I just received a great question from Wayne. He writes, “Adam – I’ve been following Barbara Bush’s heart valve surgery. Mostly because, at the ripe age of 62, I’ll be having my mitral valve replaced due to severe regurgitation from prolapse. I think Barbara was in the hospital for 9 days. Is it common for valve patients to be in the hospital for that long? Thanks for all that you do! Wayne”

There are really two answers to this question. The first answer I’ll provide is based on patient data I collected during a 2007 survey. In that survey, I asked over 75 former patients the question, “How long were you in the hospital?” As you can see on the chart below, the average response was five days. (So, that is considerably shorter than Barbara Bush’s stay at Methodist Hospital in Houston, Texas.)

Patient Days In Hospital Following Valve Surgery

The second answer I’ll provide to Wayne’s question is less statistical and much more general. That answer is ‘it depends’. As I have learned over the years, every patient case is unique. In some situations, I know patients that have left the hospital after three days. In other cases, due to heart surgery complications, I know patients who stayed in the hospital for more than two weeks.

I hope that helps Wayne (and perhaps you) better understand how long heart surgery patients stay in the hospital.

Also, as many visitors to this blog are former patients… I’m really curious to know what you experienced. If you have an answer to the question, “How long were you in the hospital after valve surgery?”, please share your thoughts by clicking here!

Keep on tickin!

For those of you following Barbara Bush’s recent heart valve surgery, I’m happy to report that the former first lady of the United States left Methodist Hospital in Houston, Texas today following her aortic valve replacement surgery.

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Great news!!!

A few weeks ago, we discussed the possibility of creating an online, heart valve surgeon database to help future patients and caregivers locate surgeons via the Internet. The response to this idea has been OVERWHELMINGLY POSITIVE as comments and emails flooded my inbox. That said, I took your feedback and hired a database programmer to develop a FREE heart valve surgeon directory.

Guess what? Konrad, the database programmer, just called to tell me that the surgeon directory is now online! That means we can start using the database today!

The FIRST STEP is for the former, heart valve surgery patients (that visit this website) to add their surgeon profiles and experiences to the database. It only takes about 5 minutes to do this. So, if you would like to add your surgeon profile and experience, please click here.

As we continue to add surgeon profiles and patient experiences to the database, future patients and caregivers will be able to search these profiles at no cost! Plus, the future patients and caregivers will be able to get your feedback about the surgeons that operated on you.

I’m very, very, very excited about the possibility of this database. I want to thank all of you for inspiring its creation. I am hopeful that, together, we can grow this database into a global tool for all heart valve patients to use and benefit from.

Again, to add your surgeon profile and experience, please click here.

Keep on tickin!

Alright. Let’s keep learning about heart valve surgery.

To do that, I have posted an excellent video about “The Basics of Heart Valve Surgery” by Dr. Vincent Gaudiani, a leading heart surgeon in Northern California. This video (i) discusses heart valve replacement devices and (ii) provides a special glimpse into the people and machines that function in an actual operating room.

Please note, this is PART II of Dr. Gaudiani’s educational video. To view PART I of the video, please click here. And, please remember to make sure the sound on your personal computer is turned on-and-up.

I LOVE what Dr. Gaudiani says during this video. Specific to heart surgery, Dr. Gaudiani states, “Reality is often less bothersome than one’s fantasy about these things.” So you know, that is exactly why I developed this website and wrote my book… To help YOU learn about the realities of cardiac surgery before, during and after cardiac surgery.

As you will hear, Dr. Gaudiani references several topics specific to heart valve surgery during this video. You may or may not be familiar with these terms. For that reason, I have provided supplemental information via the hyperlinks below. Feel free to click on these links to learn more:

• Mechanical heart valve replacement versus tissue heart valves
• Anti-coagulant medication – Coumadin therapy
• Leaking heart valves
• Heart Valve Leaflets (mitral valve)
• Stenotic heart valves (aortic stensosis)
• Enlarged, thicker heart muscles
• The heart-lung machine – How does it work?

I hope this video helps you better understand the realities of heart surgery!!!

Thanks again Dr. Gaudiani!!!

Keep on tickin!

If there is one thing I know from experience, heart surgery can have a profound emotional, physical and spiritual impact on patients and… their caregivers.

That said, here is a touching video update that shows an emotional, teary-eyed George Bush as he discusses Barbara Bush’s recovery from heart surgery. As you may know, the aortic valve of her heart was replaced with a pig valve.

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