One of the typical thoughts which appear for patients diagnosed with a severe heart valve disease diagnosis is that of… loneliness. As a heart valve patient wrote me recently, “I feel so alone.”

Heart valve surgery can trigger scary and isolated thoughts – for both patients and caregivers. Personally, I remember that lonely feeling when I was diagnosed with aortic stenosis which lead to my Ross Procedure (double valve replacement).

This thought rattled around in my head, “I do not know anyone who has had aortic valve replacement. Hmmm. This must be a very dangerous operation.”

Interestingly enough, that fear can and should be managed when evaluating the realities of cardiac surgery…

While cardiac surgery is more risky and less prevalent than having a wart removed, reports suggest that (i) many people have heart valve surgery and (ii) most people live a longer life as a result of heart surgery (See “Life Expectancy After Heart Valve Surgery”.)

Recently, I located some interesting information on the number of aortic valve replacement surgeries performed each year. That discussion, along with other thoughts on how to dispel the fear of heart valve surgery, have resulted in this question… “How Many Mitral Valve Operations Are Performed Each Year?”

Reports suggest a wide range of data on the number of mitral valve operations (mitral valve repair and mitral valve replacement) performed each year. However, a recent study by medical editor Marilyn Brooks suggests that, on average, over 40,000 mitral valve operations are performed annually in the United States alone. Leaking heart valve symptoms are the cause of many heart valve repair and replacement operations for Americans.

That is a lot of mitral valve surgery, right? Maybe. But consider… Looking forward, that number will probably increase given the success of minimally invasive procedures – including catheter-based approaches to cardiac surgery.

Recently, I attended a Cedar-Sinai Cardiac Surgery Conference here in Los Angeles, California. One of the presentations was about the success of noninvasive heart surgery on high-risk patients (overweight, alcoholic, etc.).

The results were very encouraging. That said, the likelihood of annual mitral valve operations and other heart valve operations will increase – especially, when you consider the baby boom generation (76 million) is getting older.

According to research from Celent, the baby boomers are now retiring. As a result, there will be 30 million new retirees by 2020. They will need new reading glasses, new canes, new wheelchairs and… new heart valves.

I hope this helps explain more about the number of mitral valve operations performed each year.

Keep on tickin,

So I’m surfing the Internet last night when I come across Michael C’s blog, “The Wonderful World Of Nothing Worthwhile”. Great name for a blog, right?

Anyways, it turns out there is something very worthwhile at this blog. Michael is a former heart valve replacement patient. He had mechanical valve replacement surgery just recently.

Like many patients, Michael was curious to see what his chest (heart valves and sternum wires) looked like under xray after surgery. Unlike many patients, however, Michael actually did something about it.

Here is Michael C’s show and tell (including an actual xray picture of his embedded, artificial heart valve and sternum wires)…

“I bring you my chest. Yes, I know, it’s a bit adult to be showing a bare chest, but when I saw this x-ray of my chest (taken from the side to help you orient yourself to what you are looking at) at the doctor’s office the other day, I had to have a copy. So, 13 phone calls, 2 forms and $20 bucks later, I have my own copy of my own x-ray of my own chest. Granted, I still had to photograph it while holding it up because they don’t have copies digitally (hence the horrible bright light in the middle that makes it look like I have been infected with a glow stick), but I finally have a copy.”

“Why did I want a copy so badly? Well, the red arrow shows my artificial heart valve and the big red circle on the right shows all of the sternal wires that pulled my chest shut (you can click on it for a larger view, that’s what she said). And I wonder why I get a stabbing pain down the middle of my chest at times…that’s a joke. Honestly, I didn’t even know I had wires in me. That’s not a joke.”

Thanks Michael… For the picture and the comedic writing!

If you would like to learn more about mechanical heart valve manufacturers, broken sternum recovery, and see a frontal picture of sternum wires, please click the appropriate link.

Keep on tickin!

I’ll never forget the first time I heard the phrase “Pumphead”. I was interviewing a former patient about her heart valve surgery experience for my book.

