Surgery completed Dec 17th-questions

[cp172]

I had my mitral valve replaced on Dec 17th. Surgery had a few complications including having to be given several units of blood after my chest was closed up as well as draining a considerable amount of blood from my chest. After my discharge it was obvious I was very swollen . I was put on a diuretic and have lost 25 pounds in 6 day. I have three questions:
-Is it normal to be unable to breath while laying flat?
-Is it normal to be in AFIB after valve surgery?
-I can get the breathing device up tp 750-1,000. This good or bad? I can easily walk 15-20 minutes at a slow pace.

I would appreciate any comments.

Thanks,

Mickey

 

[vitdoc]

Retaining fluid and problems breathing while lying flat are symptoms of congestive heart failure. Having A fib after surgery is not rare but not typical either . If you previously were not in A fib the cardiologist would consider cardio version to regain normal rhythm. Finally if you remain in failure and you were not before, an echocardiogram should be considered to look at the valve. You still could be quite anemic and they might be waiting for things like the anemia to improve. Good luck.

 

[tom in MO]

I agree with vitdoc. I would also recommend you bring up these concerns with your surgeon's nurse or physician's assistant. They are there to help you.

 

[Brokenhip]

My understanding is that 30-40% of OHS patients will go into AFIB. This happened about 36 hours after my surgery & was treated with an Amiodarone drip for about 24 hours which set it back to normal rhythm, followed by Amiodarone tablets for a further 6 weeks. Stopped treatment after first visit to the cardiologist.

 

[pellicle]

Hi

-Is it normal to be unable to breath while laying flat?
-Is it normal to be in AFIB after valve surgery?
-I can get the breathing device up tp 750-1,000. This good or bad? I can easily walk 15-20 minutes at a slow pace.

1 - no ... its not normal, but it can happen if you've developed an edema on the lungs

2 - no its not normal but does happen

3 - seems ok ... I don't recall mine, but mine had 3 balls.

I assume your team is working on #1

Best Wishes

 

[Superman]

Hi

3 - seems ok ... I don't recall mine, but mine had 3 balls.

Best Wishes

Fun with taking quotes out of context!

Okay... sorry. Back to work.

 

[Superman]

I had my mitral valve replaced on Dec 17th. Surgery had a few complications including having to be given several units of blood after my chest was closed up as well as draining a considerable amount of blood from my chest. After my discharge it was obvious I was very swollen . I was put on a diuretic and have lost 25 pounds in 6 day. I have three questions:
-Is it normal to be unable to breath while laying flat?
-Is it normal to be in AFIB after valve surgery?
-I can get the breathing device up tp 750-1,000. This good or bad? I can easily walk 15-20 minutes at a slow pace.

I would appreciate any comments.

Thanks,

Mickey

Seems to be a trend in the past decade or more to way overdo pushing the IV fluids during surgery. I weighed in before and after my last surgery 11 years ago and was nearly 15 lbs heavier in 22 hours. Ridiculous. Then they wonder why people struggle with fluid in the chest cavity after surgery. I’m no doctor so of course there’s not much for me to say other than it doesn’t pass the sniff test.

I know I was a teenager for my first surgery 30 years ago, but I don’t recall anything like that. And I could pull the spirometer right up against the top while in the hospital. Better than both my smoker siblings.

In terms of your spirometer, 750-1,000 out of what? I don’t recall. Does it top out at 1,500? Deficiencies here can easily be exacerbated by fluid in the chest cavity

 

[pellicle]

Okay... sorry. Back to work.

I am glad to help

 

[pellicle]

Back to work.

the model I had was like this:

(rather than like this

)

but I have 2 sets of balls (one that I keep at home the other I leave at work) which I use to exersize my neck (desk job + bicycle injury).

They are a topic of conversation around the office.

