MV Repair scheduled

[Kandice]

Hi, glad to find this site. I have not really used a site like this but i really need to hear how other people are handling surgery.
After meeting with 2 heart surgeons in Portland OR it was decided my best option was to have a minimally invasive mv repair. One of the surgeons knew Dr. Patracek at Vanderbilt University that has done up to 800 minimally invasive procedures on the mv. So we are off the Nashville October 4th to do the preop stuff and have a TEE before the big day, October 9th.
So, just hearing how everyone handles things is great.I am having trouble sleeping and it never leaves my mind, I will be glad when it is over. I am nervous about the whole thing but Im sure this is nothing new. I also have a father who dies age 58 while having a cardiac procedure so I know first hand that sometimes things don't go as planned.
I have talked to one person who had the traditional sternotomy mv repair, and her only real concern she had was the lasting fatigue and decreased stamina after surgery.
I think sometimes people underestimate the impact of major surgery and the after effects of anesthesia. I am a nurse practitioner and I do understand encouraging people and I know everyone is different in their recovery. I want to know from average people how they feel with fatigue and such after the surgery. I am not a triathlete so don't expect to jump up and down the first couple of weeks.
I also have a question, I have severe regurgitation with my MV and also some cardiomyopathy that is stable. Anyway, i feel tired alot of the time and just wonder if that gets noticebly better after the effects of surgery? Any comments

 

[WayneGM]

First of all, welcome to the VR community. Sorry for the circumstances but glad you found us. It's a great sore for information, advice, and inspiration.

It sounds like you've already discovered that the waiting before OHS and the recovery afterwards are the hardest parts. The OHS surgery itself is over before you know it.

I had the traditional sternotomy mv repair, and am in average physical shape. I don't workout or play sports regularly...just walk a lot and do household chores. I found the OHS increased fatigue and decreased stamina for about a year. I'm a year and a half out now, and I feel pretty much back to my normal self. I'm still no athelete but can do pretty much everything I could do before my heart problem started. Best wishes and good luck.

 

[Mary]

Kandice,
I'm glad you joined us!
I've added your surgery date to our valve replacement/repair calendar for October 9 at Vanderbilt. If it changes, please let us know.

 

[Adrienne]

Hi Kandice. I had my a mitral valve repair (sternotomy) at 60 years old, and I am also a person in average physical shape, not an athelete at all, but I walk a lot including at the gym on the treadmill. I honestly have to say that although right at first, I was very weak and tired, after 3 weeks, I was walking about a mile in the morning and about a mile in the afternoon, and other than sternum soreness, I felt as if I had never had heart surgery. Granted, it's because I didn't overdo things. I realized after almost 2 months when I went downtown alone for the first time and did lots of shopping and was on my feet for a long time, that I was exhausted. However, other than that time, I felt great!

 

[jgibson]

It Is A Small World!!!

It Is A Small World!!!

See below....

Hi, glad to find this site. I have not really used a site like this but i really need to hear how other people are handling surgery.
After meeting with 2 heart surgeons in Portland OR it was decided my best option was to have a minimally invasive mv repair. One of the surgeons knew Dr. Patracek at Vanderbilt University that has done up to 800 minimally invasive procedures on the mv. So we are off the Nashville October 4th to do the preop stuff and have a TEE before the big day, October 9th.

WOW!! It really is a small world. I live in the Nashville area. And, to top that off. Dr. Petracek is going to be performing my Mitral Valve repair 6 days after yours. In fact, I had a consult with Dr. Petracek back last Friday where we talked about a huge list of things. Are you coming down here with Family? Thought I might drop in on you at Vandy so I can see how your repair went prior to getting mine done. Amazing how well Dr. Petracek is known around the country.

So, just hearing how everyone handles things is great.I am having trouble sleeping and it never leaves my mind, I will be glad when it is over. I am nervous about the whole thing but Im sure this is nothing new. I also have a father who dies age 58 while having a cardiac procedure so I know first hand that sometimes things don't go as planned.
I have talked to one person who had the traditional sternotomy mv repair, and her only real concern she had was the lasting fatigue and decreased stamina after surgery.

