5 weeks; 5 steps forward and 2 back

[dwc]

I has been five weeks since my Robotic MV repair by Dr. Roberts at Holy Cross in Ft. Lauderdale (2 hour drive from where I live).

10 days post op I passed out in my lounger at home and my wife could not wake me. I woke up just before the rescue arrived and took the ride to the Emergency Room. The next day they removed 550ml of fluid from my right side. Instant relief. The Echo confirm that the heart valve repair was solid, no leaks.

After two nights in the local hospital I was back on the road to recovery. Started limited driving, saw the surgeon the next week and a new chest x-ray conformed no new fluid build up.

Four weeks 3 days post op I almost passed out at the computer, took some deep breaths, cleared my head and checked my vitals. All signs were good. The next day my heart rate in the morning was 48 BPM, one hour later it was 150 BPM as measured on three different devices. We made our way to my local Cardiologist and my BPM was 112 in his office. Normal SW. Went home with a CardioPal monitor hooked up to me for the next 3 weeks. Praying that I don't develop an A-Fib situation.

My vitals have been in an acceptable range the past 4 days with my heart rate in the 70-80 range and no symptoms to report. I do have a slight floating sensation at times, but BP remains in an acceptable range. I have chosen to refrain from driving until my head feels clear. My return to work has been move out from 8/15 to 9/4.

Thought that I wuold pass on my experiences.

dwc

Robotic MV Repair July 6, 2012
Holy Cross Hospital, Ft. Lauderdale, FL
Dr. Roberts

 

[Duffey]

It sounds like you've been doing the VR dance. Before you passed out 10 days post-op, did you have symptoms of the fluid build-up?
It's good that you're wearing a monitor. I would be concerned about the possibility of passing out, so good thing they're trying to find the cause and you've made the decision to postpone driving.
Please keep us updated on your progress. It might help someone else post-surgery.
Good luck!
Mary

 

[Bina]

I don't know what meds you may be taking, but sometimes our hearts just need time to adjust to the meds, or need more
time to rest and recover from the awful onslaught of surgery. Some times a pacer is inserted to regulate a stubborn heart rate.
You are wise to postpone driving until you are in the clear and functioning better.
Best wishes

 

[dwc]

Thanks for getting back. The fluid build up was a surprise. I started caughing and I think not being able to bring air in pushed me over the edge and I blacked out.

My current meds are the same as before surgery, except I take diovan 80 instead of diovan/htc 160/6.25.

I will contiue with not driving until we get a handle on this.

Dwc

 

[dwc]

Started back to work 8 weeks post op and made it through the work week fine.
The heart monitor I was on for 30 days recorded one short incident of Afib, so during that time I started taking Multaq to control it. The cardiologist said that I may be able to come off it in a couple of months.

Still trying to adjust my BP. The diovan 80 resulted in the upper range of my BP going into the 160's. I then went back to my pre op diovan/htc 160/6.25 and my BP went too low. Currently, we have cut out the HTC so I'm on diovan 160. BP averages ~135/87, but I have cases where it has been high (140 range).

So how long does it take for the BP to settle down?

Dwc

 

[SCCWS]

May be obvious but it wasn't to me. I am 1 week post op. My biggest concern the last couple of days in hospital were extended coughing bouts where on 2 occasions I passed out or became very disoriented for a few swconds. In each case I was alone. when I had the next coughing bout the nurse was there and said that I was stopping breathing as the coughing continued. I have had a half dozen since then where I stay focused and make sure I continue to breathe. But I had no clue I was so concerned about cluthing the stomach towel and getting the coughing to stop that I was also not breathing normally.