.

First, don't worry about your condition deteriorating and causing permanent damage. If your symptoms worsen in the next month, your surgery date can be moved up. In my case, I was initially planning to have surgery in a couple of weeks, but I woke up one morning with shortness of breath, went to...

Night sweats could also be related to perimenopause.

A few years ago I had my bodyfat tested in two different ways on the same day, once by calipers (skin fold test) and once by a bioimpedance machine. The results were wildly different (more than 7 percentage points) so I couldn't believe either of them. I imagine the dunk tank is the only way to...

Great news that you were able to have a repair instead of a replacement.

Surgery isn't what anyone wants to go through, but this is a very well-understood procedure with typically excellent results. We'll all be here waiting to hear from you when you're able to post again (or sooner, if you have questions before you go in).

My energy was still limited three months after my surgery. I went back to full-time work and commuting, and tried to go back to gym workouts, but I just didn't have the energy yet, so I scaled back to walking for a while. By six months my energy level was completely normal again. Sometimes I...

Mitral valve repair is usually preferred over replacement, but this depends on the exact nature of the problem and also on the skill of the surgical team. You can read detailed information here: 2020 ACC/AHA Guideline for the Management of Patients With Valvular Heart Disease Section 7 deals...

I was disconcerted to find how little energy I had after my surgery. I had thought that, being fit and relatively young (53), I would bounce back quickly. Instead, at first my daily schedule started out something like this: get up, take pills, eat breakfast rest go for ten-minute walk rest...

What to have at home to aid in recovery: I found it very useful to have a shower seat at first. Also a bathroom scale, a home blood pressure monitor, and several 7-day pillboxes (I had one for morning, one for evening, and one just for warfarin). Many people swear by having a recliner, but I...

I'm not convinced of the accuracy of fitness trackers/watches in determining heart rate. My max HR is supposed to be about 160. Yesterday I did an interval workout with 130 average, 154 max. Last week I did the same workout with 132 average, 188 max. I am suspicious of the 188 reading. This is...

On the topic of anxiety, here's a useful thread from several years ago: Post Surgery Anxiety

Bleeding can be scary and anxiety-inducing, especially after OHS, even if it's only minor. I use a few techniques that have been helpful in dealing with that anxiety: observing myself having the feeling of anxiety, like a view from above, thinking "there you go again," i.e. becoming a detached...

A relative of mine had this about a year ago, for atrial fibrillation (not a valve patient). I don't know a lot of details, but she seems to be doing well with it and is happy to be off ACT.

There's a difference between the kind of pain that keeps you from sleeping or distracts you from concentrating on other things, and the kind of pain that is merely annoying and that can be reduced by being careful with your movements and positioning. The second kind is pretty much guaranteed...

I thought my incision was fairly painful after surgery, though I didn't have anything to compare it with. For a while I couldn't sleep on my right side, and lifting or pulling motions with my right arm hurt (like lifting a stack of dishes to an upper shelf, or pulling the refrigerator door...

Thanks for the update, Gail. Please keep the news coming (hopefully news about you feeling better every day).

How frustrating! Sounds like you just have unlucky timing. Sorry you're going through this extra stress.