I would think it would be strange if you were not nervous. My wife and I had a very serious conversation about the surgery and what happens "If" something bad happens. Even though Petracek has a stellar record, you just never know. Although, I'm putting my money on getting through this without any serious issues. I read on this forum, that another patient of Patracek's found out that Dr. Patracek was Bill Clinton's backup surgeon when Clinton had his bypass. Apparently they were going to use him if Clinton's initial surgeon had something else come up.

What type of procedure was your Dad in for, if you don't mind me asking?

I think sometimes people underestimate the impact of major surgery and the after effects of anesthesia. I am a nurse practitioner and I do understand encouraging people and I know everyone is different in their recovery. I want to know from average people how they feel with fatigue and such after the surgery. I am not a triathlete so don't expect to jump up and down the first couple of weeks.
I also have a question, I have severe regurgitation with my MV and also some cardiomyopathy that is stable. Anyway, i feel tired a lot of the time and just wonder if that gets noticeably better after the effects of surgery? Any comments

I've been lucky that even now, I am asymptomatic. Although, it seems like over the last few months, I run into spells of being extremely tired all of a sudden. Problem is, I don't know if I chalk that up to the leak, or to the fact that I'm almost 40 years old. To top it off, I exercise on regular basis, so I'm thinking I might be starting to feel the effects of my leak.

I guess we'll find out together how quickly recovery time is.

Wishing you the best. Please keep me posted on your trip.

 

[ruth]

First off, welcome, Kandice!!

I had MV repair done in January. I felt pretty weak before surgery, tired a lot, SOB, etc. I chalked it up to growing old (I'm only in my 40's), it wasn't that, it was the leak which was listed as "severe" like yours.

My recovery time has been slow, but at least steady for the most part. In total I'm giving myself a year. I feel better now than before surgery for the most part but I still have those "bad" days when I burn the candle on both ends and I just am utterly exhausted the next day.

I did not have a sternotomy, my incision is in my right ribcage below my breast. I am very happy to have had that option, for me it was a cosmetic thing, go ahead and call me vain if you wish . I will warn you that if you you have an incision similar to mine you'll need to reconsider your choices in bras for awhile as many rub just the wrong way. Most ladies choose T-shirts as an alternative for several weeks post op.

OHS is a major deal and you likely won't get your strength back right away. Us mitrals seem to take longer than the aortics, there is probably a reason, I don't know. The best news though is that the direction is UP, rather than the lingering fatigue I know I felt before surgery.

It's ok to be nervous but the odds are great for this type of surgery. The odds are not so great without surgery. Go ahead and ask away if you have questions. The search feature works great as well. I wish you all the best.

Take care,
Ruth

 

[Kandice]

small world

small world

Sorry I haven't posted sooner . But so glad to hear from all of you. Wow, it really is a small world and would be glad to meet you in the hospital Jgibson.
So I haven't met Dr. Patracek yet, did you like him? You may not want to see me HA!!You might have second thoughts.after you see me.

You say you don't get too tired yet, do you mind if I ask what made Dr Patracek think you needed surgery now? Sometimes I worry that things are being rushed. But my heart surgeon seems to think I should go get it fixed now. I seem to get tired sometimes alot then sometimes i feel fine. The doctor says my leakage is moderate to severe, i have some left atrium enlargement.

Well its getting closer and maybe I'm getting cold feet.
Kandice

 

[MaryC]

Hi Kandace,
I was one of those people who didn't have pronounced symptoms - just severe mitral valve prolapse/regurgitation. I had mitral valve repair this last February with the minimially invasive procedure, port access. I had 2 siblings who had gone through the traditional mitral valve surgery and I felt port access would be a preferred option for me. Adrienne from VR.COM was kind enough to put me in touch with a woman named Patty who went through the same procedure with the same surgeon. Her experience seemed not so bad - not so bad at all. It was so good for me to talk to her because I had a positive outcome I could put in my mind. The surgery itself and everything surrounding it went pretty much the way Patty's went - with no memory of the tube and minimal pain (more like discomfort).

