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Mitral valve repair is really remarkable surgery. It definitely requires some months for recovery, but afterward it's as though nothing ever happened (except for the scar). Before my surgery I asked my surgeon if I would feel normal again afterward. He said yes, and I wasn't sure whether I...

Excellent list of questions. You might find a few more here in this pinned thread from the pre-surgery forum: Pre-surgery consultation list of questions

Clarinet parts in wind ensembles can be insanely challenging. I've played in wind ensembles in the past but currently play in a community orchestra. We just played a concert that included Beethoven's Symphony No. 5 and Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 2. The notes didn't require woodshedding...

What instrument do you play? I play clarinet and tuba, and when I was in the hospital for my surgery I was told that I have "long lungs." The X-ray techs would make sure to take my chest X-rays in portrait mode instead of landscape mode. I guess the long tones I (sometimes) practice are good for me.

Congratulations! Thank you for sharing the details of your experience. Glad you got to enjoy your beer!

It's amazing how medical organizations that should know better can get this kind of thing wrong. I was told that I shouldn't even shave with a disposable razor while I was on warfarin, and I was terrified of broccoli too. I really like @vitdoc's point about keeping a higher baseline level of...

Hi Kate, Everyone's experience with waking up is different. If you read the archives of the post-surgery forum, you'll learn more about how things went for various people. Personally, I found that being prepared in this way helped me greatly. When I woke up, I knew the breathing tube would...

Hi Ricaldo, Anxiety is very natural in this situation and can be hard to deal with. I'm glad you are getting help with medication. Have you looked into talk therapy such as Cognitive Behavioral Therapy as well? Mindfulness meditation can also be useful, giving you a different perspective on...

I don't remember that feeling from my MVR surgery, but when I came out of anesthesia for a laparoscopic appendectomy last year, I felt a strong sense of happiness and gratitude. The nurse who was taking care of me in the recovery area told me I was "high as a kite," so it may well have been the...

It was under my right breast, about five inches long. The surgeon told me beforehand that I would still be able to wear a bikini. That was definitely the least of my worries.

I had the minimally invasive mitral valve repair surgery (non-robotic) seven years ago. My understanding is that minimally invasive surgery is pretty much the standard of care for this operation and you shouldn't need a specialty clinic, just an experienced surgeon who has done a lot of these...

I stayed in the hospital for four nights after surgery too. Having your heart surgically remodeled and being on the bypass machine for hours are big deals and take a toll on the body even if your sternum is intact. Fortunately, optical migraines are painless. I'm grateful for that! There are...

I had a similar surgery. No new floaters, but my frequency of optical migraines increased from 1-2/year to 1-2/month. As for numbness, I first noticed a numb patch on my left thigh (near where the cannula went in for the bypass machine) several months later, and I also have partial numbness on...

I think Superman has it right here. My surgery was minimally invasive, but I still had a lot of weakness afterward and took quite a while to get back to full energy levels, perhaps because I was on the bypass machine for nearly three hours. (No pump-head, though.) I'm glad I had the minimally...

My surgeon told me the same thing (I was 53 at the time). I didn't have anything to compare the pain with, but I thought my incision (about five inches long, under my right breast) was pretty painful for a while. Any motion that involved reaching or pulling with my right arm hurt, and it was a...

Every day might not be better than the one before -- it can be two steps forward, one step back. Don't beat yourself up or try to overdo if you have an off day. Just play the long game.

Hi Tonichurch... what would you like to know? What kind of surgery did your husband have, and how is he doing so far?

I had a similar surgery 6.5 years ago. I came out of it with two numb patches which are still numb: one near the incision on the right side of my chest, and one on my upper left thigh near where the femoral cannula went in. It's not a problem, just another couple of souvenirs.

Here's one historical post: Intense Pre-Op Testing Day

This does not look like a peer-reviewed paper. According to Wikipedia, the author, Steven Gundry, "is a former cardiac surgeon and currently runs his own clinic, investigating the impact of diet on health." The first Google hit on his name takes you to his personal website where he sells his own...