She was discussing the short-term mental impact of open heart bypass surgery. Specifically, she was remembering a challenging time during her recovery when she suffered from cardiac depression.

The former patient ended the discussion by saying, “Oh well. I guess I was just a pumphead.”

I did a double-take… “Pumphead?” I thought to myself, “What is pump head?”

Read the rest of this entry »

One of the many things I love about life is food.

In fact, right now I’m waiting for my new bride, Robyn, to get home from work so we can go out for dinner and officially start the weekend. But, as of this moment… SHE’S LATE AND I’M STARVING!!!

I guess that brings up a pretty interesting topic… Foods For People That Had Open Heart Surgery!!!

My gut tells me you might want to know if your food consumption will change following cardiac surgery including open heart valve repair or open heart valve replacement.

“Am I right?” (If no, skip this blog.)

Oh, good. You’re still reading. That must mean you’re somewhat interested to know whether or not there are any special foods for patients that had open heart surgery.

So you know, I had aortic valve replacement in 2005. One of the reasons I chose this surgical option (known as the Ross Procedure) was because I did not want to take any medication (Coumadin) after my heart valve surgery to prevent clotting on a mechanical valve.

In light of that my surgical procedure, I do not have any food restrictions that may arise from the simultaneous intake of medicine (again Warfarin / Coumadin).

That’s Me Eating During My
Honeymoon In Fiji

That brings up the next question, “Do patients on Coumadin need to avoid certain foods that might negatively react with Coumadin?”

I did some online research and found some interesting information from Healthcare South. Here it is:

• Many medications and foods interact with warfarin, possibly causing problems. Some interactions raise the INR too high, which may cause bleeding. Often, interactions decrease the INR too low, rendering the medication ineffective.

• In the past, people were advised to avoid foods with vitamin K because vitamin K reduces warfarin’s efficacy and lowers the INR. These days, I recommend regular, moderate consumption of these healthy vegetables, but keep it fairly consistent so that your doctor can adjust your warfarin dosage to match your diet. If your diet varies quite a bit, your INR levels can swing very high or low.

• Foods rich in vitamin K include: asparagus, broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, kale, spinach, brussel sprouts, chick peas/garbanzo beans (hummus), soybeans (tofu, soymilk), lentils (dried peas and beans), dark green, leafy vegetables, green lettuce (romaine, bib and red leaf), collard, mustard, turnip and beets, green tea (tea in Chinese restaurants), parsley (tabbouleh).

• Foods with excessive vitamin K to avoid include: large amounts of onions (greater than ¼ cup), avocado (guacamole), egg yolks (not more than four per week), liver, seaweed (sushi or algae).

Considering this information, it appears that there are some clinically referenced, dietary restrictions on patients using Coumadin following heart surgery. In fact, I have learned that there are cookbooks written to help patients with recipes and foods for people that had open heart surgery. For example, The Coumadin Cookbook: A Guide To Healthy Meals When Taking Coumadin, is now available through online stores like Amazon. Here’s a link if you would like to read up on it.

• Coumadin Cookbooks At Amazon

Alright. Now, I’m really, really hungry! Robyn just got home! I’m off for some Thai food!!!

I hope that helps you better understand foods for people that had open heart surgery, especially those that take Coumadin.

Keep on tickin!

There is a lot of discussion in the heart valve surgery community about noninvasive heart surgery. Given the publicity around robotic surgery devices (like the Da Vinci Surgical System) and transcatheter valve replacements, I must admit… I’m a little jealous.

Okay. I’m not that jealous. But, it would be nice to have a three-inch scar versus a nine-inch scar. Even though my “zipper” is barely visible, there’s more to it than a simple scar. (Click here to see my heart valve surgery pictures.)

Noninvasive heart surgery procedures have a number of advantages for heart valve repair and heart valve replacement of valves including the aortic, mitral, pulmonary and tricuspid.

Such benefits include:

• Noninvasive heart valve surgery has a faster recovery time.
• Noninvasive heart valve surgery is not as traumatic to the body.

Keep on tickin!