So how was your surgery and recovery?

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Heart Of The Sunrise

Heart Of The Sunrise

Well-known member
Joined
Nov 11, 2012
Messages
411
Location
Garnet Valley, Pa. USA
I was born with a bicuspid aortic valve.
It is severely thickened and calcified.

Just found out about this.

My left ventricle is somewhat enlarged.

My ascending aorta is dilated 4.5 cm.......

Next up is a heart catherization and a trans-espochegeal-echocardiogram. on December 4th.

Many reasons for optimism, my blood pressure is consistently good and my health is good.
I am asymptomatic with the heart issues.....no pain...all good!

Surgery will be sometime after New Years. AVR and AR.

Just looking to learn about experiences of those who are going through preparations for ]surgery and post surgery experiences.


Heart Of the Sunrise
 
my surgery was 12 hrs but seemed like seconds to me after surgery i felt like i was 20 again pain didn't start until about 2 weeks after and i stopped taking the pain meds. i was hard for me to not over do it you must be careful you will feel like you can do anything just think before you do to much let others help you
 
I think good communication and getting all your questions answered will make you feel better about the surgery. Mine went very well and pain never seemed to go above 5 out of 10. I consider myself fortunate that I had some good advice from a nurse who said to stay on top of the pain by sticking to a four hour 2 Tylenol Xtra regimen. It was great and I stopped that after a couple days at home. One thing I will advise is to drink lots of water for a while after you get home. I got dehydrated and ended up with gout. Never had it before and don't fall into any of the common criteria except for; the surgery, ASA, dehydration and diuretics in the hospital.

Last week my surgeon said I was unrestricted and could return to the gym and weights, but sensibly. I felt even better after that as I had been a little overprotective of my sternum I guess. He said it was healed "solid as a rock". My stamina seems to improve daily and the advice above to not overdo things is very wise. It is really tempting. Take your time (I keep getting that from my wife).

There are many postings in here that can help answer your questions, but always follow up with your doctors and nurses. Best of luck and I wish you a speedy recovery. You are going to feel so much better. The calcification is so insidious you don't even realize that you are not at your best. I was amazed at this.
 
I was fortunate that it was uneventful...the hardest part was waiting (you will hear that a lot hear). I lost all sense of time when they put me under...meaning that as soon as they drugged me, it literally seemed like a second later they were waking me up to pull out my breathing tube (it was really about 6 hrs later). I was in the hospital on Monday morning and released on Thursday afternoon. My time was spent sleeping, taking short walks and watching tv. I stayed on top of my pain meds, so I never really felt the pain...until I had that first sneeze a few weeks later that I was not ready for. I was off work for 6 weeks, so spent most of that time watching tv, reading books, daily walks and just sitting around. Having a good support system at home made a huge difference.
 
Bean Counter said:
I was fortunate that it was uneventful...the hardest part was waiting (you will hear that a lot hear). I lost all sense of time when they put me under...meaning that as soon as they drugged me, it literally seemed like a second later they were waking me up to pull out my breathing tube (it was really about 6 hrs later). I was in the hospital on Monday morning and released on Thursday afternoon. My time was spent sleeping, taking short walks and watching tv. I stayed on top of my pain meds, so I never really felt the pain...until I had that first sneeze a few weeks later that I was not ready for. I was off work for 6 weeks, so spent most of that time watching tv, reading books, daily walks and just sitting around. Having a good support system at home made a huge difference.
Click to expand...

I didn't have to wait but my experience was almost exactly the same. All I remember is falling asleep. I recall waking once after and not being able to talk because of my tube but that lasted just a couple seconds. Next thing I remember is the asking me to cough while they removed my trach tube. After that there was an hour that I apparently conversed with my family but have to recollection of that.
 
My surgery went quicker than scheduled. After the prep was completed all I remember was being wheeled into the OR, scooting onto the table and having the the first IV started. After that my first recollection was being propped up and dry heaving for what seemed forever due to severe nausea caused by the anesthesia. I'm sure I was awake before then but that's the first memory that I have. For the most part my pain levels were kept well under control while in the hospital and at home. While coughing could be pretty much planned and aided by the pillow the unscheduled sneeze with no time to react was excruciating.
 
Hi
I had a bicuspid aortic valve and a mitral valve in need of repair.
Surgery was August 14th. Went through all the tests before hand. I was in good health with little or no symptoms before surgery.
The surgeon was checking to make sure that all checked out so he could do a minimally invasive incision.
Incision in about 5 inches long and is in my upper right chest. Went in between the ribs.
Operation went fine and was about 8 hours long. Replaced aortic valve with a mechanical valve and repaired the mitral valve.
5 1/2 days in hospital with no real problems and very little pain.
First week home and just taking some Tylenol. Mainly felt tired and slept on my back in a recliner.
Second week home I was cutting firewood with chainsaw and even climbed a tree to move a hunting stand. One month after surgery wife and I took the Harley to a local rally about 100 miles away from home.
I think that the minimally invasive surgery allowed a quick recovery and getting back to normal activities. I realize this procedure is not always possible but I am very happy that it was done in my case.
Best wishes
Mike
 
Thanks to all who replied ..the other night I had a major anxiety attack about all this.... got no sleep ....but reading about your experiences is bringing me the peace of mind I need to stay calm. Overall my health is good and many aspects of my heart are in very good despite the BAV.

