Excerpt from Chapter 16 of The Patient's Guide To Heart Valve Surgery (Revised Edition) by Adam Pick
Following heart valve surgery, patients experience a very unique set of feelings. I personally remember these feelings following my aortic and pulmonary valve replacements.
On one hand, the patient is incredibly happy. Considering the incredible trauma of the event, it feels remarkable to simply wake up following cardiac surgery.
On the other hand, the patient may also feel incredibly confused. I say this because 42% of heart valve surgery patients report that recovering from cardiac surgery is more difficult than expected.
As my research for this book unfolded, I learned that many patients unknowingly embark on a mis-managed road to recovery following surgery. Personally, I experienced several issues following my heart valve replacement surgery.
That said, patients can experience heightened sensations that "Something Is Wrong!" following heart surgery. Whether it is a heart palpitation or chest-clicking, patients are often confronted by real or imagined heart valve surgery complications.
Question arise in the patient's mind like:
- "What are the common heart valve surgery complications?"
- "Am I experiencing a heart valve complication that is not normal?"
- "Should I be worried?"
- "Should I go to the doctor for my heart valve surgery complicaton?"
To better understand patient complications following heart valve surgery, I conducted an extensive survey of 78 former heart valve surgery patients for this book, The Patient's Guide To Heart Valve Surgery.
One of the questions posed during this unique survey was, "Did you experience any form of heart valve surgery complications following your heart valve repair or heart valve replacement."
As you can see on the chart below, 66% of patients responded that they encountered some form of heart valve surgery complication following surgery.
> NEXT: To learn about the specific types of heart valve surgery complications experienced by heart valve repair and heart valve
replacement patients, please click here.
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