Can someone go back to their normal activities after mitral valve repair surgery?

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I think if he does go to the hospital where his cardiologist is - the surgeon is affiliated with Brigham & Women's Hospital so that makes me feel better.

I'm sure it is awful waiting to have the surgery and I really, really think that he feels he is going to die and will never get better. I just hope that he gets a surgery date soon so that he is back on the road to recovery and is back to normal...

I hope so....

AJC62
 
I think B & W is pretty innovative according to what I've heard. Once they do a TEE and heart cath you will all have a better idea of the best technique. It will actually settle him down. At least it did for me since there was little mystery left.
 
I thought the Brigham had a fantastic facility and team. I was amazed how far my ICU nurses drove in for work -- one was from the Cape and another from Rhode Island. The hospital reaches far and wide to bring in the best they can find. If your boyfriend has any questions about the hospital, there are at least two of us here that can answer them from our firsthand experience.
 
In summary I think what EVERYONE is saying that is after surgery to fix his heart it is F_I_X_E_D and even someone like me can return to a normal life as that is the objective for us all......yes I was a smoker and do not now ................hmmmm but thinking maybe of asking Dr about a Rx for that medical MaryJane :biggrin2::biggrin2: okay it is late and I am just getting silly :rolleyes2:
 
Hi Ken,
Yes, the Brigham is a great hospital and if it is affiliated with where he will be having the surgery then that puts my mind at ease. I agree that they have the best medical and staff working there.
Thanks again!
AJC62
 
Hi Hook,
Thank you for your response. I am happy that you are back to drinking coffee, among other things.
I will pass this info along to him.
Thanks,
Mackie57

BTW, often "other things" may get better after rehab because blood flow issues improve. In fact what may seem to be unrelates problems may improve as well. I have had severe IBS that has gotten worse over the last decade. I thought I had chrones disease, or worse. After they fixed my mitral valve, my digestive system went back to working in perfect S formation perfection. All the cardios say the two are not connected, but I beg to differ; there is no other explanation. I must have been holding fluid in my tummy. If I have an overdose of salt, I still have issues, but nothing like before. who knows
 
Hi Ken,
Yes, the Brigham is a great hospital and if it is affiliated with where he will be having the surgery then that puts my mind at ease. I agree that they have the best medical and staff working there.
Thanks again!
Mackie57

US News has pretty thorough ranking of Hospitals, you can see the top ranked by specialty or even best in an metroarea that even shows which hospitals in that area ranked high in the nation by specialty or arent nationaly ranked, but still good. http://health.usnews.com/best-hospitals/area/boston-ma/specialty IF you look at a certain hospital it will show you what they took into consideration when scoring and how they did things like reputation, survival even how they are at preventing infections IF a hospital isn't listed as a top center, you can type in their name and still see how they did in the various catagories by overall or by specialty also in the info on a hospital it list what other centers it is affiliated with so beside seeing who is the best they have alot of good info IMO at least FWIW here is Cape Cods main page http://health.usnews.com/best-hospitals/cape-cod-hospital-6141130 you can see the results by different catagories by clicking on that catoagory.
 
The month before surgery I was told to lay low and not drive at all. Basically no smoking, drinking, or anything that would get my heart rate up. The relations thing doesn't apply to me because I haven't had a girlfriend in 7 years and I'm waiting for marriage this time before I have "relations" again I'm 29 years old. Everyone has different restrictions and I was having severe symptoms before my surgery and that's why my doctors had me become a monk prior to surgery.

7 months post op I now have up to 2 alcoholic beverages a night, of course I measure everything. On rare occasion I have had 3 alcoholic beverages but consistently 2. Mind you I'm on lipitor, 12.5mg metoprolol, and warfarin for life. My INR has been pretty stable at 2.0 to 3.0 rarely dipping under 2.0 sometimes.

Point is, after surgery he should have no restrictions as long as things are done in moderation, unless his doctors have special reasons why he can't. The smoking thing will probably be strongly frowned upon.

In the end, he may feel amazing immediately after surgery or it may be a slow recovery that can take over a year before he starts to feel himself again. Everyone is different, my recovery has taken longer than expected but I'm happy I'm improving every month that goes by still at 7 months post op.
 
The quality of life for an otherwise healthy person is usually very good after recovering from a valve repair/replacement surgery assuming there are no surprises. Physically after valve replacement I have had no limitations in what I want to do. I still build decks, chop wood, ride motorcycles, basically anything I want to do. Mentally I have a greater appreciation of life.
There are no guarantees when it comes to heart surgery and the risks and "what to expect" should be discussed with the surgeon, but if you ever get a chance to see the "Carpe Diem" You Tube video from Mended Hearts you may be surprised at the possibilities after a successful heart surgery.
 
Hi Magnacruz,

I am happy to hear that his quality of life will get back to normal. That is great that you are still able to do the things you love doing.
I realize there are no guarantees with heart surgery and I'm sure he will dicuss everything with his surgeon. I will check out the "Carpe Diem" video.

Thanks,
AJC62
 
I am just about done with first year from aortic replacement and Mitral repair, on discharge Dr. recomended no caffene for a while and limited use of alcohol..I did not smoke and his response was GOOD!!
normal activities, took a while to return,,The TRUCK hit me pretty hard, and had trouble sleeping on my back the first 2 weeks out of hospital, but started walking , slow at first, and longer after a couple weeks,,stairs were a chore too.After about a month, I was doing most of the things I normally do..but not up to maybe 50%, 3 month maybe 65% now a yr later about 90%,,still working on some strength and endurance issues,but getting better weekly..
Tell him not to be in a big hurry to try and be his old self, that is a big operation,and serious incision to recover from in the chest,LET IT HEAL,,ans as my surgeon said (being polite) nothing that is like a push up position for a while!!
Meds..I was not on that much :lasix,metoprlol,warfarin, potasium, and most of that has been reduced and about to be removed soon..depends a lot on INR if need to stay on blood thinners,BUT, alcohol does make the numbers go up, and broccoli brings them down....to hi and he will get nose bleeds, could not stop mine,till I learned to eat a head of broccoli ,, So whatever the surgeon recomends before and after I would try to listen too...
Some of the things in the hospital were different!! like when do I quit seeing bugs crwling around in my eyes or outside of my vision, when do I quit seeing people when they are not there(like going into the barhroomand not coming out)some noises that came from no place, and be patient, there might be as others have said some depresion..I could not concentrate enough toread more than 1/2 a page in a book for 3 weeks, but tried to get out doors and walk every day,and get some sun and fresh air did help me a lot..

not sure if this was helpful but my experience, hope his is even better,just don't be in a hurry to be back to normal to soon...good luck to him
and you, be patient toooo///
 
Good for you!! He will be having valve repair and hopefully they won't open up his chest. I am sure it will take him awhile to get back to normal. He is in his mid-thirties and hopefully he will recover quicker. He is on propofanol or something like that and hopefully he will be taken off that at some poing. I'm sure he will listen to the surgeon. Wow, I can't believe that you were seeing those things - I'm sure it was the meds. He is depressed from being on beta blockers now and hopefully the depression won't last too long after surgery!
Thanks!
AJC62
 
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