First of all, the fact that you feel terrific now and have a 98% chance of a repair is wonderful and means you are doing this at the right time. I know it is counter-intuitive to go have heart surgery when you feel fine, but as my surgeon explained to me when I first saw him in December 2004, at which time he thought I had a 95% chance of a repair, people with the same profile as mine in 10 years either get to a point where they HAVE TO have an operation or they are already dead!!! At that time, he had said that I should have the operation within a year or two. He said to have an echo done in 6 months and then have an appointment with him. I had the echo, but with the fact that my surgeon is the head of surgery and is always off somewhere, and with the fact that this is Canada where we have public medicine (I?m originally from the States), his secretary said I wasn?t going to be able to see him until September (2005). In the meantime in August 2005, I had A-fib, finally went to the ER (because that?s the only way of being seen shortly here) and stayed in the hospital 9 days. If my surgeon hadn?t been going out of town, I would have had the surgery within a week. I actually could have if I had let another surgeon do it, but I knew this surgeon?s reputation. When I saw the surgeon before he left for his trip, he said that the chances were now 80% for repair because he had seen a lot of things on the TEE. He never actually asked me what type of valve I would like if he could not repair it, but I knew he was thinking mechanical because he said that if I have a repair, I would be on Coumadin for 3 months, then low-dose aspirin for the rest of my life. If I had a replacement, I would be on Coumadin for life. I never questioned his decision, because I did not want to face another OHS. Granted, I did not want to face Coumadin for the rest of my life either, and I must admit that seeing that the chances were down to 80%, I of course only saw the 20%!!! I spent the night before the surgery in the hospital so they could prep me. One of the young doctors who works with my surgeon came to the room to have me sign the documents (I felt like I was signing my life away). When I showed my nervousness, he asked me what scared me the most. I said ?Well, besides the fact that I will be opened up like a chicken, the thing that really scares me the most is if a repair cannot be done?. Well, when I woke up (breathing tube and all) at about 7:00 p.m., first my husband said ?The surgery went very well?. I wanted to say, ?Go on, go on?. He then said, ?They were able to do a repair?!!!!!!!!!! I gave him the thumbs up sign and also tried to give a feeble clap with my hands. I did the same thing when the surgeon repeated what my husband had said and also explained that he did a maze procedure (which I knew he was going to do) and patched up a hole in the septum between the two atria. When I saw my surgeon in March, he remembered my doing that!
Actually, they had to do the repair a different way than they usually do since I had a lot of calcium deposits on the valve. However, my surgeon?s great interest is valve reconstruction, and he did a fellowship in the 90's with Alain Carpentier of Paris, one of the innovator?s of today?s repair methods.
In any case, I was so ecstatic to have had a repair, that while I am usually a terrible patient, I could accept anything. As far as the potty situation, I was on the catheter for 3 days (it is usually 2, but I had fluid buildup and they gave me a strong dose of lasix which would have made me pee every 2 seconds, knowing my bladder. I managed to get up and go to the washroom after that.
I just want to say that every day there was improvement until finally less than 3 weeks later I felt totally wonderful!! Anyhow, all this blabbering away to say that you are doing this at the right time, and you will see how fast you will start feeling better.
I will be thinking of you Monday as I have my follow-up echo and another appointment with the cardiologist (which is making me nervous)!!!
