Made it home!

[almost_hectic]

So many things to talk about on this topic. I found out minutes prior to going under that there was a change of plans. Not only was I to get a new On-x valve but aorta repair as well, bonus that wasn't known about til surgeon reviewed CT scan. And lastly because of my irregular heartbeat concern he was going to clip some appendage or something of the heart while he was in there. All this meant new plan, still considered minimally invasive I guess but the surgery was the mini sternotomy, rather than between the ribs as was planned to leave my sternum and ribs intact. Surgeon didn't tell me directly but told my folks after surgery that I was VERY lucky that I got surgery when I did. He said I was a walking time-bomb! All that's behind me thankfully now onto recovery

 

[Paleowoman]

Hi almost hectic ! These change of plans are all par for the course with AVR. My surgeon had planned to do a minimally invasive mini sternotomy. Well she didn't do that but I didn't know that for almost 15 months ! About six months out of surgery I read a study that said people who have minimally invasive mini sternotomy have less pain and quicker recovery than full sternotomy - I couldn't understand why that was not my experience, but I also discovered that a mini sternotomy is usually around 2 to 3 inches long and mine certainly wasn't, being around 4 1/2 inches long which is 3/4 the length of my sternum measured from the top of the maubrium to the bottom of the xyphoid process. I made enquiries and eventually got a letter from the surgeon telling me she hadn't been able to do a mini sternotomy due to being unable to access my aortic valve with it. So, have a look at your incision and measure it to find out if you did have a mini or not !

Great that it's all behind you now…..hoping your recovery at home becomes smoother (reading your other posts).

 

[Seaton]

Welcome home. Glad it all went to plan, albeit with a slightly different plan than the one you envisaged! Warm thoughts and the best for a good and smooth recovery.

 

[Vincent63]

Great news ... The only way is up !

 

[harrietW]

That's great news almost_hectic glad things went well for you and wish you a continuous recovery.
Paliogirl that is very interesting and informative. I will also warch for and measure up. When the time comes .. sigh just seems it's been so long almost doesn't seem like it's ever going to happen.

 

[honeybunny]

Welcome home! Best wishes for a speedy recovery!

 

[almost_hectic]

Had my follow up with the surgeons office yesterday. Unfortunately I wasn't able to see my surgeon as I was told he had to go out of town. I met with a physicians assistant who had never met me before. Wasn't terribly pleased about that but I understand my surgeon is in high demand and it seemed selfish of me to put up a fuss about it. Especially since they said everything looks great. Only issue was my amount of pain still so they wrote me prescription for more Oxy. Go back to the care of my cardiologist next week, then probably start cardiac rehab.