Hi Peg-
Joe's pressures did not come down after his mitral surgery. I guess his is not caused by his valve problems per se, however, he did have rheumatic fever as a teen which caused all of his heart issues and in the back of my mind there lurks the question about whether it also caused his lung problems. So many rheumatic fever folks DO have lung problems as well, and some even PH. Not much written about it in the medical stuff I've read, just seems to be at the root of all evils for my buddy Joe.
Joe had his aortic valve replacement in 1977, then nothing until 1999 when he had the mitral replacement. Then in 2001, the mitral repair for a paravalvular leak. He also has a leaking tricuspid, but it doesn't appear to be problematical right now. It might have been made worse by the PH. One cardiologist has mentioned it as an "innocent bystander". His last echo was technically pretty poorly done, so maybe next time we can get an idea if the tricuspid has improved with his pressure coming down.
He has also told me that his two lung surgeries were much, much worse than any of his heart valve surgeries. They were done several years ago. His back scar tissue areas are still quite sore. Lung surgery, not a fun thing.
Recovery time is pretty much uniform for valve surgeries, 2 weeks or so with the early very sore stuff and other normal but intense stuff, gradual recovery until 6-8 weeks, then things start to even out, and the final recovery comes at 6-12 months, when people start feeling very well. The HeartPort procedure cut the early time in the recovery phase by several days, no sternum healing.
We can't make the PHA conference. I'm not really sure how Joe would do now with flying, even though his PH is much better. He still gets breathless and very tired with lots of exertion. He can do many things though, just came in from working in the yard for 3 hours, and can do the treadmill, at least a mile. His oxygen SATs are 95 in room air. So as of now he doesn't need 02. But flying with the cabin pressures might just be too much for him, even though they are regulated.