After the surgery I had a few bumps including a bout with A-flutter and heart weakness. (By the way, you will be tired for a while - there is just no way around that.) Now at 7 months post-op I am really feeling good and am riding a bike up to 20 miles (I didn't bike ride before the surgery! ) and I have started running a little bit. I was never a long distance runner - mostly running around 3 miles. I am trying to shed some weight I needed to shed before the surgery!

So overall, not so bad, not so bad at all.....

 

[bvdr]

Welcome, Candice! I was very fatigued and SOB prior to my MVR and was a bit surprised how washed out I felt the first couple of days post-op. When I would get up to walk my 02 sat would drop really quickly and when it dropped to 90 I was more than ready to get back in bed. In a couple of days though I would just rest a few minutes and the 02 sat would rise and I was good to walk again for a while. You might be more symptomatic than you realize now. It usually comes on so gradually that you just adapt yourself to a lower level of functioning without even being aware of it. Like most people here I noticed a real improvement following surgery and I hope you do too. I would say though that the improvement continued to increase for many months.

 

[jgibson]

Sorry I haven't posted sooner . But so glad to hear from all of you. Wow, it really is a small world and would be glad to meet you in the hospital Jgibson. So I haven't met Dr. Patracek yet, did you like him? You may not want to see me HA!! You might have second thoughts. after you see me.

Dr. Patracek was recommended to me by my cardiologist Dr. Hughes. Actually I had two surgeons recommended to me. I met the first one. I liked him, seemed like he would do a good job. Just didn't feel like my wife was completely on board with using him. Over the next month, my wife got to meet some surgical nurses over at our YMCA that had worked with Dr. Patracek. They all raved about him. Said that they would let Dr. Patracek work on their own mother. Felt that he was one of the best heart surgeons in the country. That did it for my wife. She was sold. We met with Patracek a few weeks later. We both felt 100% sure that he was the man for the job. Not to mention that has taught the port access method to a large number of doctors.

You say you don't get too tired yet, do you mind if I ask what made Dr Patracek think you needed surgery now? Sometimes I worry that things are being rushed. But my heart surgeon seems to think I should go get it fixed now. I seem to get tired sometimes a lot then sometimes I feel fine. The doctor says my leakage is moderate to severe, I have some left atrium enlargement.

Well its getting closer and maybe I'm getting cold feet.
Kandice

As for getting tired, I really don't hit big spells of having to rest, however, I feel like over the last year I have "possibly" begin to feel the early stages of the getting tired easier. It's like I hit a wall a couple of times a day, where a year or so ago, I didn't feel that way. It's not debilitating, and most of the time I just push myself through it. However, I have taken a couple 20 minute naps at work over the year to get my energy back.

As for the recommendation to get it fixed, that came from my cardiologist initially. I had 2 MRI's a year apart. Basically my heart is on the edge of normal/enlarging. Also, my leak is severe, and 44% of my blood volume is getting regurgitated. That was why he felt I should get it fixed now. Even though I am asymptomatic. He said my heart would continue to enlarge, and that at some point I would start to go into A-fib. He also said that he had seen data that showed that individuals taking care of this issue now, stand a much better chance of getting their heart to go back to normal size. Both surgeons agreed with my cardiologist. I have had it all my life, so I guess I was not surprised when I found out how bad the leak actually was.

I also have some atrium enlargement.

I can understand you starting to get cold feet. Sometimes I stand back and think "why and the world am I doing this. I feel fine". Problem is, I may not really know how bad a really do feel, and maybe I just think this is normal. Also, after seeing the data about my leak, and also having a close friend that is an MRI Nurse tell me that I don't want to skip this makes me realize I need to get this done.

Please keep me posted on your trip out here. I'm sure your family is going to need to get some information about getting around the city. We can help you guys out in that department. Feel free to send me a private message and I can send you some contact information.

Take Care.

Jeff Gibson

 

[jgibson]

Forgot to post this!

Forgot to post this!

Hi Kandace,
I was one of those people who didn't have pronounced symptoms - just severe mitral valve prolapse/regurgitation. I had mitral valve repair this last February with the minimially invasive procedure, port access. I had 2 siblings who had gone through the traditional mitral valve surgery and I felt port access would be a preferred option for me. Adrienne from VR.COM was kind enough to put me in touch with a woman named Patty who went through the same procedure with the same surgeon. Her experience seemed not so bad - not so bad at all. It was so good for me to talk to her because I had a positive outcome I could put in my mind. The surgery itself and everything surrounding it went pretty much the way Patty's went - with no memory of the tube and minimal pain (more like discomfort).

