Question on pain after Minimally Invasive MVR

[jdlouth]

Hi my name is Jennifer. On Dec 22, 2011 I underwent the minimally invasive mirtal valve replacement along with the maze procedure. The surgical report also says they did resuspension of papillary muscle with gore tex cords and ligation of left atrial appendage and direct repair of right axillary artery on top of the intraoperative fluoroscopy angiography. This was done at mt siani in Miami by one of the best surgeons in the country. I was seen by 3 cardiologist who all said him or Mayo as I have a birth defect and previous heart surgery. Since I live in Florida I chose Miami.

I have been home for 11 days but I am still experiencing medium to severe pain on my right side and in the middle of my chest close to the right breast. My surgeons response on wednesday was rest and take your meds. And no driving for four weeks We cut your muscle and cartilage give it time. Ok I did try to lift myself up on Tuesday while looking for something myself. Yes it was stupid I honestly believe I simply forgot. It felt like I ripped every muscle in my chest on the right side. On Thursday my primary said I'll be begging to go back to work in two weeks. I told him he's crazy and would remind him of this.

I was just wondering if anyone has any experience with this and perhaps a time line of what to really expect?

 

[Mentu]

Jennifer, I did not have a minimally invasive procedure but I had little sternal discomfort due to the way my sternum was closed. The problem with using the chest muscles, however, is the same for all of these surgeries. It takes time for them to heal and you cannot push it. It takes three weeks for the incisions to heal so you have not yet reached the first milestone. It takes weeks longer for the muscles and nerves to return to normal. I think most of us are tempted to push our limits during recovery. Its sort of like touching a sore tooth to see if it is still sore. When we do more than our body is ready for, we suffer the result. You are still in the early stages of recovery, be gentle with yourself.

Larry

 

[Boston Tiger]

I'm not sure what type of minimally invasive repair you had, but as Mentu said it almost doesn't matter. The surgeon had to disrupt your chest wall to get into your heart for the repair, and it takes quite some time to recover from that. I remember my surgeon telling me at my four week checkup that there are a huge number of ways that different people respond, since this type of surgery is a massive disruption to the way the body is supposed to work. My wife was shocked to see that my sideburns had turned grey overnight on my first day in the ICU, but the doctor wasn't surprised at all.

 

[jdlouth]

Thank you for you kind words of support. I am trying not to do anything silly and not lift anything over 5lbs. And I would have been shocked to see gray sideburns too. I guess there's all sorts of things they don't tell us.

 

[Ruth]

Greetings!

I had a right thoracotomy, a form of minimally invasive MVR, and as you have experienced, I had pain in my rib on my right side for some time.

Don't let anyone fool you that "minimally invasive" is in any way "minimal". Your chest muscle was cut, your ribs were spread, your heart was stopped and cut and fixed.

Don't push yourself, rest up and don't be your own worst enemy by trying to do too much too fast.

I had to spend a fair amount of time in cardiac rehab working on the rehabilitation of my chest muscle before I was able to regain full and strong use of my right arm again. But, after time and work, the muscle does heal. We may have more pain initially due to the rib spreading but the ribs do heal up nicely.

I went back to work part time after 3 or 4 months and did not go back full time until like 6 months (and I had a desk job). Your mileage may vary of course I felt good after about 6 months and "normal" again after a year. It has been six years now and I'm better than ever.

Don't hurry your recovery, please, take your time, listen to your body, and give yourself time to heal.

I wish you the very best in your recovery.

Ruth
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