Take care and get well soon.
Terry, that's great news that you were able to take a short drive in the GLE in less than 30 days since your op. Yes, you are coming along nicely!! Keep it up just one day at a time. Regards, Walter
Terry, glad you are kicking around and getting back into things. We would be lost without you!! Sent from my iPhone using FerrariChat.com mobile app
Glad you're feeling better Terry. Have always enjoyed your posts and have saved a lot of money DIY'ing with help from you and so many others on this site. BTW, did I recall correctly you live in MT?
I'm signed up for mitral valve repair at Johns Hopkins in Baltimore, late Jan. 95% chance of repair. 5% chance of replacement. 1% chance of something really bad. Any advice? I'm really surprised that minimally invasive seems to be out of favor with some Docs. This guy does 200+/yr and he just likes the access of opening the breast bone. Says the recovery time isn't that different. I'm a really active person, so the idea of sitting around all day for months and losing muscle mass isn't appealing.
Chris- Make sure they do a cath to check for blockages before the procedure. No clue I had problems but three arteries were 85% blocked. Since he will be in there anyway.... I got a ring repair on my mitral valve with an annuoplasty ring which could not have been done with a minimally invasive procedure. Should be a permanent fix and they did triple bypass surgery while they were in there. Mine was a 34 mm (1.34") Edwards Lifesciences Model 5200 ( Edwards video of the 5200 online). Recovery was very quick and I had little pain (I have a very high tolerance for pain) and doubt you will either. They kept me for three days in the hospital. Bandages come off after a week at home and the scar will look like you lost a broadsword fight. They sent me home with a bunch of pain pills, which I stopped using after a day or so. Only thing to watch out for is lifting heavy weights the first month or so. After that, you can go back to your regular exercise program. I was probably pretty useless for only a week or so afterwards. No trouble sleeping even if they do want you to sleep on your back for a while. Soon afterwards, you will feel much better as the heart works more efficiently. Beats dying, or even worse, a stroke, at any rate.
Thanks for the quick and helpful reply Terry! That's actually a pretty positive experience considering what you had done. I hope to be as lucky. I will be getting the cardiac catherization to look for blockage before the surgery. I'm not expecting to find much, but I understand the logic. Let's go in once! Assuming I am one of the 95%, I will also have the ring. I don't know the model, but will ask. Yes, the pain meds are one of my concerns. I don't want them to turn me into a nut job or make me nauseous. I'll have to see how it goes. I'm supposed to pick a backup for the 5% chance they get in there and can't repair the valve. I'm 45 and Doc is telling me that mechanical valve makes more sense, as it lasts a lifetime. Downside is blood thinners the rest of my life. Other option is cow valve, but they only last 10-12 years, so if I live to 85, that could be several more open heart surgeries. Upside is no long term meds. What did you pick?
I am not a doctor ..but if i had to make a decision i would go for cow .. no clicking noise and no blood thinner (which in itself can cause other issues) Maybe in 10 years there will be another method to do something with open heart My advice is only a personal opinion Sent from my moto g power using Tapatalk
My wife had her mitral swapped. Originally was going to be fixed but the damage was more extensive so they went with a replacement. She had the choice of a mechanical or a porcine valve. She went porcine to avoid the lifelong blood thinners. They truly suck. She has 10 yrs on this valve and at last check, can't tell it isn't day one after the swap. Her recovery was pretty straightforward like Terry reports. She was a big fan of the pillow they give to clutch against the breastbone. This is almost routine work these days. pretty dang amazing. Good Luck
Chris- I had optioned for the flesh valve if needed, but your doctor should have a pretty good idea whether you need a replacement before you go in. My brother is on blood thinners for all kinds of heart problems and he bleeds like a stuck pig from even the smallest scratch. Hard to get cuts to stop bleeding, too. Odds are excellent a ring will fix you up permanently and I was surprised how easy recovery was. I was extremely happy to wake up the first time in ECU, though. Unlike Eric's wife, I never used the pillow much, but your doc will highly recommend or insist on it.
I went through my problems a few months ago. If we are talking about blockages nothing is for sure until they send the camera in. Best advice is to research the hell out of the surgeons. I went in with a list of only 8 doctors in so cal that I would allow to operate on me. I went in earlier in life than my family members and was lucky to have only needed stents. Other family members all had chests opened. the good news is they can do a lot with hearts and arteries these days. The next day I felt 20 years younger.
