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Hi Becky, There is lots of useful information here if you go hunting for it. Look in the "Post Surgery" forum and you'll find many people's stories of their surgery experiences (you can use "story" or experience" as a search term). There is also a "sticky" topic there entitled "After your...

Most mitral valve repairs are expected to last indefinitely. Here's an article from 2015 with encouraging numbers about occurrence of regurgitation and need for re-operation after minimally invasive mitral valve repair: https://cardiothoracicsurgery.biomed...019-015-0390-y Highlights: "[R]ate...

Thanks for starting the thread, Martin. Sorry to hear about your stitches, but glad they were only in your calf instead of your foot or some other highly inconvenient spot. I'm not a fan of BMI as a metric because it doesn't account for how much muscle versus fat someone has. Body fat...

I'm here, though I only speak up if I have something to say that someone else hasn't already said better. One thing I'm curious about here at Staying the Course is people's emphasis on the role of exercise in losing weight. Does it really make that much difference? I agree that regular exercise...

The first time I had an optical migraine I took myself to the ER because I thought I was having a retinal detachment. I know someone else who did the same thing because she thought she was having a stroke. The visual disturbance pattern of an optical migraine is pretty classic. I've even seen...

A lot of people have posted here about getting optical migraines (just the visual aura, without the headache) for the first time after surgery, or getting them more frequently. I had gotten one or two a year for nearly 20 years before my surgery, but they became more frequent afterward, and now...

I live alone and remember the feeling well of having too much time to think about things and obsess. What really helped was any activity that involved interacting with people and being busy. I went on a short trip with some family members and was amazed at how little I worried when I had new and...

Fitbits are known to be inaccurate at heart rate tracking. I have a Charge 2 and formerly had a Charge HR, and neither of them seemed very accurate, especially at higher heart rates. For real heart rate tracking during exercise, I think a monitor with a chest strap is recommended. I wouldn't...

Have you investigated the possibility of endometrial ablation? I don't know anything about it personally, but I've read that women have had success with this procedure and have avoided the need for a hysterectomy. In any case, you could have a hysterectomy but retain your ovaries, so you...

I'm very glad that the comments here helped you. There have been some good previous discussions about the emotions associated with surgery and recovery, including this one started by workmonkey : http://www.valvereplacement.org/forums/forum/post-surgery/853373-post-surgery-anxiety One motto...

Hi Nate, For what it's worth, I've had Kaiser (Northern California) for over 25 years and had my mitral valve repair surgery done by them. Everything went very well and the hospital care was excellent. It sounds like your G.P. is making sense and knows what he is talking about. No need to jump...

Congratulations! Let us know how your recovery goes. If you're already posting, it looks like you're doing pretty well so far.

Also keep in mind that recovery isn't perfectly linear, it's more like two steps forward and one step back. Don't worry if any one day isn't quite as good as the one before. And don't push too hard -- as the cliche says, it's a marathon, not a sprint. If you're used to being quite healthy, it...

Hi "JM", The article says that, in this study of patients who had originally received biological replacement mitral valves and who needed repeat surgery because those valves had failed, there was essentially no difference in outcome between those whose second surgery was traditional and those...

pellicle - Grooooan! skeptic49 - I hope your sternal closure worked out well for you. I saw in the archives that you needed to have your sternum reopened during your hospital stay. How are you doing now?

That link seems to be behind a paywall, but I think I found the article on a free site: http://interventions.onlinejacc.org/content/11/12/1131

Looks like the rigid sternal fixation study that Jim was a part of has published its results: http://www.annalscts.com/article/view/16499 (abstract) http://www.annalscts.com/article/view/16499/pdf (full document) The full document shows that part of the study was done at Temple, where Jim had...

There have been some good discussions about the emotions associated with surgery and recovery, including this one started by @workmonkey: http://www.valvereplacement.org/forums/forum/post-surgery/853373-post-surgery-anxiety If you search the archives using keywords like "anxiety" you will find...

Has your husband gone to cardiac rehab, or will he be able to do so? Many people say that helped them greatly in learning to trust their bodies again. I wasn't offered it, but I wish I had been.

The Cleveland Clinic has many patients who travel there for treatment, and you will see that their website has a lot of information about the logistics. If you search the archives of this forum you'll find a few people who have gone there for surgery. You can also get a second opinion remotely...