After the surgery I had a few bumps including a bout with A-flutter and heart weakness. (By the way, you will be tired for a while - there is just no way around that.) Now at 7 months post-op I am really feeling good and am riding a bike up to 20 miles (I didn't bike ride before the surgery! ) and I have started running a little bit. I was never a long distance runner - mostly running around 3 miles. I am trying to shed some weight I needed to shed before the surgery!

So overall, not so bad, not so bad at all.....

Meant to post this for you Kandice.

This is a video of Dr. Patracek performing a port access mitral valve replacement when he was over at Saint Thomas hospital here in Nashville.

http://www.or-live.com/archives.cfm?browseby=specialty&id=5&event=232

The video uses real player, so you'll need that. For myself, watching this video really helped me come to grips with what was going to be done.

Hope this helps.

Jeff Gibson

 

[marky]

Hi Kandace and Welcome!
THere are several here who have had mvr min. invasive.
I had MVrepair last may, but on the day of surgery decided to go with the sternotomy. for ME it was the best decision..as my surgeon would not have been able to repir it min.
However..I had other reasons for chosing the stern. over min. inv.
Either way.. I am glad that YOU found a doc you like and are excited about doing the proceedure. You need to feel confident in your surgeon!

It takes a bit longer to recove than most of us want it to take, but I think that is normal. If you can keep your eyes on the whole picture you will feel much better!
Keep posting..you will get lots of answers here

 

[Kandice]

Time in Hospital??

Time in Hospital??

I just got my pre authorization for surgery and I was shocked that I am precertified for 3 days as an in patient. I just think that is really rushing things.
So, would like to hear how long people have been staying in the hospital past the minimally invasive mitral valve repair or replacement.

Time is getting close we fly from out home in Portland, OR this Thursday then surgery next week. I am ready to have this over with. Thanks for the high recomendations of Dr. Patracek that makes me feel better.

Kandice

 

[Freddie]

Hi Kandice,
Had my surgery on a Friday at 1:30pm. Was home by 11:00am the following Tuesday.

Good Luck to you.
My prayers are going your way

 

[Guest]

Kandice,

GOOD LUCK!

Thoughts/prayers coming your way for a SUCCESSFUL surgery .



Cort:34swm."Mr Monte Carlo.Mr Road Trip".pig valve.pacemaker
WRMNshowcase.lego.HO.model.MCs.RT.CHD = http://www.chevyasylum.com/cort
"We got mountains to climb" ... Rod Stewart ... 'Broken Arrow'

 

[Kandice]

coumadin past repair?

coumadin past repair?

Just a question, are people with mitral valve repairs put on coumadin for awhile? I know that if you have a valvl replacement you are but I'm not sure if for a short time you are even with a replacement. Thanks to everyone for helping me with all these questions.

Kandice

 

[Freddie]

Kandice,
I have a mechanical valve, and will have to be warfarin for the rest of my days.

 

[PhillipCinci]

Kandice
I had OHS two weeks ago today to replace my mitral valve with a mechanical. I had severe regurgitation and felt very fatigued. Since my surgery I do not feel the fatigue and have to pace myself to recover since I feel so much better than before. I still get tired and need to nap but nothing like when I had the regurgitation.
Good luck with your surgery, you will see an improvement.
Phil

 

[Cooker]

Welcome to VR.com!!! Great place to be for people with valve issues. Wishing you a smooth ride over the mountain.

 

[Marguerite53]

Hi Kandace. I live in the Portland Metro area. I had my surgery almost 18 months ago at Good Sam. All went beautifully. Just wanted to chime in and say hello and wish you well.

I sent you a PM....(up in the right hand corner of your page in the light blue box, you can read/send PM's by clicking on Private Messages...... in case you are not familiar with all the bells and whistles on our forum ).

Don't think too hard about it all. You will obviously be in great hands.....you'll have to let go and trust. Have a great trip!

Marguerite