• where's Pellicle? Oh he's under his desk using his balls
• Pellicle showed me his balls last week, I tried them out. It was uncomfortable at first but it really helped.
• "hey, has anyone seen my balls"

My office balls

 

[cp172]

Thanks for all the comments. I have now lost 38 pounds in 12 days (220 to 182 lbs) and can breath lying flat. I have lost a lot of water and am now having to force myself to eat more. My medicine has really suppressed my appetite. My cardiologist ran an echo and said the heart valve was working fine. He said there was some fluid around the heart and lungs but thought my body would absorb it. He plans to run another echo next week to compare with the first one.

The cardiologist suggested I have a cardio conversion in a few weeks to fix the AFib.

My Airlife goes up to 4,000 ml. and has a small puck and pea sized indicator. It certainly does not compare well against Pellicle's balls.

 

[cp172]

Getting cardio converted Friday. Cardiologist said more people than not have heart sync problems after new valve. I am hoping it works or I get to have a convert in two months. I have now lost 36 pounds. Eating a little more to slow down weight loss. I can breath laying flat and can push my little ball up to 1,250-1,500. Good times. Think I will have another candy bar.

 

[John K]

If you haven't been cardio converted before, it is not a big deal. After my surgery the end of January last year I was in AFIB and cardio converted before I even left the hospital. I ended up going into AFIB 2 more times and being cardio converted with the last time being the middle of March.

If you are on blood thinners it is real simple. They put a pad on your chest and back, you go to sleep, and wake up a few minutes later feeling a lot better and more energy. Only took a few hours most of which is the typical hurry up and wait preparing for it, worst part of it was fasting prior to it.

If you are not on blood thinners they need to verify that you do not have any clots in your heart by sticking a probe down your throat. They put you to sleep before they do it, but the liquid they have you drink before hand is less then pleasant.

I was also on Amiodarone starting in the hospital, which was reduced after several months of no AFIB and then stopped after 6 months with no AFIB.

They may also want you to wear a heart monitor to verify that you are not going into AFIB.

John K

 

[cp172]

Cardio Conversion and TEE went well. My heart is now in sync. John J....I too am on Amiodarone. I really hope I can come off of it.

 

[Protimenow]

the model I had was like this:
View attachment 887495
(rather than like this
View attachment 887496
)

but I have 2 sets of balls (one that I keep at home the other I leave at work) which I use to exersize my neck (desk job + bicycle injury).

They are a topic of conversation around the office.

• where's Pellicle? Oh he's under his desk using his balls
• Pellicle showed me his balls last week, I tried them out. It was uncomfortable at first but it really helped.
• "hey, has anyone seen my balls"

My office balls

View attachment 887497

Now we've ALL seen your balls.

FWIW - these look like Lacrosse balls.

They're good for massage, good for rolling under the arches of the feet, and, I assume, good for playing Lacrosse.

 

[Protimenow]

It's called Cardioversion, not cardio conversion.

I was cardioverted in a different way. I developed pre-ventricular contractions (PVCs) that lasted for many hours, made it almost impossible to do much - a walk from front door to car (maybe 50 feet?) tired me out.

My electrophysiologist was going to do a cardioversion in his office, if I could pay for it, and suggested going to the E.R. if I couldn't. They did another type of cardioversion, with the electric one (using a defibrillator).

Mine was done with a few doses of Adenosine. It took 12 ml, if I remember right. Before they did this, a crash cart was brought into the E.R. area where I was originally set up, in case the Adenosine stopped my heart. The Adenosine worked - there was no need for a defibrillator.

The defibrillator always works, apparently, but Adenosine is also effective for many people.

--

As far as Amiodorone - I couldn't handle it. I was prescribed Amiodorone when I was discharged after getting an ablation, and addressing an arrhythmia or two (they didn't resolve), but all this stuff did was turn my intestinal contents to concrete. Amiodorone contains iodine (the 'iod' in the name), and isn't the best thing for us.

---

 

[cp172]

AF free for 18 months . Just came off amiodorone. Hope everyone has a great day.

 

[Chuck C]

AF free for 18 months . Just came off amiodorone. Hope everyone has a great day.

Glad to hear that you're off the amiodarone. That's nasty stuff with some really bad side effects when on it long term.