Hi,
I was told after my repair that my mitral valve still leaked a little, but they told me that is absolutely normal, that almost everyone's mitral valve leaks some.
My surgeon did tell me at my 4 week check that my surgery should "last me a lifetime", and to "get out of here, I don't ever want to see you again". I guess he meant that in a good way. (I hope so anyway).
My mitral vavle was not an easy fix, both of my leaflets were flapping in the breeze. I had two chordae that were ruptured. They used an annuloplasty ring to fix it, and so I did end up on Coumadin for 8 weeks because of that.
Also, my surgery took a little over 6 hours which is long for a repair, but like I said, mine was a little more difficult. The thing that surprised me was, being "out" for 12 hours following surgery.
I was under the impression that I'd see my husband later on that afternoon, my surgery was scheduled for 7:30am. When I finally awakened, I remember looking at the clock and it was like 2:00, I naturally thought it was afternoon, but when I asked where my husband was they informed me it was 2AM and they'd sent him home to get some rest!!
I guess I was fighting the breathing tube, so they kept sedating me, and they couldn't get anyone to remove the breathing tube until shortly before 2am, and then they woke me up.
I was soooo mad, (and still am), that they sent him home. I think they could have found him somewhere to sleep, we live an hour and a half from the hospital. I remember just laying there watching the clock for the next 4 hours, just so I could call him on the phone.
All in all, everything went pretty well, but I guess I was a little upset that they never mentioned any possiblity of this happening to me, so I was not in the least bit prepared for it.
My thoughts and prayers will be with you on the 11th.