I arrived at Cleveland Clinic on August 19th, 2014. Three days of pre-op tests, cardiac catheterization, and consult with surgeon. Surgery was on August 22nd. My mitral valve was repaired and deemed to be not leaking immediately following surgery. I couldn’t have asked for better news than that. 4 days later, an echocardiogram and subsequent TEE showed leakage! Mitral regurgitation of 2+. It had been 4+ prior to surgery. It appeared that the annuloplasty band had torn, resulting in a small perforation, and there appeared to be a cleft in the posterior leaflet. Surgeon wanted to go back in and do the repair again. My first thought was no way could I go through that again, but it made no sense to leave with a valve that was still leaking and not knowing if the repair would deteriorate more. I ended up having to wait it out over the Labor Day holiday weekend and had a second surgery on September 2nd. I was discharged September 7th and arrived back home on September 8th. I know surgical outcomes cannot be 100% guaranteed, but I never even considered that I might need two surgeries to fix this valve. Apparently less than 1% of valve repair surgeries result in re-operation. And I was lucky enough to fall into that statistic! I am just grateful to be back home, looking forward to recovery, and putting this whole episode behind me.
What a journey!
- Thread starter dlraff
- Start date
Help Support Valve Replacement Forums:
Sorry to hear you have had such a rough ride :-( Hope things go more smoothly now and that you make a good and steady recovery. Hope you've got a good doctor near home too !
Although yours is not the result we all dream of having, think of it this way. . . you're back home now and on the road to recovery. I felt the same feelings when I had a rough recovery after my AVR in 2011. First month was pretty bad. I wasn't able to start cardio-rehab until 12 weeks post-op. I'm now 3 1/2 years out and having a great time! Once you find the path to recovery, follow it and you will do fine.
Wishing you smooth sailing from here onward. Keep us posted - we'll be here.
Wishing you smooth sailing from here onward. Keep us posted - we'll be here.
