Mitral Valve Replacement in Austin, Texas!!! Your comments/experience please!

" Congratulations Drs. Kerendi and Dewan! Austin, TX
Heart Hospital of Austin"

Such awesome news!!! Having met both of these doctors I knew you were in good hands. God-willing I'll be the recipient of Dr. Dewan's expertise next Wednesday. Thank you for the update! It must be very exciting to be a part of such a new technology! Please keep us posted on your continued recovery.

so happy to hear, Janie. thrilled that this is behind you; wishing you a very smooth, uneventful recovery!!!

Thanks for the update. Such good news. Smooth healing to you.

I'm still around and now 4 months and 2 days post surgery with the Tendyne Mitral Valve trial! Absolutely no problems makes my heart smile...Dec 15, 2020

ShezaGirlie said:

I'm still around and now 4 months and 2 days post surgery with the Tendyne Mitral Valve! Absolutely no problems makes my heart smile...Dec 15, 2020

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What happy news! I'm now just under 4 months past surgery and also no problems. Aren't we fortunate! Especially glad to hear your news since I know it was part of a pilot program. So impressive! I wish you a happy new year!

The best kind of news today. Thank you both for the updates!

It’s Friday the 13th and my one year anniversary of joining Abbott Labs new Tendyne Mitral Heart Valve Trial! I will meet with Dr. Kerendi next week for my annual checkup. All is going well and here’s hoping for many more years…

Congratulations! I remember following your story as I had my surgery just days after you at Heart Hospital on 8/26/20. I'm so happy to hear you're doing well. Thanks again for sharing your story.

ShezaGirlie said:

It’s Friday the 13th and my one year anniversary of joining Abbott Labs new Tendyne Mitral Heart Valve Trial! I will meet with Dr. Kerendi next week for my annual checkup. All is going well and here’s hoping for many more years…

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Congratulations! Here's to many more years!

Odie said:

None at all. I knew soon after my first surgery that I would need another. My only concern about Dr. Dewan's age was that he might retire before I was ready for #2.

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If I am not being too nosy, how did you come to realize that you would need a second surgery? I only ask because I had a sort of event occur after my AVR - when I went for my post-op appt. the surgeon said he found that my valve was allowing too much blood to regurgitate and he would need to do tests to figure out what to do. The next time I saw the surgeon he said the tests showed that my valve had fixed itself so I wouldn’t need anything else done. Everyone says that I shouldn’t worry about it and I sure wish I didn’t. I kind of lost confidence in that doctor. Just wish I could put it all behind me.

Wow I'm been off the group for a while I guess! Congrats ShezaGirlie. I'm so happy for you. And thanks for helping to clear the way for me to get one of those same valves if I need one : )

Kathmack said:

how did you come to realize that you would need a second surgery?

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It was clear within days that a 2nd surgery was in my future.

Leading up to the 1st I had severe regurgitation. While the cause was suspected to be because I had a BAV, imaging had picked up some unusual tissue that might be playing a role. While the plan for the 1st OHS was a mechanical valve replacement, once inside they saw what they thought was an opportunity for a successful repair job. The first few echos showed severe regurgitation again. I was naturally disappointed.

I'd been mostly asymptomatic so I held out about 5 years waiting for a significant change in heart measurements or change in physical performance.

I had no regrets with my choice of surgeon and appreciated the attempt to keep me off of blood thinner. In fact I went back to the the same surgeon for the 2nd.