Had MVR surgery July 11

[ran38]

Hello to all,

I am relatively new here -- was fortunate to have found this site about a month before my surgery date. Many thanks to all who have posted information and tips regarding things to expect, etc., before and after open heart surgery. I am grateful to you all, as I've found the information you've shared to be very helpful.

To make a long story short, I had my Mitral Valve Replacement surgery on July 11, 2007. It went very well and I came home from the hospital on the 23rd of July. The hospital staff members were wonderful, but to quote Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz, "there's no place like home!"

Thanks again,
Randy

MVR 7/11/07
(St. Jude mechanical valve)
Buffalo, NY

 

[Cooker]

Welcome Randy,

I?m glad everything went well and you are correct??..there is no place like home!! The best advice I can offer is to walk, rest and eat.

Again welcome aboard.

Cooker

 

[geebee]

Welcome. Glad you decided to join us officially.

Happy to hear all went well. You had a rather long stay in the hospital so I can understand why getting home was so special.

If you have any recovery questions, feel free to ask. Hope things continue to go well for you.

 

[Karlynn]

Welcome Randy! And congratulations on your surgery. Wishing you a good recovery!

 

[Susan BAV]

Welcome to the site; glad you found it before your surgery! I did too and found it so helpful. Hope all goes well with your recovery. Take care and post again.

 

[WayneGM]

Welcome to the VR community. Glad you found us pre-op. Best wishes for a smooth recovery.

 

[Praline]

Welcome to this side of the mountain. I hope you continue to improve.

 

[jeffp]

As they say, "been there, done that". Don't push yourself too hard, or too fast. I'd suspect with the length of stay you had, there was a bit of a rough patch. I had 'only' 10 days and I was ready to do practically anything to get home. Do well, follow instructions (to a point - gotta stay a bit feisty), and don't skip meals, naps, or exercise.

 

[Jkm7]

So happy to hear your surgery went well and you are on the recovery side of the mountain.

Happy you found this wonderful group of people before your surgery.

Best wishes for a smooth, uneventful recovery.

 

[ran38]

Thank you all for your wonderful replies and the nice welcome. I greatly appreciate your kindness, advice and support.

My two-week stay in the hospital was quite the adventure, as I'm sure you can imagine and relate to. The main reason for my extended stay was due to an issue with my left lung -- it collapsed two days after surgery, and a procedure had to be done in order to re-inflate me. I have no recollection of this having taken place. I heard about it a few days after the fact, and was told that it's not uncommon for such a thing to happen after mitral valve surgery. Then it was just a matter of time for an "air leak" in the lung to seal itself. That last chest tube was finally removed on the morning of day 14, and I was discharged that afternoon.

Oh, and would you believe that my surgery had been scheduled for July 10th -- the day before it actually took place -- I had been all prepped, and they wheeled me into the operating room, started the anesthesia, had me scoot over onto the operating table... I went to sleep... then, later that day, I began to wake up and I heard my wife's voice. I asked her if I had gotten a "repair or a replacement" of the valve. Her reply was, "Honey, they couldn't do the surgery"... well I nearly freaked!! Eventually I learned that, while a line was being put into me through my neck (by the anesthesioligist, I think), my carotid artery was slightly "nicked" -- so my surgeon decided to stop the surgery then and there, as a safety precaution. Later that night, I was actually laughing about what had happened, because my surgery had been postponed a few times, for various reasons... so IT JUST FIGURED that when I had FINALLY made it right to the operating table, SOMETHING had to happen to postpone it again! On the serious side, I was very grateful that my surgeon played it safe and didn't go ahead with the surgery. He visited me in the Cardiac Care Unit the following morning, and apologized for what had happened, and he asked me if I felt ready to try again for the afternoon. I said "sure," and I thanked him for being so cautious and concerned.

Another "it just figures" thing -- the anesthesiologist and I were talking and joking about characters from "The Simpsons" while he was prepping me and wheeling me into the operating room. Considering what was to happen, this was like the ultimate Homer Simpson "D'oh!"

Sorry for the long story here, but I thought some of you might get a kick out of it.

Thank you all again!

Randy
MV Replacement 7/11/07
(St. Jude mechanical valve)
Buffalo, NY

 

[Lorraine]

Randy,

Welcone to vr,com. You are among family as I;m sure you can tell. Welcome to this side of the montain. Glad to hear you found this site before surgery!

I can relate to the nicking. I was suppose to have non-invasive surgery for the mitral in Jan of 2001 and the cardio doing the procedure nicked my heart. He stopped the operation and I didn;t end up having it until March instead. He too apologized and said he didn;t want to take any chances. Unfortunately whenn he went in again in March he ended up blowing the valve wide open and I ended up having OHS a few days later which was in reality for the best, since i really needed both the aortic and Mitral valve replaced. Had he been successfull with the repair, I would have ended up having another surgery down the road. I ended up getting my aortic, and mitral replaced with mechanicals and had a tricuspid repair all at once.

Good luck with your recovery. Give yourself time to heal.