I am a way out from surgery...I have yet to meet the surgeon who my cardilogist is discussing my situation with. Harley 2000 your discussion of mitral valve repair caught my eye. I have stenosis and reguritation on my BAV. It has been spraying my mitral valve like a shower head...the mitral valve also has some reguritation. Your successful repair story helped me alot. Thanks. Heart of the Sunrise.
 
I too am facing a valve repair on January 7th and I have found much comfort in these forums. I am completely addicted to them. lol I am so scared and nervous but know that we are so fortunate to have a problem that is able to be fixed. I had the trans echo and that was no big deal at all. I am scheduled for the the cath in December. I am still researching about which valve to go with, my doc seems to be encouraging me with the bovine. Good luck to you and lets keep in touch since it seems our surgeries will be happening at around the same time.
HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYONE!!
 
I had emergency mitral valve replacement 4 weeks ago; no previous symptoms or clinical signs, and I presented as having a severe pneumonia initially. No warning, no waiting. First I knew of the situation was when I woke up after surgery! Recovery has been as advertised; lots of fluid to get rid of initially, quite short of breath initially, and lightheadedness due to keeping my BP very low to allow my heart to recover after the beating it took while my valve was in severe regurgitation. Everything is improving slowly but steadily, day by day. I think I'm about 2 weeks from driving again, and I can sing again (this is important as I have a bit of an upcoming gig: my son's wedding Jan 3), and I think I'm about 2 months from returning to my work as a physical therapist. For me, recovery has involved only minimal pain; it's just been a little slow, which is understandable considering what I went through. Good luck to you; this is very doable. Not the easiest thing you will ever go through, but worth the effort:)
 
Obviously each surgery and recovery is different. I had AVR surgery 9/5/12. I felt great going in. Only the echo told I needed surgery. I had no pain afterwards and other than the first dose of Morphine which the nurse recommended I never took any pain meds. However when I was home, I had a lot of problems w coughing. My doctor then recommended using a pain med at night to help sleep. I also developed A-Fib after a month and so I am still on a lot of meds including warfarin for a few more weeks( hopefully)
I was amazed at how great the nursing care was in the hospital( Rhode Island). I was waiting to go to operating room and I woke up after surgery. Missed everything. I was really concerned about the breathing tube since I am a "choker" during dental work. I had no issues. So for me the operation was a piece of cake. Post surgery , I had severe coughing and A-Fib . Overall, I feel lucky in that I had an overall great expereince.
 
I just had my AVR last week. I had a wait also and it was a bit nerve wrecking. I joined this forum and it has helped a lot. The surgery went really well. The last thing I remember was leaving the pre-op room and looking down the hall then then next thing I remember was waking up, still with the tube in but I don't remember feeling it, I just remember not being able to talk, signing/asking for my fiance. I don't even remember the tube being pulled out. After asking for my fiance, I remember waking up looking at him and saying "You're here" to him. Recovery so far has been meh. Ive been really nauseous but I think that's from pain meds, which I'm not going to take anymore and just use Tylenol. My pain isn't too bad unless I overdo it. I am doing a lot of sleeping and relaxing. I'm from PA so its getting cold so going for walks isnt easy but I make sure I walk and do little exercises, like standing on my tip toes, for about 30 min inside, if I don't get in too much pain. Everyone's recovery is going to be different but take you time doing things, relax a lot, and don't over do it. And don't stress so much about the surgery, you really won't remember much.
 
Your condition sounds almost identical to what mine was before surgery, except I had started developing some symptoms (mainly chest-tightening and shortness of breath with physical activity). Like the others say, the waiting was the worst part. The last thing I remember before waking up was thinking that one of the assistants in the OR was kind of cute. I only remember a few minor things from my time in ICU like the nurse asking me to squeeze her hand when I woke up and having the IV line in my neck taken out. I assume I still had the breathing tube in when I woke up but I don't remember it being taken out. My chest was obviously a bit sore but overall I had very little pain even after they took my morphine away on the 2nd day (I got a little trigger happy and spent a few hours in a state of delirium :) needless to say I don't remember much of that) After that I was only taking Tylenol for a few days, but by the time I was out of hospital on the 6th day I wasn't taking anything for pain anymore. The worst part of the hospital stay for me was the bed which did a number on my back. But that was just motivation to spend as much time out of it as possible.

At home I spent most of my time for the first week sleeping and lying around watching TV. I mostly just felt tired and didn't do quite as much walking as they recommended. Stairs were also an obstacle and I was limited to 1 or 2 flights (up and down) per day for the first 2 weeks or so. It's a process. Just take it gradually and you'll be back in no time. At 6 weeks post-op I felt no worse than I had for years before my surgery and I've still got a few months before they say I'll reach a 'plateau of benefit' from the surgery.
 
Wanted to add that your condition is very similar to many of us here, including mine. You can see my hospital story in my signature. Funny thing is that just like everyone say, anticipation is the toughest part, once you are there, its just one step at a time to a better and healthier you.
 
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