Surgery 3 months Away

[beccaslp]

I am new to this site. My VRS is scheduled for June 1 at Arkansas Children's Hospital. They are planning on giving me an artificial valve since I am so young. Not sure what brand or such. Am meeting my surgeon for the first time Monday, February 14. I am very nervous and having this long to wait does not help matters.

I am also worried about recovery; I am 30 years old, married and am the mother of 3 year old twin girls. How long is this recovery going to going to take! I am worried because I need to take care of my family. Luckily, I have wonderful parents and in-laws who are going to be able to help out a lot. My husband and I are teachers so we will both be off of work during and after the surgery.

How much is coumadin going to affect my life. What questions should I ask my surgeon. What about this heart hugger device?

Any advice, encouragement, etc. is welcomed

Becca from Arkansas

 

[Ross]

Hi Becca and welcome to the forums.

First of all, slow down and breath!!!! Your going to be alright, honest!!!

We all know the waiting about drives you over the edge. We've been there and done that and some of us have done it more then once.

First things first. You need to think about what type of valve you want as a first choice, second choice and so on. Try to decide on this before you go to the surgeon visit. Discuss with the surgeon your wishes and see what he has to say. Take some time and read around in the Valve selection forum. You'll get more information in there then any other web page you look at!

The family is going to have to go into "take care of mom" mode for a while. You are going to have to be put first and all else secondary. It will take you 6 to 8 weeks to recover somewhat and be functional and a full year to fully recover. The first 6 to 8 weeks is what is critical for you. You won't be able to do much of anything for the first 3 weeks or so after surgery. The husband and kids are going to have to fend for themselves.

Coumadin, should you go with a mechanical or perhaps even a tissue valve, is not the big scary monster so many medical professionals make it out to be. If we listened to them, we might as well be little glass bottles that shatter upon a slight draft hitting us and this is utter nonsense. For all of your Coumadin Questions, see the Coumadin forum and Al Lodwicks site at www.warfarinfo.com He is a member and certified anticoagulation provider and is very professional with easy to understand answers.

Get relaxed and read around some, then we can talk about your heart hugger, pillow, or whatever else, but for now, lets get you rolling on some ordered thought.

 

[JimL]

Welcome, Becca! The questions you ask are ones that are asked often. Keep reading, use the search and you'll find lots of advice.
One thing that makes recovery take a while is letting your sternum heal up thoroughly; I've been told that takes 2-4 months. During that time, you don't want to lift too much. For the first part of that time, you want to make sure you can rest when you're tired. Coumadin is no big deal at all. Probably the greatest difficulty with coumadin is the tremendous amount of misinformation out there, even among the medical community. We who have lived with coumadin for a while will be glad to help.

 

[Karlynn]

Hi Becca,
I'm sorry, for some reason I missed your post. I was 32 when I had my mitral valve replaced with a St. Jude mechanical. My children were 5 and 7 at the time. My parents helped out a lot when I got home from the hospital. If you are still up and around and functioning normally on a daily basis now, your recover should go well. I was pretty bad off when I had my replacement and it took me a while to recover.

The most important thing about your recovery is not to push it. Your job for the first few weeks will be to eat, sleep, walk and breath. If you try to be superwoman, your body will throw you down and stomp on you! and your recovery will take longer. When they say no upper body exercise - they mean it! No laundry folding, no sweeping, no lifting. Let your beautiful babies climb up on your lap, but don't lift them. Let them know that Mommy has a big boo boo on her chest and they need to be gentle with you.

I've been on Coumadin for 13 years now. It's a life that's easy to live. Eat what you like, with consistancy, and adjust your Coumadin dose accordingly. You may hear a lot of things about not eating grean stuff. As long as you eat it regularly, you'll be fine.

Best Wishes!

 

[Birky]

surgery

surgery

You will need all the help that you can get for the first few weeks. I was in the hospital 11 days and when I got home it was tough going. Even though my kids are grown and out of the house, I still needed some help. My Mom came over every day and so did my daughter. Had trips to the hospital for pro-times alot in the first few weeks. Coumadin is not the scary thing that some people make it out to be. I didn't really want to take it but they had to put in a mechanical valve so I had no choice. I have had 3 surgeries since the placement of the valve and this is when the coumadin became an issue. I had very good Drs. so I didn't worry about it as much. I bruise but it is a trade off for feeling so good. Energy level since the surgery is awesome. Never realized how bad I felt before. I have twin granddaughters who are 7 now. They are delightful and identical. I am truly blessed.It will all come together for you as you get closer to the date. Good luck,