Going in early is how I am going about this too, Mark. I don't have any noticeable symptoms, so I don't expect to feel much younger after recovery. I'm doing a 5km race Thanksgiving morning with my kids, as a reference point for current mobility. The problem is that my heart is reacting to the 50% leakage, by enlarging slightly. I don't want it to enlarge further. The expectation is that it will shrink after surgery. The idea is to fix it while it's still healthy, so after surgery, I have the best version. I can wait until I have more symptoms, but then I might get a repaired valve on a less than healthy heart. I'm still undecided on the backup valve. With valves, I think it gets harder to change them multiple times due to scar tissue. If I were closer to 60, I could see a pig or cow valve making sense, but at 45, I'm just not sure. My parents are still around, at 85(mom) and 90(dad), so that's a lot of surgeries. Yes, blood thinners suck. Mark, how did you go about your research? I asked my cardiologist which surgeon to go to, and he said this is by far the best option in the state. He said if he had to have the procedure done, he would go to him. I'm visiting a 2nd cardiologist Dec27, to get a 2nd opinion on procedure and if this is the right surgeon. It does look like he does the most mitral valve repairs. Sometimes one in the morning, and one in the afternoon. It doesn't necessarily make him "the best" but quantity does have benefits. Any weird things that come up, he has surely seen before. "Quantity has a quality all it's own" Terry, maybe I'm using the term "minimally invasive" incorrectly. I think there are surgeons installing the ring and repairing the mitral valve, that are not cutting completely through the breast bone. That sure sounds appealing, but not at the expense of quality of repair. In any case, I appreciate all the ideas and personal experiences you guys are sharing.
Chris- Minimally invasive valve repair can be done through an incision that is 2-4 inches long and a full ring repair can be done. There are several ways to do that, between the ribs, only cutting the top of the sternum, and using a robot to perform the surgery. All requite heart-lung machines. I was actually thinking of what they could do through the veins on that earlier post so misspoke on minimally invasive, which is still pretty invasive. Do you have a heart murmur? Mine was so loud when first discovered they brought in student nurses so they could hear what a murmur sounds like. A parade of pretty girls pre-Covid.
Gentlemen, may I ask you all how you found out about your conditions? This is pretty serious stuff and equally, it happens to many people. And you seem like you are also fit and healthy. So how was it diagnosed? I am just worried for me and my loved ones, because the only checkups I have are for my health insurance, which are pretty basic, and the only time I see doctors it's when eating and drinking with my old school friends, who in that mode (despite being excellent physicians and surgeons I am sure) wouldn't detect if I passed away mid-Cabernet. Were there symptoms or worse or was it at a routine checkup, or..?
With 70% back flow of her mitral, my wife was simply exhausted, no energy, and no rest or sleep helped. barely could make a single flight of stairs.
I have had a heart murmur as far back as I can remember. As a teen until about 40, it was just something mentioned at regular checkups, with no particular concern. About 5 years ago, primary Doc told me to go to Cardiologist for first time in my life. There, they told me, that I would need surgery in next 10 years. To be honest, I mostly ignored it. 10 years is a long time, and anything can happen. Besides, I felt fine. Also, I look around at the average 40-45 year old in the USA, and they're a bit overweight, non-athletic, and here I am biking to work, lifting transmissions out of cars by hand, etc. What did they know? Anyway, went back to Cardiologist in September 2021, and they say it's about time to do it. It was a pretty hard diagnosis to digest. But, I like the idea of doing it during winter months, since I'd be inside more anyway. So, I want to get it done and hopefully move on with life. Darius, a lot of things to look for come from family history. For example, my family has a history of heart and thyroid issues. If I just do a "regular" blood test, my thyroid level looks perfect. However, based on my family history, my Doc did an extra test to check for antibodies. Sure enough, I have an autoimmune disease(hachimoto) that constantly attacks my thyroid. It has no current effect, and requires no meds, but now I know to watch for effects. As mostly guys on this site, I will note that we typically don't keep up on our medical checkups. But, also, it's up to us to push tests and do research. Are you gaining weight, loosing weight, feel tired, feel anxious: there's probably a medical reason other than just "getting older". Eric, yeah 70% sounds really bad. Did they know the valve was likely to not be repairable before they opened her up? It sounds like she is completely full function for last 10 years?
