Adam’s Heart Valve Surgery Blog

Topic: How common is heart surgery and depression? Did you experience cardiac depression?

I just received an interesting email that directly relates to heart surgery recovery. The question in the email was, “Did you experience depression after heart valve surgery? Is it common for patients to experience cardiac depression following heart valve repair or heart valve replacement?”

Let me start by answering the first question. Yes. I did experience both heart surgery and depression. I had my aortic and pulmonary valves replaced in 2005. As for the cardiac depression, I did not have any immediate form of depression during my 5 days in the hospital or during the first three weeks following my heart valve replacement surgery recovery.

However, as I entered into my fourth week of recovery (following my Ross Procedure), I did begin to experience many symptoms of cardiac depression. (To read more about heart surgery and depression symptoms, click here).

Needless to say, this was not a very fun time in my life. Pre-surgery, I was a very upbeat person. For me, the glass is always “half-full”. I’m an optimist that believes anything is possible.

Post-surgery, however, I was exactly the opposite. “Ugggg!” “Double Uggg!” “Ugggg Again!” So much glooooom.

What a miserable experience for me and all of my caregivers, especially my fiance (Robyn). I was a mess. And, my family… I don’t know how they put up with me!!! Thank goodness those dark days are lonnnnnnnnnnng gone!

To better understand cardiac depression, I researched the topic of heart surgery and depression for my book, The Patient’s Guide To Heart Valve Surgery. I created a survey that was completed by 78 former heart valve surgery patients. As you would imagine, a set of questions in that survey directly related to cardiac depression.

The survey results are very, very, very interesting. In one of the questions about heart surgery and depression, I asked the former patients, “Did you experience any form of cardiac depression during your recovery?”

Before I give you the results, my research before the survey suggested that between 30% - 75% of heart surgery patients experienced cardiac depression. My research also suggested that more men than women are impacted by depression after heart valve surgery. (FYI, I dedicate a chapter in my book to these topics.)

With that said, here are the results from my survey. According to the 78 patients surveyed, 32% of patients experienced heart surgery and depression. That’s a pretty significant number.

Now, the questions become… How do you avoid cardiac depression? And, if you experience cardiac depression, how do you get your recovery back on track? To learn more about the answers to those questions, click here.

Keep on tickin!

Adam Pick is the author of The Patient’s Guide To Heart Valve Surgery, a unique book which integrates the clinical facts of heart valve surgery with the personal experiences of an actual heart valve surgery patient. This special book was designed to minimize stress and enhance the patient’s recovery. To learn more about Adam’s heart valve surgery book, click here.

This entry was posted on Thursday, August 2nd, 2007 at 11:11 am and is filed under Heart Valve Surgery, Heart Surgery Recovery, Post-Operative Care, Studies. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site. Print This Post | EMail This Post.